Bailout Watch 137: World's Most Extreme Detroit Apologists
Today, on World’s Most Extreme Detroit Apologists… Forbes’ Senior Correspondent Jerry Flint goes all the way on a federal bailout for Detroit– he even says GM’s management doesn’t have its noses in the trough. That’s right. Our man Flint thinks that the tens of millions of dollars shovelled into GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner’s pocket each year, not to mention the pockets of his non-performing pals at the top, are nothing more than fair compensation. Despite the fact that GM’s stock price has tumbled from $40 a share to less than $5, despite the huge loss of American market share, despite a cash conflagration that threatens to burn GM to a crisp, Flint says the big bucks belong to the bailout queens. “The leaders of GM have made their mistakes–plenty of them–but they didn’t enrich themselves beyond decency as those other executives did. Today’s economic problems, brought on by subprime mortgages, credit default swaps, a credit freeze and a stock market collapse, were caused by those other folks.” What’s more Flint says America owes GM a bailout because the General saved the country during World War II– completely ignoring GM’s contribution to the Nazi war machine. Flint concludes his dietribe [sic] by repeating the old saw, “What’s good for America is good for General Motors–and vice versa.” We say what’s good for Jerry Flint is a mega-caffeinated dose of liquid reality. Before it’s too late.
More by Robert Farago
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Robert, please keep it up! The WW2 connections to Detroit are fascinating and educational.
What is it with GM and fascist dictators? Even now they hope to make big bugs in Putin's Russia. It's amazing how comfortable they are doing business with the Kremlin crimelords.
Flint writes all his columns as if it is 1955, with a globe-straddling Big 3 untroubled by a handful of ankle-biter import brands. He should have retired years ago. Making lickspittle justifications for Bureaucrat Rick's premium-priced failure is just following the party line at Forbes, the house organ of the deadweight, overpaid American corporate bureaucrat along with Fortune.