Hey, let’s bailout everybody!
If you were beginning to suspect that this pretty much sums up President Obama’s plans for a second term, the president himself has finally confirmed that this, indeed, is what he intends to do.
Speaking earlier this week in Pueblo, Colo., the president said:
“I said, I believe in American workers, I believe in this American industry, and now the American auto industry has come roaring back,” he said. “Now I want to do the same thing with manufacturing jobs, not just in the auto industry, but in every industry.”
The mind reels. This means that the president, who thus far hasn’t shown himself to be a stellar job creator, won’t just be CEO of an automobile company. He’ll likely add to his bulging portfolio. Just for the record, while we’re pondering the ramifications of this anticipated takeover of everything: GM closed yesterday at $20.65, down from $40 three years ago, and don’t forget that Chevy Volt.
Because he has never been involved in business, the president doesn’t realize that it is dynamic: there is failure and success and both outcomes provide information. Is it time to accept that a product has run its course and diversity? Must faltering industries be preserved? I never tire of repeating the observation of some wag that, if President Obama had been around in the 1860s, we’d still be subsidizing the Pony Express.
When industries fail or prosper based on the market, some people are displaced and must ultimately look for work elsewhere. When industries are propped up by the Obama administration, the unions get to the trough first and we taxpayers shield them from market forces.
The Pueblo speech wasn't quite as dramatic or revealing as the “You didn’t build that” speech in Roanoke, but unless you want to be on the hook for bailing out every faltering union shop in the U.S., take it seriously.