Late Edition: Bush Punted Auto Industry Problems to Obama, Is Going to be Herbert Hoover
By Heather Monday Dec 22, 2008 2:30pm
From Late Edition Dec. 21, 2008. Ed Rollins slaps Bush pretty hard for the damage he's already done to our economy.
BLITZER: David Gergen, did President Bush do the right thing by bailing out Chrysler and GM?
GERGEN: Yes. He had backed himself into a corner and had to act and I think Dick Cheney put it well when he said had Bush had not done this, he would have been remembered as the Herbert Hoover of his era.
And it was unfortunate they had to come to this thing. But the real point is here, he's not only been forced to do that, but he has punted this to Barack Obama. Obama now faces a ton of huge decisions in the first 90 days of his presidency. BLITZER: There's no doubt, James, that he did punt in effect because by March 31st, if it doesn't look like it's working out, it is all going to be up to the president-elect and the new Congress to decide what to do.
CARVILLE: They're going to run out of money before March 31st. And right now, auto sales, everybody, doesn't matter, not just American carmakers, Japanese or European carmakers also are down 35, 40 percent. I don't think anybody thinks that is going to change between now and March and David is right, they have the ball and they're going to have to figure out what to do with this and it's going to be quick, very quick.
BLITZER: So Ed Rollins, the $14 or $17 billion in this initial bridge loan as it's called, that could escalate. That could go up to a lot more money given the overall state of the economy and the low demand for new cars right now.
ROLLINS: I think there's no question if you're going to try to save this industry, which is an industry in real problems, you are going to have a lot more money that is going to be thrown at him. I think that's a lot of the objections of the Republicans.
I think the problem the president made here is he let it go to Congress. The Congress, his own party, basically, didn't want it. There's a few weeks before the new president comes in and this president is trying to be relevant. He doesn't want to be Herbert Hoover, he is going to be Herbert Hoover. I don't care what he says, or what Dick Cheney says, this president has damaged this economy and is going to go out with a tarnished record. I think the critical thing here is let the new Congress take charge and let the new president take charge and move it forward. Unfortunately, it is on their watch and it is a mess.
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Can someone tell me what ed rollins has ever done that make him someone you should seek advice from?
I mean the only thing he ever did was help a republican get elected. That seems more like something he should be ashamed of.
republicans don't know what government is or how it operates they have been told it's bad and that is all it take for them to try to ruin the planet.
Stop watching the idiot box and the idiots on it!
"Republican Strategist".....means, does nothing but fire shit out of his ass. And James Carville? WHY, oh why, don't these political hacks ever go away? Why? Somebody out there with clout on the networks has to start pulling the plug on these idiots.
Is expecting its first loss since 1950.
We are long way from the bottom in this contraction. Unemployment is probably more like 11-12% right now. Not the rosy scenario playbook 6.7% that is stated.
While there are similarities with the 1930s there are differences.
This one could be even worse. What I see in my little neck of the woods is a full stop.
Not just a pullback.
This is going to get really ugly. And what are political leaders doing? Giving out tax dollars as fast as they can to get that "trickle down" BS running. Hello, politicians? Trickle Down doesn't work!!!
Doctors, lawyers, investment-types.
Forty houses in foreclosure (vs. zero two years ago).
$1 million + town budget deficit.
This is as good as it gets outside the beltway.
than Bushco's dishonest number. Including the long-term unemployed (people who've given up looking for work) and workers who want full-time work but only have part-time, the figure is 12.7%.
First we had George Herbert Walker Bush. Now we've been had by George Herbert Hoover Bush.
Eff-ing bush has kicked a lot of cans down the street to Obama. Two wars, an economic melt down and a world that thinks we pretty much suck.
Remember a long time ago bush told us the war would be for the next president to deal with.
He just gave the auto makers enough money to hush them up for a little while knowing full well that it was a much much larger problem for the future.
than to have Bush try to fix it.
The Repugs drain our treasury of as much as possible, then get to return to power years later, accusing the
Dems of raising taxes ( fixing what the GOP has left us ).
Americans have a short memory...
you got this right. the gop fuckheads ruin the govt
run up the biggest debts in history, pass laws to protect
and enhance their corp asshole buddies financial security
and then blame the democrats who have to bail the country
out every single time.
these fucking gop debts don't pay themselves, and
the sooner the hopeless moron 29%ers and the entire
gop realize this, then we will be able to work to
make this country financially, economically and
morally stable again.
the entire bush/cheney administration should be
housed in gitmo and then left as it is shut down.
And so should the people who voted for him twice, and still think he's the best preznit ever.
Yes there are quite a few of those.
People who are losing or have lost thier homes to foreclosure are not going to be buying cars, nor can they. Everyone sees that the light at the end of the tunnel is a freight train and no one is going to part with any money unless they absolutely have to right now.
The county where I live had an emergency meeting today to see what else they can cut from the school system here. They have already cut school bus routes in half among other things. They said this next cut will have to be deep and drastic in order to keep the schools open. Towns and counties are getting hit hard by a lack of funds and no one seems to notice.
gov. schwartz... says he has a $40 millon short fall in calif,
well, come to washington state where the bush fiasco has
our gov. gregoire with a debit ballance next year of $600 million.
Actually, the projected budget shortfall for California is $40 billion, not million. Of course, Californian's put themselves into this mess by buying $15 billion in short term bonds (5 years) right after the "Governator" came into office to stave off a financial crises created by Enron and also their ludicrous Proposition 13 which doesn't allow for property taxes to be increased.
thanks i stand corrected
Even before the governator took over?
I haven't heard what the debt is in Florida, but it has to be ugly. To rub salt in the wound, Floridians found out a couple of weeks ago that Charlie Crist took an overseas trip with all the glitz and glitter and handed the tax payers the bill. He said the trip was for the benefit of the state. To which many in Florida replied, Bullshit!
In my little corner of MI the Chrysler 4+ week shutdown is starting to hit hard. Most of the factories here are big 3 suppliers and are on 2 week shutdown and I've been hearing today that many have contacted their employees and told them not to come back until called. Our unemployment was already over 13% before this. Restaurants are beginning to lay off/shut down because no one can afford to go out to eat and even the infamous Wal-Mart is slower than I've ever seen. We just got 10" of snow this weekend and in my small town no roads were cleared in the city until this morning - they're not going to be out on weekends, period.
I'm watching our local news now on TV. Not a mention of anything other than feel-good holiday stories and the inevitable "look at all this snow" clip.
Sharpen your pitchfork and oil up your torch.
Torch - check.
Tar - check.
Feathers - check.
Rail - check.
"Naughty" list - check and check!
Of course we don't have any auto makers in my area of Florida, but we have been watching businesses fold for months now. Some restaurant chains have been shut down for about six months. They are gone and won't be back. No matter which direction you travel on US1 you see "For Lease" and "For Sale" signs everywhere. It's sad as hell. Some of the first businesses to go were the locally owned ones. Beauty shops and such are closer to failing every day....at least the ones that are still around.
I grew up in Iowa during the farm crises of the 1980s. In my home town of Dunkerton, we went from 50 kids in my graduating class down to 35 due to Rath Packing going bankrupt and John Deere shedding 10,000 jobs. Of course, the farmers losing their farms didn't help either. President Reagan's policy of being standoffish toward the family farmer is reminiscent of the Congressional Republicans indifference to the American auto worker.
Or didn't you hear that this next term in the US House will be Peter Hoekstra's last...Then it's on to Lansing, where Governor Pete and his big business brain will bail out the state! [/snark]
But I was hoping it was all a bad dream. I look forward to that about as much as the thought of 'Governor DeVos'. If the Hoekstra thing is true maybe it will be time for us to slip a couple of miles south and cross the IN border under cover of darkness....
What's the difference, except for the size of their personal bank accounts? Okay, their IQ's, probably, but other than those two things....not much.
And, NO! I refuse to relocate to either Indiana or Ohio. Never!
Trust me, it's a better direction to be going.
Just remember that your family and friends are what matters. We're all going to get this lesson.
just might be the silver lining in all of this..
just might be the silver lining in all of this..
You know the god damn government of the united states of america is supposed to be of, for, and by, the people. The last time I looked that is you and me.
I agree that lots of things have been done wrong but you have to blame a lot of that on the people that say government is bad, the republicans.
They preach how government is the problem not the answer. Don't you understand they are talking about you. They want you to just shut up and do what they say. That is the republican party from Stem to stern! If you listen to what they say you will be a ignorant as they want you to be!!!!
W's perfect record is nothing short of remarkable. He's screwed up every single thing he's ever done.
why does w. want to destroy the U.S.?
Of creating a corporate fascist state.
I'm just hoping we can get through these next few weeks without bush or cheney doing anything else. Just please let them go home for the holidays and shut the fu*k up.
FIRE = Finance, Insurance, Real Estate
Commercial realtors are now pestering Congress for another $200 BILLION to cover their costs for over-building, now that the demand for space has fallen through the floor...
are political.
Do the right sales job, problem solved.
He has succeeded on this basis.
Law school. Community organizing. Run for the president.
Obama risks not just failing, but making GWB look good.
"Obama risks not just failing, but making GWB look good."
You're kidding right?
that Bush damaged the economy... "no matter WHAT Dick Cheney sez." Wow, wasn't he a Republican at one time. They just don't DO that! He must REALLY want his job at CNN if he's willing to actually admit this about Bush.
If you spent five minutes listening to Reich Wing Radio... you would think that Obama became president five minutes ago... and has already sent this economy spinning toward a DEPRESSION al on his own due to his Marxist beliefs and Communist afilliations. Oh, yea... did I hear that he's a MUSLIM too?
Perhaps people (of lower intelligence) can easily mistaken Barack Hussein Obama getting it confused between whether it is a Muslim or Christian name, much like how it may be difficult to determine if someone by the last name of "Rosenburg" is either Jewish or Christian (if Jewish, usually there would be an "e" and not a "u").
Is one of the things that is wrong with the US economy is how certain politicians, both repubs and dems stash their money is overseas accounts such as in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland? I know Joe Biden mentioned that that is a very un-American thing to do. So, how unethical is it to have overseas accounts? Is it in the least, technically illegal just to evade taxes?
Hoover was worthless but Bush is toxic.
Bush is in a class all by himself.
I wonder how much Obama can pull us out of this economic recession like FDR pulled us out of the Great Depression. Would Obama have enough time for either 4-8 years in order to straighten out this economic tsunami of greed and corruption?
I think that if this "Move Forward, Forget the Past(TM)" mentality takes root, there will be many white-collar grifters who will take that as an invitation to continue scamming the people and ripping off the treasury.
Unless these pathogens are held accountable, why should anything change?
Good point. It's easier to look back on the past than it is to forecast the future. One of the most significant things that Obama said (paraphrasing Reagan to some degree) shortly before he was elected was, "the question is not are we better off than we were 4 years ago - we all know the answer to that - the REAL question is will we be better off 4 years from now?"
Although FDR did a great job in helping the new poor, and setting up new governmental organizations to secure future economic activity, it was primarily the destruction of the world's industry by World War II that put America into an enviable position, but it was an aberration.
Just in case you folks were worried, the rich are doing fine.
I wonder if at any point the rich will feel the pinch, whether they have, are, or will given those who work under them. After all, the rich need people to work and serve them, right? Otherwise many of them may end up like Howard Hughes all anti-social and germaphobic.
I couldn't really give a shit, lol!
If they have trouble making ends meet, they won't be able to provide the vision, leadership and determination it will take to fix this country.
(end snark)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFgpAxom-eg
Find someplace to hide.
When their money is worthless, and they have to lower themselves amongst us low born peasants in order to survive?
Rollins better watch his step, he will get disinvited to the next republican cocktail party to discuss strategy against us Marxists!
according to this site toyota sold more camry models alone this year than chyrsler has sold of all it's cars. chyrsler discontinued its only hybrid model earlier this fall. they will rely on nissan of japan to
develop its small car.
ford did NOT seek federal assistance because it has cash reserves. ford is addapting two european models the focus and the fiesta for the american market. they are also about to introduce a hybrid electric version of the fusion a family sedan.
Past injuries make it difficult for me to scrunch 6'3" of me into a small car.
I got an Escape hybrid. I'm getting near 35 mpg.
government unions at the city, state and fed level will destroy us all. 70-80% of budgets are union payrolls.
they have more power than wall st.--the unions will not allow any cuts of pay or to their cost of living pensions.
arnold in calif. can't even furlough the unions for a measley 2 days a month to save money. the unions are suing him.
no politician can break the gov't unions.
and they will ride us into a depression.
If it weren't for the gov't unions, everything would be hunky-dory.
Kiss my pale, scrawny Irish arse you corporate fuck!
I never said everything would be hunky-dory if gov't payrolls were cut.
but since they won't be--that means more taxes and social programs will be cut when neither is a good option as revenue streams dwindle.
the private work force is bleeding right now--why should'nt gov't payrolls take cuts too?
have you or when do you plan to take a cut?
I'm already bleeding--I was stupid enuf to work in the private sector.
You could take more of a cut. It would be good for the state you live in or the corporations.
layoffs are happening.so unemployment goes up. many states/communities are NOT collecting property taxes due to many foreclosed/preforclosed homes. wall street caused a lot of this recent debacle via derivatives(credit default swaps in the multi trillions). the hedge funds are going to need more money.
"the hedge funds are going to need more money.."
you really think that will solve ANYTHING? I hope you can explain it to me... or maybe you are being sarcastic and I really missed it.
i'm NOT making any claims that way. i'm just saying i expect the hedge funds and financial institutions to ask for more cheddar. nothing about solving anything.
whew!
I lay most of it on wall st.--they blew a 40 trillion hole in the economy with derivatives.
the depression--coming to the US soon.
Unions are the only reason you made the wages you make.
Wages for workers are not the problem. It is business wanting short term gain with no long term planing.
They are building a house on weak and shifting sand.
If the people that work for you cannot afford to buy your car you won't be selling many cars.
Henry Ford understood this when he gave his workers the biggest raise I guess in history. The car sales really took off.
But if you don't make cars here. If you move your plant to a place that the people make .50 cents an hour, they cannot afford your car. The people that you ran from in America that made 20 or 25 dollars an hour cannot afford to buy your car. So what do you do with your fucking car?
Not much if no one is buying. Here you are dumbass how do you like it? Apply this lesson to and business you can think of and you gety the same result. Nothing from Nothing still leaves Nothing.
Ford is bleeding billions of dollars, too.
They are playing a dangerous game of trying to squeeze by a few more months without asking for Gov. help, waiting for their European divisions to deliver their (new to us) models for the American market. It will all play out well for them, if, by the time they get that phase together and are ready to sell those models, there will actually be money for/from banks to lend the new auto customers.
Try getting a loan lately? You need a credit score of 700+, and a good down payment to drive one off the lot. That excludes a lot of people
I hate to be a pessimist, but of all the $300 billion thrown at the banks, NOTHING has improved the reality of getting a loan or a mortgage to the regular person on the street.
All three car companies have the best cars they have ever designed, but there are no buyers because there are no easy loans to get them out the door.
UPDATE: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206010...
i read an article in The New Republic December 03,2008 by john judis entitled Debt Man Walking. i recommend the 3 page article. it explains the Bretton Woods system. he also explains our tortuous financial relationship with china and japan. these somewhat informal relationships has allowed asian countries to run huge export surpluses with the u.s. while allowing the u.s. to run huge budget deficits without having to raise taxes and to run huge trade deficits without abruptly depreciating it's currency. the recession of 2001 would have been uch more severe but foreigners will willing to buy treasuries and BUSH administration was able to cut taxes and increase spending. most of us know the economy barely recovered over the following 4-5 yrs. wal; street had fear from the tech bubble so they went into mortgage backed securities. the so-called economic recovery was driven by growth in consumer spending. NOT real wages but debt. read this article it's good.
With all the punditry going on, it appears the economy is never going to sink enough to get some decent people on cable television (with the notable exceptions of Olbermann & Maddow).
Maybe The Long War has not just bankrupted us morally, it has also bankrupted the entire world, financially.
really sorry to say it, but i'm getting fed up with obama's passive stance on issues that count. if bush is pushing the rotton economy off on obama and obama just shrugs and takes it, then that's obama. i wanted someone who was not the politician to take the issues head on and call them as they are. this mess of an economy rests surely on the shoulder of the shrub. his actions directly caused where we are today. And what about obama filling his war staff with leftovers from the bush admin. looks good to the "reaching out" crowd but leaves the rest of us wondering. They should get what they deserve. lastly, obama, you invited that preacher who is so against gays and the gay lifestyle to give the invocation at your inauguaral. real nice. careful lest you lost your real base. where is dennis when we need him. obama, the worst thing i can say about you is that you are a politician.
Obama's waitin until after he's in the WH to get all aggro with these problems.
I remain cautiously optimistic.
Best comment so far!!
Say what you want about Herbert Hoover as president; he was tireless during WWI in helping Belgium survive the German occupation. Many Belgians would have starved to death without his efforts. Bush the Bloody can lay claim to no such legacy.
How any one in their right mind could ever vote republican is beyond me.
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