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Friday, November 14, 2008
David Harsanyi :: Townhall.com Columnist
Baseball, Apple Pie and Corporate Welfare
by David Harsanyi
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Was the Copenhagen Global Warming Summit Walk-Out a Win for the U.S.?


The public already has cast a landslide vote on the nation's automotive industry. They hate it. And why shouldn't they? The Big Three automakers have generated a level of consumer satisfaction not seen in America since the English started taxing tea in Boston.

The Republican Party also has been peddling a highly disagreeable product. And if they have a desire to regain relevancy, it is incumbent on them to use whatever meager power they still possess to stop the Democrats from passing a bailout of the Big Three.

We should be calling this a bailout of incompetence, corporate cronyism and unionism, actually -- and a step toward nationalization, as Congress wants a stake in these companies in exchange for, you know, helping out. (Does anyone remember the Trabant?)

What is one to make of Democrats' enlisting the genius who helped bring about the Freddie and Fannie mess, Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and a senator from Michigan , Carl Levin, to craft the Detroit bailout legislation? It's a shame Jack Abramoff is too busy to chip in with his thoughts.

Though Congress already has approved $25 billion in loans to prop up a defective auto industry, one wonders whether anyone in Washington has asked whether this near corpse is worth saving in its present form. If it is, surely other corporations and investors will excavate the facets of the business that work.

Yet if you happen to listen to backers of a car bailout, you may be led to believe that the Tahoe is a pillar of American life. "It is critical that the nation understand this isn't just a Michigan problem, that 1 in 10 jobs in the country are impacted by the auto industry," Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm recently proclaimed in an interview.

We still are going to buy cars, Madame Governor, but perhaps we will buy them from companies that have the temerity to say "no" to unions and don't have crushing legacy costs associated with them. These corporations may not even be headquartered in Michigan.

Nancy Pelosi is worried that if General Motors declared bankruptcy, the union would lose power and executives would make off like bandits. So she would like taxpayers to help General Motors pay for the nearly 450,000 retirees who live off extravagant pensions and free medical care. Continued...
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Reply # 1
Date: Nov 16, 2008 - 5:17 AM EST
FeargalX from PA

Feargalx,

Healthcare used to be very affordable in the United States. That was before Liberals got the government involved. As you review our history you see we never had a time where people were denied healthcare. There are no historical reports about sick people dying in the streets of america because of lack of healthcare.

Larger communities had community hospitals that would treat the poor or anyone who could not pay. Smaller communities had clinics that would treat minor illness and refer to big cities when required. The Only real gap in healthcare was rural areas where populations could not support a hospital or clinic.

In 1964 Liberals decided a good way to get votes was to pass the Medicare Legislation that was shortly followed by Medicaid. To date both programs have wasted billions in fraud.

The other significate effect they have had was to increase healthcare costs on everyone not covered by these two programs. Hospitals were not fully reimbursed under these programs which resulted in Hospitals passing on the cost to people with Insurance. That insurance was usually paid by employers. Over the years employee paid healthcare became so expensive that many employers dropped coverage. As they did that then drove up the costs even higher because less people were insured.

Again another social problem caused by Liberals.
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Reply # 2
Date: Nov 16, 2008 - 5:07 AM EST
Jeff from ID

Jeff, You are correct. Unfortunately Liberals see nothing wrong with spending other people's money on programs that we know don't work.

It has something to do with the way their brains are wired. Some people learn from mistakes. Others do not.

After 80 years of the Social Security Pyramid Scheme we see Liberals want to pump more money into it. After 50 years of Liberal Social programs that we were told would reduce poverty, reduce crime, reduce violence, improve education, and strengthen families, we have the reverse.

Any objective thinker can only come to one conclusion. Liberals don't learn from mistakes.
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