Editor's notes: A report to be officially released later today, Monday, by the special inspector general for the government's bailout program, raises questions as to whether the Obama administration's "auto task force" considered job losses from dealership closings while pressuring the companies to reduce costs.
According to the report ( PDF: Audit findings ), Treasury did not show why the dealership deletions were "either necessary for the sake of the companies' economic survival or prudent for the sake of the nation's economic recovery," per Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the "$787 billion" ** stimulus program known as TARP. CNN calls Barofsky the "bailout watchdog," and that is exactly what he is. Again, Barofsky is the "special inspector general for TARP" and has clashed with Treasury before over other issues. He has received investigative requests from the Left Wing Nut, Alan Grayson (D- Fl), last year, as well as Darrell Issa (R- CA) with regard to the Administration's decision making process for the dolling out of 2 billion dollars of Stimulus money to several states (but not all states equally).
"Treasury [code for "Obama" - jds ] made a series of decisions that may have substantially contributed to the accelerated shuttering of thousands of small businesses potentially adding tens of thousands of workers to the already lengthy unemployment rolls — all based on a theory and without sufficient consideration of the decisions' broader economic impact," the report said.
Darrell Issa, the ranking minority member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, believes the report evidences the suspicion that the push to close Chrysler and GM dealerships within days of the Obama decision to take over these companies did nothing to insure the survival of these companies -- on this, we (Midknight Review) are talking [specifically] about the haste of these decisions as well as the individual decisions, themselves. Understand that the Collectivist Regime of Obama and Company used the need for "immediate action" to get its way with the February '09 Stimulus, the '09 Omnibus bill of $460b, the idiocy of the year long healthcare legislative process *** and the July '10 passage of the socalled "Wall Street reform bill." When "panic" and "immediacy" were added to these legislative processes, the ability to evaluate the resulting legislative restructuring was taken away. The result ?? Obama and his Marxist buds were able to accomplish much of their agenda without outsiders -- as in the rest of Congress and the American people it representes -- having a voice in the matter or a view of what was really happening.
Since the Obama-forced takeover of GM and Chrysler in February 2009, dealership related shutdowns have cost 35,300 jobs, a decline of about 3.3% per U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition to these private sector jobs (sales and service) , U.S. auto manufacturing has lost more than 32,700 jobs in the same period for a total of 68,000 jobs lost by April of 2009. Understand that in the middle of a recession, Obama destroyed 68,000 jobs all for the purpose of implementing his "fundamental transformation" of this great nation. This is not to mention the loss of millions of dollars to retirement funds of police and teacher unions invested as primary stockholders in the two auto companies. These unions lost 60 cents on the dollar, according to economic estimates.We were led to believe that the 85 billion dollar price tag for this takeover would be repaid by the auto manufacturers which were now owned by their unions. We have discovered of late that less than 7billion will be paid back. In March of this year (2010's "first quarter'), GM put out that they had paid back the required 6.6 billion "5 years ahead of schedule" and the simple minded Lefties bought into this obvious lie (PERMALINK).
Know that Conservative pundits including Midknight Review, did not fall for this idiocy. GM had lost money in each of the 4 quarters of 2009 including a 3.4billion dollar loss in the last quarter of that year (Bloomberg reports) and, then, suddenly had enough "profit" to pay back the socalled 6.6 billion dollar loan from the American Government in the first quarter of this year !!!!?? We rather believe that the money came from funds made available to the Administration in legislation passed on Dec 24 of 2009 giving our new found Marxist friend of the people unfettered access to Fannie and Freddie.
End notes:
** What is laughingly called the "$787 billion Stimulus" in February of 2009 has ballooned to $914 billion, including 3 unemployment benefit allocations since the passage of the Stimulus - fast approaching 20% over budget in just 17 months.
*** Understand that the healthcare bill was/is little more than a 2700 page outline of its final statement. It is not that we do not know what is in the bill because we have not read the thing. Rather, we do not know what is in the bill because IT HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN as of this date. Businesses cannot plan their strategies because NO ONE KNOWS how the bill will work, how many agencies will actually be counted into the mix, how the IRS will manage to police the bill's enforcement, the final cost of the bill (not even close on this one.) or the written content of the bill !!!
(c) J David Smithson
Midknight Review
Posted 1.53 am July 19, 2010
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