So, we have more good news from the auto industry and more evidence that the Southern senators who opposed the auto bridge loans in 2008-09 would have destroyed an industry that is now leading the nation’s economic recovery.
The Dixie Dumbbells (as I like to call them) who adhered to rigid ideology and refused to give the industry a helping hand must be utterly amazed at the success of the Big Three. Surely, these senators and House members realize how wrong they were and how disastrous their wrong-headed beliefs would have been, if followed by Congress and the administration.
So, once again, I ask: Where are the apologies? Can any of these guys say sorry for cavalierly attempting to destroy the economy of our state and our county?
Chrysler, which paid off its federal bailout loans far in advance, made $1.7 billion last year and expects to make more than $2 billion this year. For Chrysler workers, they will reap $2,300 profit-sharing checks – a 50 percent increase over the profit-based bonuses handed out a year ago.
Can you imagine those stubborn senators – the laissez faire loons who screamed, socialism is on the way? Imagine how stunned the "let them go bankrupt" crowd is by the big profit-sharing checks at Chrysler. In 2009, they would have “bet the ranch” that such an occurrence just three years later was impossible.
In retrospect, the congressional critics who said the rescue loans (which began under George W. Bush) represented President Obama’s “war on capitalism” must feel rather foolish. Based on the record corporate profits across the nation and the huge surge on Wall Street over the past two years, I’d say Obama is getting his butt kicked in that “war.”
The story is the same at General Motors – billions of dollars in profits, millions of cars sold, and big bonuses for the blue- and white-collar workers.
And at Ford, which would have suffered heavy collateral damage without the GM/Chrysler rescue, a whopping 10.4 percent profit margin was posted for 2012 North American operations. The profit-sharing checks for the workers will average $8,300.
Thanks to UAW contracts, we have one domestic industry where “trickle down” really does exist.
So, let’s take one more look back at what those confederates said in 2008-09 and just how far off the mark these Southern GOP purists were. Here’s a sampling:
* Then-Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina – the bailout plan was being pieced together “without any plausible plan for profitability.”
* Sen. Richard Shelby, Alabama --“It’s basically going to be a government-owned, government-run company. … It’s the road toward socialism.”
And he added this about the automakers: “They're a dinosaur in a sense. I hate to see this because I would like to see them become lean and hungry and innovative. And if they did and put out the right products they could survive. But I don't believe that the $25 billion they're talking about will make them survive. It's just postponing the inevitable."
* Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee – “The problem is they have no one coming in to buy cars. Regardless of what happens … the legislation, if passed, is not going to move people to buy cars.”
* And, lastly, we have a senator from the Southwest, not the South, but still a sarcastic Sunbelt kind of guy, Sen. John McCain, Arizona – “Anybody (who) believes that Chrysler is going to survive, I’d like to meet them.”
Hopefully, he will regret saying that for the rest of his life.
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