Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Job losses caused by bailouts?

The Treasury Department failed to consider the economic fallout when it told General Motors and Chrysler to quickly shutter many dealerships as part of government-led bankruptcies, a federal watchdog found.

A report released Sunday by the special inspector general for the government's bailout program raised questions about whether the Obama administration's auto task force considered the job losses from the closings while pressuring the companies to reduce costs.

Treasury didn't show why the cuts were "either necessary for the sake of the companies' economic survival or prudent for the sake of the nation's economic recovery," said the audit by Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $787 billion stimulus program known as TARP.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/18/1736190/report-criticizes-handling-of.html

Got that? According to Neil Barofsky, the Obama-appointed special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $787 billion stimulus program known as TARP, the administration "failed to consider the economic fallout" or "consider the job losses" during the auto industry "government-led bankruptcies" and bailouts.

The jobs of auto executives and union big shots were saved by the auto industry bailouts, clearly in payback for campaign support. Rank and file auto, auto dealership and auto supply workers? They get unemployment insurance extensions.

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