"I bet he Doesn't Drive an F-150"

[Ben]

Robert Gibbs lectures that Rush Limbaugh doesn't know what he's talking about regarding the GM bailout and that "a million workers" would have lost their job had Obama not stepped in.

If he's going to pretend to hang with us dimwit, beer guzzling, pickup guys by insinuating rush would not hang with us, he should at least know that the non-government bailed out Ford, not GM, makes the F-150. :)

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http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/07/29/gibbs-takes-on-rush-limbaugh/

[Azrael256]

As a Honda stockholder, I am angered by the decision to allow Government Motors to exist after going bankrupt instead of allowing superior companies to fill their market share and re-employ their workers and suppliers in profitable enterprises.

Actually, forget the Honda stock.  This offends me as a student of economics.

And don't start with the "foreign" car nonsense, Gibbs.  My Civic was built in Ohio.  My last GM was Mexican, and the last Dodge Caravan I saw was Canadian.

[MechAg94]

I don't think GM would have gone anywhere.  If anything, certain GM entities would have spun off or a new company would emerge.  It wouldn't have been the death of GM.  However, it might have been the death of certain Auto Union contracts which I think is the real reason the govt jumped in. 

What Rush and others and me were almost more upset about was that they didn't just bail out GM.  They took a controlling interest in GM, stole stock from stockholders, and gifted a chunk of the company to the unions.  So now we have a govt run auto company where the President of the US is hand picking the CEO. 

[drewtam]

I don't think GM would have gone anywhere.  If anything, certain GM entities would have spun off or a new company would emerge.  It wouldn't have been the death of GM.  However, it might have been the death of certain Auto Union contracts which I think is the real reason the govt jumped in. 

What Rush and others and me were almost more upset about was that they didn't just bail out GM.  They took a controlling interest in GM, stole stock from stockholders, and gifted a chunk of the company to the unions.  So now we have a govt run auto company where the President of the US is hand picking the CEO. 

Couldn't have said it better myself. Bankruptcy is exactly what GM needed to renegotiate union contracts, supplier contracts, and debt contracts. So instead we get the worst of both worlds...even after they bankrupt anyway.

[erik the bold]

One thing to add fuel to the fire, is that all the millions of $$ provided by us, for re-tooling GM, went to foreign machine tool and automation companies.  Very little went to American firms.   

[Jamisjockey]

And with all that government intervention....
1) Nissan beat them to the punch with the Leaf
2) the Leaf is cheaper

Any bets there will be an additional "rebate" provided by the government for the Volt?

[Monkeyleg]

Yes, and Ford was the smart one, making every effort to not take the money. Now they're reaping the rewards with enormous profits.

[Jamisjockey]

I'd be real curious to know what Robert Gibbs drives.....and I'd wager its a Prius.

[longeyes]

The expropriation of GM, bypassing all normal and legitimate bankruptcy procedures, gutting time-honored protection of bondholders, stealing equity and giving it away to unions, was a bleak moment in American history, a truly pivotal moment.  The comparatively deafening silence that attended it, the refusal to rise up and oppose it with all vigor, was symptomatic of everything that is now going wrong in America.  America stood by and watched fascism in operation, not in a newsreel but right here in River City.

[Jamisjockey]

The expropriation of GM, bypassing all normal and legitimate bankruptcy procedures, gutting time-honored protection of bondholders, stealing equity and giving it away to unions, was a bleak moment in American history, a truly pivotal moment.  The comparatively deafening silence that attended it, the refusal to rise up and oppose it with all vigor, was symptomatic of everything that is now going wrong in America.  America stood by and watched fascism in operation, not in a newsreel but right here in River City.

Surely Chavez was proud of that moment.

[MechAg94]

Yes, and Ford was the smart one, making every effort to not take the money. Now they're reaping the rewards with enormous profits.

I do know at least one person who test drove a Chevy truck and was thinking of buying it, but decided to go across the highway to the Ford dealer and ended up buying a nice F-150.  The Obama/GM deal was the main reason. 

[Monkeyleg]

I don't think you're the only one.

This from the LA Times, no less.

On the other hand, not taking government money may have worked in the company's favor, said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for the auto website Edmunds.com.

"Ford got an image boost among consumers by not taking a bailout," she said. "Many skeptics thought the debt would overwhelm them. But their vehicles are selling quite well."

[seeker_two]

Robert Gibbs does make one point....that those of us who DO own F-150's would do better in running this nation than those who don't....

....and I'll bet Gibbs and the rest of the Obama Administration don't own F-150's, either....

[Ben]

Yes, and Ford was the smart one, making every effort to not take the money. Now they're reaping the rewards with enormous profits.

Yeah, I kick myself for not buying Ford stock at $7 last Fall.

[El Tejon]

I know Rush has a bunch of vehicles, but doesn't he still own a pair of Suburbans?

[sanglant]

I'd be real curious to know what Robert Gibbs drives.....and I'd wager its a Prius.

i thought the question was what he drove, not what he had up his..........  it's not like that inflated head will fit in a prius.

[Perd Hapley]

I know Rush has a bunch of vehicles, but doesn't he still own a pair of Suburbans?

When commenting on this the other day, he couldn't remember how many he owns.  Of course, he may have been saying that just to jerk some chains.