Bailout Watch 30: Nader Votes Nay, Dooms Opposition
Ralph Nader has plenty of good reasons for opposing the $50b taxpayer bailout, sorry, “low interest federal loans” for Detroit. Namely, “decades of poor decision-making” and Detroit’s total inability to drum-up capital on Wall Street. Unfortunately, Nader’s name, reputation and government intervention fetish discredit his cause. GM wasted no time rising to the bait, brushing off Ralphie-Boy’s criticism with a suitably put-down. “There are many more relevant voices in this discussion that see the existing provision for what it is,” spinmesiter Greg Martin told The Detroit News. “A sound, smart policy to inject capital into the industry to get advanced technology vehicles on the road quickly.” For once, a GM toady gets it right. About Nader. The consumer advocate argues for government intervention on a socialist scale: a “public takeover of the corporations.” Though a thorough managerial reshuffling should be a condition for any government bailout, Nader’s proposal of a government-run U.S. auto industry is ridiculous. Any such move would lead to a British Leyland-type public ownership debacle. Opponents of the bailout plans would do well to keep their distance from his wild schemes.
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@psarhjinian : Thank you for your post. My head was starting to throb.
Psar, You are much closer, now. I would disagree with the diametrically opposed comment. That's like saying the union libs and the green libs are diametrically opposed. The top down, bottom up thing is somewhat correct, but I would argue that in fact, both are top down. Socialism is "ostensibly" bottom up, but the top in both systems uses all sorts of tricks to control majority opinion. Both are inherently bad because of what happens in practice. Results matter much more than intentions. They may not be bad in theory, but we don't live in theory. I completely agree with you last paragraph, and it's precisely because the labels have various meanings to different folks. If you can't be specific, then just labeling something means very little. There is nothing wrong with saying that Nader's idea is socialist unless you and your listener don't really know what that means. Then, you better be able to explain it, or you should have kept your mouth shut in the first place.
@psarhjinian : Thoughtful post. I underestimated your depth of understanding and I apologize. Since this is a car blog I'll let this topic rest (although we could go on for days!)