Less than a week ago, president Obama visited the Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio to talk about what a great success the auto bailouts were. Among other things he told the workers at the plant that their continued work has also helped other businesses in the area to keep going. Obama specifically the refered to New Chefs, a restaurant close to the plant. According to Obama, plant workers eating at the restaurant have kept New Chefs open.
Word comes today, less than a week later, that the New Chefs restaurant is closing due to lack of business.
Normally, I would not even bother to mention this type of story. It seems like a typical "gotcha" to put in the press. Obama, however, seems so out of touch with economic conditions in the country that this story is worth repeating. Someone who put the reference to New Chefs on the Teleprompter for Obama to read must be the same person who decided that the auto bailouts were a big success. they were wrong on both counts.
Think about the auto bailouts. Chrysler and GM remain in business. Only about half the jobs related to these two companies were lost. But Obama calls it a success. Tens of billions of private and public funds were lost, but Obama calls it a success. Had GM and Chrysler gone through bankruptcy without federal help, things would be different, but the two companies would likely be here and would likely be around the same size as now. The only difference is that without government intervention, many of the obligations that GM and Chrysler still carry would also be gone, thereby making the future more likely to bring success. But Obama calls that a success. Maybe we should ask him why? My guess is that will be a show-stopper. I cannot imagine him answering that in a coherent manner unless someone writes the response for him on a teleprompter.
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