It’s been a mixed day in the world of the American auto industry. While Ford Motor posted huge sales for November — propelled by a strong demand for SUVs — General Motors has been forced to make the unusual offer of buying back cars from consumers. Tom Krisher at the Associated Press reports that GM is taking action in response to news that its highly touted electric Chevy Volts have been found to catch fire: In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, CEO Dan Akerson insisted that the cars …
If you’re looking for an expert in revisionist history, look no further than former Governor Jennifer Granholm (D). For the past several months, Granholm has been trying to erase from people’s memories the economically-destructive record she left behind in Michigan. And now, Granholm is trying to rebuild the image of the equally unpopular government bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. Neither effort is likely to successful. Governor Granholm has been on television, in print and online for weeks now extolling the virtues of the auto bailout. On May 24, she …
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 …
“We received confirmation this morning…that Chrysler Group repaid, with interest, by wire transfer to the United States Treasury and by bank transfer to the Canadian government, every penny that had been loaned less than two years ago.” That simple statement by Chrysler (and Fiat) CEO Sergio Marchionne that Chrysler had paid off its taxpayer loans sparked a victory dance among supporters of the automaker bailout that would have made Snoopy proud. President Obama issued a statement from Europe lauding the “tough decisions” he made to help the firm and made …
Carnegie Mellon University economics professor and American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar Allan Meltzer has a must read op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal titled: Why Obamanomics Has Failed: Uncertainty about future taxes and regulations is enemy No. 1 of economic growth. It is re-posted in its entirety below but as an added bonus we have added links supporting many of his factual and theoretical claims: The administration’s stimulus program has failed. Growth is slow and unemployment remains high. The president, his friends and advisers talk endlessly about the circumstances they …
It must not be easy being Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, these days. His latest task is to sell a skeptical Congress on the Obama Administration’s $90 billion bank tax with something of a convoluted snake oil sales pitch. He tried to make his argument to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. You see, Geithner explained, “Banks should bear the costs for bank failure,” and the tax is really a “too-big-to-fail tax” designed to recoup funds used to bail out banks under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Unfortunately for Geithner, that …
A recent GAO report warns that GM and Chrysler may need even more taxpayer money. This comes after GM and Chrysler received the overwhelming bulk of an $81 billion auto bailout under TARP. The report finds GM and Chrysler may have unfunded liabilities for their pension programs. These obligations could have been terminated if these companies had filed for a typical bankruptcy. They were maintained, however, after the government assumed sponsorship during the most recent crisis. Should these companies be unprofitable, these unfunded liabilities will be unmet by GM and …
So President Obama wants to slap a tax on banks, but should you really care? Absolutely. Those taxes are going to wind up costing YOU money, whether you’re a customer, a bank employee or an investor, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). As ABC News reports, the CBO wrote a letter yesterday to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in which it highlighted that the American people will bear the true brunt of the President’s proposal. From the CBO’s letter: [T]he ultimate cost of a tax or fee is not …
In his State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama proposed “a modest fee” on banks that “would pay back the taxpayers who rescued them in their time of need.” In truth, his bank tax would hit financial institutions who have paid back their bailout funds, with interest, while those who haven’t—Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, General Motors and Chrysler—would get off scot-free. As Politico reports, Sean Ryan at Wisco Research firm says Obama’s tax would have other effects, too. From Politico: “[Ryan] predicts the banks will simply pass on the …
Toyota’s bad press has been for its sticky pedal incident certainly isn’t surprising, but is all the negative attention warranted? When asked about the Toyota recalls, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood responded by saying, “My advice to anyone who owns one of these vehicles is stop driving it, and take it to the Toyota dealership because they believe they have the fix for it” and that “we’re not finished with Toyota.” Hood later toned down his remarks but immediately after his “stop driving” comment, Toyota’s stocks plummeted. Even after recovering some, …
