Bailout Watch 3: Hillary Offers Industry Bailout

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

The Toledo Blade reports that Hillary Clinton has gone on the record saying that "if confronted with the prospect of a bankruptcy by General Motors or Ford, she would extend the resources of the federal government to help keep them afloat." The quote comes from a meeting between Clinton and the editorial board of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in which manufacturing policy was widely discussed. When asked about her views on a Chrysler-style bailout of major American automakers, the Senator from New York said that "for both economic and national security reasons, the next president should be aggressive in taking steps to protect and nurture the nation's manufacturing base." Of course, politicians say lots of things on the campaign trail, and the worse-off the campaign, the more aggressive the sound bites. Had the Michigan primary been rescheduled, this blank check could have gone over well for Clinton, who is seen by auto execs as "anti-car." As things stand, however, this quote will accomplish little more than pointing out the desperation of the Clinton campaign, and the obviousness of Detroit's woe.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Ronin Ronin on Apr 15, 2008

    well, duh. A central tenet of the Communist party is that government owns the means of production, and determines what gets produced. So naturally she wants the central economy to build more tractors.

  • Orian Orian on Apr 15, 2008

    Robert, From what I understand a few companies have been given government hand outs over the past 7 years. Haliburton? Blackwater? ring any bells? Ronin, Go check ideologies. Far Right leans towards Fascism, far Left leans towards Socialism. If you really believe that it's going to go to one extreme or the other it's time for a reality check.

  • David C. Holzman David C. Holzman on Apr 15, 2008

    We need more aggressive antitrust so that no-one gets so big they have to be bailed out.

  • MgoBLUE MgoBLUE on Apr 15, 2008

    If we let Chrysler die, Ford and GM won't need any bailouts. For several more years, anyway...

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