Bailout Watch 418: Barack Obama Tells Germany Not To Abandon Their Auto Industry

by Robert Farago

February 24th, 2009 10:25 PM

bailout watch 418 barack obama tells germany not to abandon their auto industry

“As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global recession have pushed our automakers to the brink. We should not, and will not, protect them from their own bad practices.

“But we are committed to the goal of a re-tooled, re-imagined auto industry that can compete and win. Millions of jobs depend on it. Scores of communities depend on it. And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.”

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4 of 38 comments

Geeber on Feb 25, 2009
jerry weber: His interchangeable parts and moving the product down a long line were Ford’s or at least his Lieutenant’s ideas. It was the Lelands, working for Cadillac, who perfected the concept of interchangeable parts. Cadillac won its first Dewar Trophy for this (the second trophy was for inventing the self starter, which also first appeared on a Cadillac).

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Jgh on Feb 25, 2009

I knew I wasn't the only one that caught that flub.

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Akitadog on Feb 25, 2009

I caught that error as well, but yes, we're really picking nits here.

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Joeaverage on Feb 26, 2009
cleek: I always felt like Clinton was trying to sell me a timeshare in the Ozarks. EXACTLY! I could never listen to Clinton for that reason. He was a cheap salesman trying to sell me something while I needed to be somewhere else. And then there is the whole question of honesty and honor... "I did NOT have a relationship with..." and the classic "What IS the definition of IS?" I would have respected the man much more had he just been honest. And of course I recognize the Republicans were on a witch-hunt. I couldn't listen to Bush either. Plant the seeds of fear of WMD so they can march into Iraq and set up camp. Fear your international neighbors. Foothold in the Middle East with a puppet gov't under their thumb. The Iraqi gov't tries to look legitimate and substantial... I can listen to Obama. The man can talk. He can sell. The problem is I had pretty high hopes for his presidency and increasingly he just looks to me like the front man for all the stereotypical Democrat agendas. Not necessarily leading by careful consideration and wisdom but the same old same old Democrat agenda with a shiny exterior. I hope he proves me wrong... Just like Detroit we need federal leadership that will make TOUGH choices like never before. Yet when Congress hands out the money we have all of these unnecessary projects with big price tags tacked on. Maybe Obama's leadership is getting diluted by the DC political machine. "We are committed to reorganizing the American auto industry." There are SO many things the federal gov't could do to change the game. They could use immiment domain against Chevron concerning the NiMH batteries which are capable of pushing a CUV 100 miles per charge and lasting beyond 150K miles. It's the perfect battery for the next decade until the Lithium battery is perfected. It works TODAY. VERY recyclable unlike Lithium. Doesn't age as badly as Lithium. Robust enough to power EVs based on existing CUV or compact car designs. They could realign the European and American safety standards so that the car industry formerly known as the big three could bring over more fuel efficient vehicles easier (if it is certified in the EU then it is certified here too). Vouchers for vehicle discounts for American citizens (of course we KNOW the dealers would instantly jack up prices -greed- to erode the buying power of these coupons.) Sure I know that at $1.80 fuel efficiency isn't priority number one but if we have another summer driving season price hike thanks to the speculators Detroit would be better positioned. How about addressing our country's ailments AND THEN "changing us for the better" with Liberal social programs??? I worry they are setting up a bunch of things that will require tax dollars to keep rolling year after year. Can you imagine the Federal gov't stopping the Social Security program cold? Nope won't happen. Medicaid and Medicare? Not hardly. Public schools? Riiight... Never going away. If the Federal gov't sets up nationalized health care then we won't be able to get rid of that either whether we can afford it or not. From where I sit it looks like future tax rates in America will be sharply higher to pay for these programs and pay down the national debt. Don't know about you but my quality of life won't increase with additional federal programs that come with additional federal taxes to support them. How about federal insurance programs - programs that set fixed insurance rates for healthcare to combat ever increasing healthcare insurance rates? Are they increasing because somebody is being greedy or is there some valid underlying cause??? Not only does Detroit needs a sharp turn around, our federal gov't might need one too. I doesn't look like (I fear) this president is going to be any different than the last one. Spend, spend, spend...

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