The Foundry
Heritage.org
6/3/2011
Unemployment in the United States increased again last month to 9.1 percent, with the Obama economy adding only 54,000 jobs—the fewest in eight months. Today’s terrible jobs report is much worse than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had grimly predicted 160,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate of 8.9 percent earlier this week.
But despite the dismal news that 13.9 million Americans remain unemployed, President Barack Obama is holding a victory party today at a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, trumpeting the only jobs he can manage to create—those bought and paid for directly by the U.S. taxpayer.
The President’s celebration comes amid word that Fiat SpA will pay $500 million for the U.S. government’s remaining 6 percent stake in Chrysler Group LLC, taking majority control of the company. For the Obama Administration, that’s news enough to signify a corporate turnaround following its bailout of Chrysler and GM in 2009, a bright spot in a day where millions are out of work. But what the President likely won’t mention is the continuing costs of the auto bailout that have fallen on the backs of U.S. taxpayers…
…And when the President brags about Chrysler’s increased sales, keep another thing in mind, too. It’s not the President’s favored green cars that Chrysler customers are snapping up—it’s Chrysler’s SUV, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, that has lifted the automaker.
Then there’s this: Last week, DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) hyperbolically stated “we would be driving foreign cars” absent the President’s actions. Today, the President will celebrate his hand-picked buyer, Italian-automaker Fiat, taking a controlling stake of Chrysler. But don’t forget that the company’s Italian CEO Sergio Marchionne once called the American taxpayers “shysters” for the high rates on the loans Chrysler demanded.
As always, the devil is in the details, and they likely won’t be invited to the President’s victory party today. You probably won’t hear mention of the other losers in the auto bailout, either, like the shareholders who suffered so President Obama could financially reward his political allies at the United Auto Workers union. Unfortunately, they’re not the only losers in the Obama economy, as America learned with the unemployment numbers that came out this morning.
Read the entire article at Heritage.org
Related: Looks like Geithner picked the wrong week to praise the auto bailout
…Geithner’s op-ed was also noteworthy because it came the day before GM’s stock price plummeted on disappointing May sales numbers. GM is selling more cars than last year, but only by offering incentives more than 50 percent more generous than the industry average. The company has now lost more than 10 percent of its value since its IPO just seven months ago, and its stock is off about 25 percent from its peak in February.
So way to go, taxpayer. And keep your wallet handy, because you’re probably going to have to bail them out again eventually.
