No News About Government's Good News
E.J.Dionne
WashPost
WASHINGTON -- Don't expect to see a lot of newspapers and websites with this headline: "Big Government Bailout Worked." But it would be entirely accurate.
The actual headlines make the point. "Demand for fuel-efficient cars helps GM to $3.2 billion profit," declared The Washington Post. "GM Reports Earnings Tripled in First Quarter, as Revenue Jumped 15 Percent," reported The New York Times.
Far too little attention has been paid to the success of the government's rescue of the Detroit-based auto companies, and almost no attention has been paid to how completely and utterly wrong opponents of the bailout were when they insisted it was doomed to failure.
"Having the federal government involved in every aspect of the private sector is very dangerous," Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., told Fox News in December 2008. "In the long term it could cause us to become a quasi-socialist country." I don't see any evidence that we have become a "quasi-socialist country," just big profits.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, called the bailout "the leading edge of the Obama administration's war on capitalism," while other members of Congress derided the president's auto industry task force. "Of course we know that nobody on the task force has any experience in the auto business, and we heard at the hearing many of them don't even own cars," declared Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, after a hearing on the bailout in May 2009. "And they're dictating the auto industry for our future? What's wrong with this picture?"
(More here.)
WashPost
WASHINGTON -- Don't expect to see a lot of newspapers and websites with this headline: "Big Government Bailout Worked." But it would be entirely accurate.
The actual headlines make the point. "Demand for fuel-efficient cars helps GM to $3.2 billion profit," declared The Washington Post. "GM Reports Earnings Tripled in First Quarter, as Revenue Jumped 15 Percent," reported The New York Times.
Far too little attention has been paid to the success of the government's rescue of the Detroit-based auto companies, and almost no attention has been paid to how completely and utterly wrong opponents of the bailout were when they insisted it was doomed to failure.
"Having the federal government involved in every aspect of the private sector is very dangerous," Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., told Fox News in December 2008. "In the long term it could cause us to become a quasi-socialist country." I don't see any evidence that we have become a "quasi-socialist country," just big profits.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, called the bailout "the leading edge of the Obama administration's war on capitalism," while other members of Congress derided the president's auto industry task force. "Of course we know that nobody on the task force has any experience in the auto business, and we heard at the hearing many of them don't even own cars," declared Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, after a hearing on the bailout in May 2009. "And they're dictating the auto industry for our future? What's wrong with this picture?"
(More here.)
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