When Republicans say things like this, I wonder if they mean it and if they understand the implications of what they’re saying.
Michigan Rep. Candice Miller (R) said the president’s latest steps meant he now essentially “owns” the auto industry, and is responsible for its survival.
“The president and the auto task force have now determined that they know better how to run these complex manufacturing organizations and are going to force changes,” Miller asserted. “By implementing these changes, they now become accountable for achieving success — accountable for the jobs, accountable for the livelihoods of the families which are at stake and accountable for the survival of American manufacturing.”
I know it is horrible for the federal government to fire the CEO of a company that has failed so utterly that they require taxpayer money to keep their factory doors open, but did Rep. Candice Miller seriously think that wouldn’t happen? As far as the government (or the people) owning General Motors, that has nothing to do with General Motors’ senior management, but with the amount of money we’ve been forced to invest. We can pretend we don’t own these companies or we can act like we do.
What’s odd is that Miller responded this way on a day when Obama announced he was not immediately taking over these companies and in which he denied them, for the time being, their funding requests. What I really wonder is what it would be like to have a president that didn’t take responsibility for safeguarding the livelihoods of American families and the future of American manufacturing. Oh wait! We just got rid of one of those presidents.
The GOP’s wailing and gnashing of teeth doesn’t even make sense. They are just setting up impossible standards so that they came blame Obama when he doesn’t meet them. If only he hadn’t had the temerity to fire some CEO’s all of this would have worked out great for the auto industry.
