Giving Credit Where It Is Due? Obama To Use State Of The Union Address Take Full Credit For Automaker Turnaround

I view the alleged "turn around" as a temporary reprieve, sort of like giving a chronic alcoholic a liver transplant. Remember, this is the second time Chrysler went bankrupt, so it's obvious that throwing a pile of money at it the first time didn't "turn it around" so it can stay alive on its own accord.

I believe we'll see more bailouts in the future :-(


(For your reference: "Bailout" means that in a nation where every man, woman, and child ows over $50,000 of the national debt on top of their own personal debt, and the government will load you up with still more debt so a poorly run, money-losing Giga Enterprise can continue to do what they do. Enjoy the "turn around.")

Oh give it a break....Obama is not perfect, I don't know anyone who is, but I commend him for sticking his neck out for the auto industry even when it was not popular.

I remember he got so much backlash but he stood his ground, and there hundreds of thousands of families across the U.S and be beyond grateful for Obama's commitment to the industry.

While yes GM and Chrysler are steady works in progress, I would not want to imagine the industry, economy, and market without them given all the businesses connected to them

@Car4Life: At the turn of the 20th Century, there was a substantial industry related to the building and maintenance of horse-drawn carriages, as well as all the related trades. Wheelwrights, cartwrights, buggy whip makers, leatherworkers for seats and harnesses, horse feed growers, street sweepers to clean up horse manure, stable keeps, etc. When Henry Ford started making mass-produced "affordable" automobiles (AKA "Horseless Carriages"), many people believed it would be bad for the economy, putting entire industries out of business and resulting is mass unemployment! In reality, Ford's creation just spawned a massive new need for labor, albeit a different kind.

People who support the bailouts of the failing US automakers like to paint a picture in which millions of people are suddenly and permanently out of work, and the economy collapses, similar to the believers of the turn of the 20th Century. The reality is more likely to be different. GM makes lots and lots of vehicles for lots and lots of consumers. That demand doesn't suddenly go away just because a couple of failing car makers go out of business. The surviving automakers would be faced with unfulfilled demand, and they'd need to hire workers to help them meet it. They'd also need parts suppliers and other related companies to help meet that demand. This change wouldn't happen overnight, but the shift to a new state means that those who know how to run a business in a sustainably profitable manner, will continue to do so.

As we stand today, the lesson we have taught US automakers is that the consequence for running your company badly, racking up massive debt, making uninspiring products, and not being able to be consistently profitable, is that the government will transfer your debt to taxpayers and let you do the same-old-same-old all over again. We've seen that with Chrysler. Stay tuned to see it again with GM and possibly others.

A vote for auto industry bailouts is like voting to shut down Ford in 1907 in order to preserve the bustling horse-drawn buggy industry and it's related suppliers, all because of the belief that it's essential for a healthy economy and it's good for the nation, and failure to do so would result in calamity. Giddy-up!

The government loans needed to happen. That's what "too big to fail" means, for goodness's sake -- that if a company were to go bust, it would have far-reaching consequences far more damaging than the cost of preventing the bust. Our automakers and our banks are exactly that -- too big to fail. They're not the only ones, either.

I'm sure there would have been a lot of suitors waiting to buy GM and Chrysler as we let them go out of business, what with the great unions, the outdated plants, the incompatible products with the suitors. 009, your "free market will solve everything" mindset is just as bad as the pinko leftist community out there. I'm sure our economy would have recovered very nicely with the additional thousands of jobless families from GM's and Chrysler's going out of business.

The article you reference does not support the headline you selected with your politically jaundiced eye...shame on you!

It never ceases to amaze me how someone who writes for Autospies and I assume considers himself a car enthusiast could have such a deep desire to see GM fail.

As someone who truly loves cars I simply don't understand where 009 is coming from. Of all the trillions of government spending to pick on... he pick this? I'm thankful that Obama saved GM and Chrysler.

If 009 were in charge, both companies would be long gone and we wouldn't have the wonderful Corvette Z06, Cadillac CTS-V, Camaro Z28, Challenger and Charger Hellcat, Viper, Jeep, Ram Trucks, etc, not to mention all the exciting future product that I'm sure both companies are developing. Now that would be sad.

Fiscally, Obama is the WORST President of all time. He doubled the all-time debt of every President before him in just under 3 years. Borerock Osama did NOTHING to help the auto industry. This is just the flailing of a failed, lame-duck President that has rescued Carter for being the worst fiscal idiot of all time and Nixon of being the most criminal of all time.

Nothing to help the auto industry? I would call saving GM and Chrysler SOMETHING. While far from perfect, the US economy is the envy of the world right now. Your infantile post is no surprise coming from someone who calls the president "Boreock Osama". Lol.

@runninglogan you're a tool

The Hillary2016 campaign says your welfare check is the mail for opposing the obvious.

The President deserves ridicule. Barack Carter.

Matty you are such a tool.
Reagan and Bush (the idiot son) were substantial worse.
Your "Borerock Osama" is the funniest part since we actually had to wait for Obama to take office in order to take out Osama Bin Ladin. Bush certainly wasn't able to do it since he was focused on being the destroyer of our middle class and the economy.

More garbage from TerryTheTurd and that bozo LoganTheRuns ... Matt, cowards take credit for things they never did... wonder why BO hasn't taken credit for the $8T in debt, in 6 yrs..that has done zero to grow the economy or get folks back to work. He and the DumboCraps ran the place up until last week....The Commander in Chief is in charge of foreign policy and the world is on fire... The American people drive the economy and any improvements are due to Americans spending as well as lower gas prices, NONE of which Barry Soetoro had anything to do with it, actually has worked against... bunch of idiots...Hey TerryTheTurd... Barry is a coward, the Military that was rebuilt under RWR & The Bush's took out OBL, Barry was golfing while others did the work.... that's what cowards too...

Jackass xjug - - - Seems you had a little time between your White Supremest and KKK meetings to regurgitate the same set of lies that are the backbone of the repubtards.

Terry, act your age not your IQ.... Doh I suppose those might be the same, around 13

Terry, please tell me what I mentioned was a lie? Also the name calling is straight from the liberal hand book; " no defense, lash out at the speaker..."

OK Jackass xjug - - - let see:
Borerock Osama
DumboCraps
bozo LoganTheRuns
bunch of idiots
TerryTheTurd
Barry the coward
Barack Carter
Please - - - this name calling a-l-w-a-y-s originates from you dickless RepupTards. With the attention span of a 5 year old, you apparently can even remember what you wrote in your own previous post.

He didn't save GM or Chrysler. They saved themselves. Sure Obama Bin Barack floated them money, but GM and Chrysler did the work.

No money, no GM or Chrysler. That's the bottom line.

Another infantile post. No surprises with you.

I will go with the I am glad that the auto industry was bailed out crowd. I am a believer that we need the engineers and scientists that it takes to run large industrial projects including huge complex production lines with all the robotics and precision engineering it takes to create, build and run them. The only other industry that has this capability is the aircraft industry. And to those who think hey Toyota makes cars here or BMW makes cars here… well yea they make them here but all the engineering, scientific research etc… is done primarily in their parent countries and not the US. So we can screw a car together… they can do that in the poorest of poor areas in Mexico. Is that where we want to be? Some auto laborers making $7hr, never can buy what they make, in fact have to get some kind of subsistence from the government just to survive? I don't want an America like that. I want autoworkers earning what their German and Japanese counterparts make. I want scientist and engineers figuring out how to make a more efficient and better production line. I want execs that make reasonable salaries in line with those in the other countries that make cars not some bizarre salary that is approved by a back slapping golf buddy system of be on my board I will be on yours. My 2 cents….

Folks,

There's a reason why rule #1 for bartenders is 'never discuss politics or religion'... We are so far off topic with all the rant above.

Can we talk cars? Some of the comments above are funny but I for one come here for car talk. No trash talk.

Cheers

Amen.

"...He didn't save GM or Chrysler. They saved themselves. .." ?$?%?$?

Stay with cars and out of politics.