By Robert Farago
June 18, 2009
Earlier today, we reported that Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning was mounting a legal challenge to GM’s dealer cull via anti-trust regulations. I pointed out that Bruning’s zeal probably had a little something to do with GM and ChryCo car dealers in his patch. A bit of Googling adds the words “and how” to that supposition. Campaignmoney.com lists contributions to the “Friends of Jon Bruning” Political Action Committee. It has to be said: Jon’s not lacking for friends in the car biz. Number two on the list: Craig “Ugliest Web Site in History” Cox of Cox Chevrolet. Baxter Chrysler Jeep Dodge clocks-in at number six. A diligent member of our B&B points out that many of the “homemakers” on the list are attributed to “Anderson.” Talton “Tal” Anderson and his family own a slew of dealerships in NE and western IA, and AZ (and maybe elsewhere). Over on opensecrets.org, we learn that Jon Bruning is number 11 on the list of top recipients of car dealer contributions. Hey! Hillary’s number one! And there’s Joe Biden! Say it ain’t so, Joe! Anyway, nothing illegal here. But it helps to have a scorecard to know why the playa is playin’.
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POWERED
June 18th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Here in the flyover states the big car dealers have some serious stroke with state governments. Don’t underestimate the power of this lobby. The Texas AG announced last week that he too will bring a suit against GM’s plan.
June 18th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Hey, what’s the point of contributing to a political campaign if you can’t expect a little brain salad surgery in return?
June 18th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
So Obama selling everyone out to save the UAW has nothing to do with their political support of him?
June 18th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Ah, House of Cards and Francis Urquhart. “You might very well think that; I couldn’t possibly comment.”
June 18th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
taxman,
there are now about 500,00 UAW members, right? Obama received just under 70,000,000 votes. Do you think a president who will run again would alienate 70 million voters just to placate half a million UAW members?
Perhaps, just perhaps, Obama and Bush thought that the hit on our economy would be catastrophic if GM and Chrysler went under quickly. They both might well be wrong. Perhaps a freefall into chapter 7 would have been the best thing, but perhaps, the two presidents were trying to do something positive for the country as a whole.
Not every action is nefarious. Sometimes people just see things differently.
June 19th, 2009 at 5:33 am
“The Texas AG announced last week that he too will bring a suit against GM’s plan.”
All I see coming out of this is the reopening of Jamestown and the closure of Arlington. If the corruption in Texas no longer works, exactly zero reasons exist to do business there.
“So Obama selling everyone out to save the UAW has nothing to do with their political support of him?”
Everyone save the people who live in the communities and states with a large industrial presence, the other businesses and services in those areas, and the tax base of the same areas. Perhaps 30% unemployment, triggering the CDS gambit payoffs, and the widespread elimination of the country’s capacity for manufacturing and war at a profoundly greater cost would be good under some rationale. Somehow, I do not fully comprehend the point.