Free Republic

Are Pres. Obama’s GM chickens coming home . . . to roost? Chris Matthews, clearly nervous for his guy, is fretting poll numbers showing a substantial majority of Americans opposed to the GM bailout. So shook up was the Hardball host on PBO’s behalf that he ended today’s segment on the subject muttering “this sounds bad. This sounds bad. This sounds bad.” NBC News political director and chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd opined that the bailout’s success or failure will weigh heavily in the public’s assessement of PBO himself. View video here.

There was a time when we would have called it a scandal. In 1921, oil tycoon Harry Sinclair gave several prize head of cattle and around $269,000 to President Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall. In return, Sinclair got the exclusive rights to drill in an oil field in Wyoming. Sinclair’s no-bid contract became the Teapot Dome scandal, the most notorious example of political corruption in America prior to Watergate. Between 2000 and 2008, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union gave $23,675,562 to the Democratic Party and its candidates. In 2008 alone, the UAW gave $4,161,567 to the Democratic...

Some analysts say the federal government's effort to prop up the nation's largest auto manufacturer is eerily similar to a 40-year effort to revive the nation's ailing railroad system. Billions of taxpayer dollars later, Amtrak still needs the government to survive -- and critics say General Motors appears to be headed down the same track.

Scan the coverage today of GM's bankruptcy and you'll see a wide range of reaction, from predictions of certain doom to sheer uncertainty about the company's eventual fate. The word "gambling" comes up a lot in reference to President Obama's plan, never a good thing when you're talking about amounts of money ending in 10 zeroes. What you don't see this morning are predictions of success. It's difficult to find more than a handful of analysts or commentators in the mainstream media (outside of Detroit) who believe that this blueprint is likely to work. Not that it might work, but...

... In survey after survey since, Rasmussen Reports has found that Americans are not in a bailout mood, for GM or anybody. CEO Chairman Rick Wagoner first approached the Bush administration and Congress seeking $18 billion in taxpayer-backed loans last fall. However, in November just after the election, 45% of Americans were opposed to the loans, 35% favored them, and 20% were undecided. Four-out-of-five (80%) were concerned the government would get too involved in the private economy. That same month, nearly half of U.S. voters (48%) said it was better for the economy to let companies like General Motors fail...

... G.M.’s core problem is its corporate and workplace culture — the unquantifiable but essential attitudes, mind-sets and relationship patterns that are passed down, year after year. Over the last five decades, this company has progressively lost touch with car buyers, especially the educated car buyers who flock to European and Japanese brands. Over five decades, this company has tolerated labor practices that seem insane to outsiders. Over these decades, it has tolerated bureaucratic structures that repel top talent. [...] As a result, G.M. has steadily lost U.S. market share, from 54 to 19 percent. Consumer Reports now recommends 70...

Remember the Chrysler "hedge fund investors" that President Obama berated on national TV? Among these people labeled as "no goodniks" by the President were organizations such as the the Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund, and the Police retirement fund. The President of the United States was trying to intimidate retired teaches from exercising their rights as primary investors. That's the politics of change, screw a bunch of retired teachers to reward the UAW for helping you get elected. Now that GM is nearing its bankruptcy a new group of investors are about to get the Presidential screw. Unlike the Chrysler...