Anonymous wrote:His aides wrote a projection that it would peak at 8%. (See Kessler: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/mitt-romneys-claim-that-obama-said-stimulus-would-keep-unemployment-below-8-percent/2012/02/17/gIQA9A8MKR_blog.html). How does a projection by his aides become "he gave us his word"? Can you provide a quote where he turned that projection into a promise?Anonymous wrote:Do you really believe this? I'm really sad for you if you accept this. Just because Obama could not lower it (even though he gave us his word it would stay below 8% if stimulus was passed), does not mean it can't be done.Anonymous wrote: The present unemployment rate is 8.1%, and this is the new normal rate. The old normal unemployment rate of 5% is gone for good.
Do you think Romney passes the Constanza test on this campaign lie?
His aides wrote a projection that it would peak at 8%. (See Kessler: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/mitt-romneys-claim-that-obama-said-stimulus-would-keep-unemployment-below-8-percent/2012/02/17/gIQA9A8MKR_blog.html). How does a projection by his aides become "he gave us his word"? Can you provide a quote where he turned that projection into a promise?Anonymous wrote:Do you really believe this? I'm really sad for you if you accept this. Just because Obama could not lower it (even though he gave us his word it would stay below 8% if stimulus was passed), does not mean it can't be done.Anonymous wrote: The present unemployment rate is 8.1%, and this is the new normal rate. The old normal unemployment rate of 5% is gone for good.
Anonymous wrote:I am a conservative, and I have always been against car and bank bailouts. Running any business always includes risk management. I don't think we should reward businesses when they take risks they cannot afford to loose on. There are car makers and plenty of banks who ran their businesses more wisely - making products people will buy, no crazy risks, etc. They're not getting government dole because their businesses were doing okay.
I believe the government should have let GM and Chrysler go bankrupt. There would be some unemployment and economic pain in the short-term, but a capitalist system adjusts itself. The market would have been more open for responsible car makers, and they could have hired many of the former GM/Chrysler workers.
Anonymous wrote: The present unemployment rate is 8.1%, and this is the new normal rate. The old normal unemployment rate of 5% is gone for good.
It didn't make bad decisions for 35 years, it was decimated by higher gas prices under bush. Their main investments were in gas guzzling SUVs, then panic set in and all those lies about us running out of oil put a nail in that coffin, or did we suddenly forget???Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We saved an industry. Money well spent. GM had 2011 revenues of $150 billion and a profit of $7.6 billion. Do you have a cheaper way to fill that hole? Any idea of how many jobs are involved in making $150 billion?
We put $85 billion into AIG -- not to build anything, just to prevent catastrophe. We gave hundreds of billions in tax cuts which provided zero stimulus.
Lastly, let's call the criticism what it is: politics. We spent $18.6 billion to bail out the airline industry under Bush. You don't hear a bunch of armchair quarterbacks second guessing that. The auto bailout is only criticized because a Democrat did it.
Many of those jobs are overseas. Less that 1/2 of GM's jobs are in the US. Other than Canada, who else helped bail them out. GM also received billions in tax breaks because the bankruptcy laws were skirted in their case. That money should also be seen as part of the bailout.
It didn't make bad decisions for 35 years, it was decimated by higher gas prices under bush. Their main investments were in gas guzzling SUVs, then panic set in and all those lies about us running out of oil put a nail in that coffin, or did we suddenly forget???
I don't know what tax break you are talking about. Bankrupt companies generally don't end up paying taxes unless they are brought out of bankruptcy.
And sure they have employees all over the world. But they also have dealerships, parts suppliers, and more who depend upon the company for the living. Those jobs were on the chopping block, too.
Then what is the point of capitalism if GM and the UAW made bad decisions for 35 years and the government has to bail them out. Should we also bail out Sears? Should we have bailed out Woolworth or Studebaker. GM is now a smaller version of the same dysfunctional culture.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We saved an industry. Money well spent. GM had 2011 revenues of $150 billion and a profit of $7.6 billion. Do you have a cheaper way to fill that hole? Any idea of how many jobs are involved in making $150 billion?
We put $85 billion into AIG -- not to build anything, just to prevent catastrophe. We gave hundreds of billions in tax cuts which provided zero stimulus.
Lastly, let's call the criticism what it is: politics. We spent $18.6 billion to bail out the airline industry under Bush. You don't hear a bunch of armchair quarterbacks second guessing that. The auto bailout is only criticized because a Democrat did it.
Many of those jobs are overseas. Less that 1/2 of GM's jobs are in the US. Other than Canada, who else helped bail them out. GM also received billions in tax breaks because the bankruptcy laws were skirted in their case. That money should also be seen as part of the bailout.
It didn't make bad decisions for 35 years, it was decimated by higher gas prices under bush. Their main investments were in gas guzzling SUVs, then panic set in and all those lies about us running out of oil put a nail in that coffin, or did we suddenly forget???
I don't know what tax break you are talking about. Bankrupt companies generally don't end up paying taxes unless they are brought out of bankruptcy.
And sure they have employees all over the world. But they also have dealerships, parts suppliers, and more who depend upon the company for the living. Those jobs were on the chopping block, too.
Then what is the point of capitalism if GM and the UAW made bad decisions for 35 years and the government has to bail them out. Should we also bail out Sears? Should we have bailed out Woolworth or Studebaker. GM is now a smaller version of the same dysfunctional culture.
Anonymous wrote:Looked at two GM cars yesterday. One was a Cadillac made in Mexico - 47% domestic content. Another was a Chevrolet Sonic made in Michigan with about 48% domestic content. So thank you Obama for bailing out a company that is shipping jobs and dollars out of the US as fast as they can and sticking us with the bill.