As the lameduck Congress thinks about bailing out Detroit, we should consider the results of past bailouts, and specifically look at the Chrysler example. The arguments made in 1979 resonate today:
There is a strong case that such help rewards failure and penalizes success, puts a dull edge on competition...
That federal loan was contingent upon "other contributions or concessions [being] given to Chrysler by its own owners, stockholders, administrators, employees, dealers, suppliers, foreign and domestic financial institutions, and by State and local governments." Can you really imagine this Congress putting those kinds of strings on a loan or loan guarantee for Detroit? I can't.
See the Wall Street bailout vote and Why The AIG Bailout Is Not Like Chrysler
Comments
I really wish we had some progressive democrats to choose from. It seems they pretend to be wimpy but it is only an act. They are as corporatist as the republican party at this point. I hope Obama is the most progressive person in the democratic party and that he taps senators Boxer, Feingold and Sanders for progressive ideas. They are the only strong democrats we have in the senate. Why he would put the most corporate friendly democrats in the seat of SoS is beyond me. More wars for resources? More union busing? More favoring corporations over workers and the environment? There is so little difference between corporatists democrats and republicans, if Obama isn’t the exception, we might as well have voted for McCain.