The auto industry is seeking $50bn in additional low-cost loans – beyond what was already approved by Congress last year – to help them out of the mess they’ve made, selling SUVs after peak oil and 911. Did they really think this wasn’t going to come to an end, soon? But here they come again, to suck on the teet:
Auto industry officials have argued that the loan program would not represent a bailout, but would be similar to aid lawmakers have given to Wall Street investment banks and struggling mortgage firms. They also note that auto companies face tens of billions of dollars in costs from new fuel economy regulations.
I see. So, since we’ve bailed out the financial markets without calling it a bail out, we should just go right ahead and bail out the auto industry and not call it a bail out. Because, you know, it’s really not a bail out. Let’s not forget that the government issues loans in the form of bonds, and that’s a large part of how our currency remains viable. Giving out low-interest loans means accepting less of a return on those bonds, which isn’t doing our larger society any good.
In other countries, like Japan, there’s no question that the government helps out industry. It’s how they operate, with industry and government working hand in hand to make their economy strong. Of course, there are a number of obligations industry must observe in exchange for consistent help in hard economic times. In this country, we do the same thing, except that we have false ideological bullshit swirling around in Conservative circles that allows industry leaders to demand tax cuts along with their low-interest loans.
We’d be doing our country a world of good if we dropped the pretense.
