Earnest claimed that the regime “saved” a million jobs by “bailing out” GM when Obama took office. If my quick look on the internet is correct, GM sold about 8 million cars a year around that time (with 2009 the worse year for car sales in a long time).
Now if GM had gone bankrupt, 8 million buyers would still need those cars, and I don’t think Germany and Japan would be able to ship over anywhere near enough to fill that need. Somebody would’ve bought GM, or they would’ve reorganized, or they would’ve merged - and their factories would still be cranking out vehicles, and their dealerships still would be moving them, and most of their workers would still be working.
Instead, they became “Government Motors”; their sales declined while Ford’s went up; and while the UAW prospered, GM was muscled into making Volts nobody wants. But none of that matters - all that matters is that Obama had an opportunity to throw away more money, and then take credit for some nebulous non-accomplishment.
Very good synopsis of ‘0blowhard and the auto industry’ but let me add Cash for Clunkers.