Far right wing reportedly ready to boycott a newly federalized GM
The far right wing of the American political spectrum has begun channeling its displeasure over the federal government's involvement in the restructuring of General Motors into calls for a boycott of the company's products. Reportedly spearheaded by right wing pundits and radio show hosts, the boycott would be a response to the U.S. government taking a 60% stake in GM in exchange for forgiving most of the tens of billions of dollars loaned to the company over the last six months. The original premise of loaning money to GM (and Chrysler) was certainly open to plenty of healthy debate. But the money was given and now the task has turned to how to best proceed in order for the automaker to recover and the U.S. Treasury to get the best return on its investment. In order for that treasury-held stock to ever regain its value, GM needs to sell vehicles and lots of them.
Therefore, a successful boycott of GM products could have the adverse effect of driving the company into liquidation. This would eliminate any hope of getting reimbursed for the tens of billions in loans that the government has given GM. All that taxpayer money may never be recovered anyway, but it makes sense to at least walk the path that has a chance of success. Fortunately for GM, such boycotts are rarely successful, as Ford learned when it easily weathered a boycott by the American Family Association over its marketing in gay-centric media outlets.
[Source: The Detroit Bureau]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
mapoftazifosho 10:32AM (6/08/2009)
I knew this was coming. The most loyal GM customers are the ones that hate this administration the most.
Reply
C.W. 10:43AM (6/08/2009)
yep.
the government is destroying this brand. look at what the govt did to amtrack, postal service, etc.... they do not know how to run a business. they are so out of touch with the actual american public (wealthy campaign donors aside) that it's no wonder the people havent revolted yet. its unbelieveable.
here's the change you can believe in that everyone want.
John 10:55AM (6/08/2009)
What the government did to the postal service? Seriously? The government created the postal service, which used to be highly profitable. It is struggling these days as so much personal and business bulk mail has switched to email instead, depriving it of tons of revenue.
The private sector GM brought itself to the brink of elimination through its own mismanagement. Nobody loves the idea of the gov. being forced to try to stabilize the situation, as the consequences of massive liquidation and job losses would completely devastate parts of the country, but the plan seems reasonable on the whole. The alternatives are amazingly bleak. Other than minor squawking, the Chrysler situation appears to be going very, very smoothly and according to the stated goals. Hopefully GM will follow suit.
Bloke 10:56AM (6/08/2009)
Why bother with a government if you don't want it to actually govern in the country's best interests? Perhaps you should have just allowed the entire US car industry to simply disappear instead.
There are many who blame the manufacturers for offering the wrong products at the wrong time. Many who blame the government for allowing "an unfair playing field" (what a joke that is, since many cars built in America are simply unsuitable in many other countries). But ultimately the US buying public can only blame itself - it wants to earn as much money as possible while spending as little money as possible, regardless of the quality of the product. No wonder the Koreans do so well from the US market with that kind of mentality.
dsuupr 11:04AM (6/08/2009)
I'm Democrat, even being a local party PCP, and am still a GM supporter. A smart Democrat supports companies that believes in middle class wages and building things state side.
zamafir 11:13AM (6/08/2009)
So the other option was....? Anyone who thinks GM could have skillfully handled CH 11 by themselves? Or sourced the necessary capitol to continue to run their business by themselves? They couldn't. Which is why we are where we are. So our choices are Ch 7 or Ch 11 with government involvement. I don't care for GM, but i would rather not see them gone completely. Unless you all are aware of some super secret Masons backed third option kept out of the public eye for GM’s turnaround.
Ackbar 11:19AM (6/08/2009)
I imagine these are the same people who want the President and the country to fail. I believe the logic is, if they can't have their way, they hope everyone else fails, including the American economy. It doesn't seem very patriotic to me but whatever.
Snark 11:58AM (6/08/2009)
This will have all the teeth, and relevance, of the boycott of Ford for not rejecting gays. Which is to say, not much.
The far right can continue to wage its culture war and its jihad on anything that doesn't gratify them. Irrelevantly raging and screaming from the peanut gallery seems to be a good place for a group that's defined only by what it can't tolerate. Meanwhile, moderate Republicans like me and centrist Democrats like most of my friends can get on with the business of finding common ground accomplishing something.
Motor_Yakuza 12:12PM (6/08/2009)
A smart Democrat ???Never seen one
Flamespoke 12:40PM (6/08/2009)
I my admittedly hasty estimation, the economy has gotten worse since the government got involved...anyone disagree? Obama deficit spending is (4x) that of Bush’s entire 8 years, no matter what you think of the previous administration.
Remember when they said we have to spend this money or the economy will fall apart. Well they did spend it and the economy is still falling apart. Like Regan said 2 decades ago. The Government is the problem. Now our treasury is empty and they want to print money, which will devalue the dollar even more.
Mikhail Gorbachev (former Soviet Union leader) praises Obama's reform and economic policies. Remember Gorbachev had similar policies that led to the destruction of the Soviet Union...think people! Glad I'm living in the future country of Texas, which has the best economy in the nation. I'll get my passport so I'll be able to travel to other states. :)
Sea Urchin 1:11PM (6/08/2009)
"A smart Democrat supports " is that anything like a " wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences" ???????
Rocketboy 1:27PM (6/08/2009)
This is the same gov't that cannot even figure out how to work a gift card program for TV converter boxes. You expect them to handle something complex like a car company?
Cougs 2:02PM (6/08/2009)
@ John: What about Fannie Mae? Freddie Mac? Amtrak? Any of those do it? The government has no idea about running a country, let alone a business (yeah, I know what I typed).
@ Ackbar, Bloke, and Snark: People are allowed to be angry, it is their money, illegally used by representatives who are acting in a way that is not outlined in the enumerated powers of the Constitution with the consent of a President who has (like his predecessors before him) continued to expand the position of president beyond that of CinC and veto.
Cougs 2:05PM (6/08/2009)
@ Sea Urchin: Wow, I'm impressed. A Sotomayor joke on AB. ;-).
Cougs 2:08PM (6/08/2009)
@ Zamafir: Yeah, its penske buying up Saturn ;-).
Bloke 2:28PM (6/08/2009)
"@ Ackbar, Bloke, and Snark: People are allowed to be angry, it is their money, illegally used by representatives who are acting in a way that is not outlined in the enumerated powers of the Constitution with the consent of a President who has (like his predecessors before him) continued to expand the position of president beyond that of CinC and veto."
Think of the catastrophic effect on the US economy had the US Government simply ignored the issue and forced Chrysler and GM to file Chapter 7. Regardless of whether you consider using taxpayer's money "a waste", the US Government acted in the best interests of its country at a time of extreme urgency.
If you want a nation full of sole traders, eventually that's exactly what you'll get.
Cougs 2:36PM (6/08/2009)
@ Bloke: Why do you think they would have gone into Chapter 7? Chapter 11 occurs all of the time without the intervention of the government. And what is your view of the outcome? They are still in bankruptcy, as they were going to be before; they are liquidating assets, as they were going to before; they are downsizing workforces, as they were going to before. The only difference is, the US government wouldn't be illegally owning a portion of the companies in question, the market would have sorted out support. One of the reasons that the stock market has stayed depressed since the current admin. took office is because of the interventionism that causes the market to be unsure of the outcome of a business.
And now where are we? Billions in the hole and continuing to grow - I'm sorry, but the results are the same either way for the company, but at least in my plan the taxpayer wasn't shelling out money without a say.
AngeloD 2:42PM (6/08/2009)
""I imagine these are the same people who want the President and the country to fail""
You have descended from mere "socialism" into truly hard-left "National Socialism."
Obama is America and America is Obama!
just like:
Germany is the Fuhrer and the Fuhrer is Germany!
Conservatives want America to succeed despite Obama, and want Obama to fail miserably in the slew of genuinely stupid ideas he has proposed.
As for GM, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee that oversees the TARP funding, has apparently succeeded this week in convincing (strong-arming) GM to keep an assembly plant open in his district that was scheduled to be closed.
This is going to work so well in getting GM back on its feet.
Randy 3:54PM (6/08/2009)
@the government is destroying this brand.
GM destroyed themselves!
SimbaDogg 2:51AM (6/09/2009)
people like CW are typical know-nothings. think that anything ran by the govt is big, wasteful, and inefficient. YES as someone below you said, the post office was created by the US govt. and yes for years before the birth of email (even when competing w/ UPS, Fed-Ex, and Airborne Express) was able to run almost annual net incomes of about 3 billion per year (lil leftover factoid from my accounting class). if those right wingers had any sense, they'd be pushing the "buy american" harder and strong than ever. the faster GM recovers and starts selling more cars, the faster the US taxpayer gets paid back...its really that simple.
anyways, going back to the post office...sure they have a lot of waste in their bureaucratic structure but to call a company that can take a piece of paper and deliver it across the country for .44 cents in 3 days inefficient is crazy (must i remind people also, that the cost of a postage stamp in america has gone up SLOWER than the rate of inflation) to me. thats why i'd love to see govt run healthcare COMPETE with (not replace) privately ran healthcare. something that private care providers really really dont wanna see.