Obama the Destroyer

Ronald Reagan used to say, “the most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Neil Barofsky, the Inspector General of TARP programs, released a report that documents the ruinous effects Obama has had on the economy. The report identifies President Obama as being responsible for the destruction of “tens of thousands” of jobs in the auto industry alone. From the New York Times:

The report by Neil M. Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program of the Treasury Department, said both carmakers needed to shut down some underperforming dealerships. But it questioned whether the cuts should have been made so quickly, particularly during a recession. The report, released on Sunday, estimated that tens of thousands of jobs were lost as a result.

“It is not at all clear that the greatly accelerated pace of the dealership closings during one of the most severe economic downturns in our nation’s history was either necessary for the sake of the companies’ economic survival or prudent for the sake of the nation’s economic recovery,”

The report also detailes how the forcible shutdowns seemed almost entirely arbitrary

President Obama appointed two men, with precisely zero experience in the automotive industry, to oversee the auto bailouts. As such, decisions  on which dealerships to close and which to leave open appear to have been made with about as sound reasoning as an Earl Warren ruling. The result – “tens of thousands” of Americans needlessly lost their jobs. In many cases long-running family businesses were shutdown in a matter of weeks because some amorphous government bureaucrat, with no knowledge of the industry, decided the dealership no longer made sense.

This is what happens when the government intervenes in the private sector. No president should use the government to run any private businesses. In this case, the Obama administration is uniquely unqualified to handle any private sector business, as O’s team has the least private sector experience of any administration in over a century. The government is incapable of running the auto industry, healthcare , the financial sector, energy companies, or any other private sector businesses. In addition, the private sector is expressly  out of the purview of the federal government. When the government interferes in private business the state continues to metastasize, the Constitution is trampled upon and the net effect on individuals is uniformly calamitous. When it comes to the auto industry, Obama’s reckless and unfounded policies are destroying the United States economy, “tens of thousands” of jobs at a time.

Quelle Surprise – Drivers, not Toyota, at fault

Drivers did not engage their brakes in virtually all of the “sudden acceleration” cases with Toyota cars, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. While falling short of exonerating Toyota, the results suggest that that the congressional show-trials that occurred in February were – surprise – both preemptive and a political stunt.

Typically I would suggest that this is simply a case of Representatives attempting to score political points. But, in a time when the government holds a major stake in GM and Chrysler, it appears that the government has more nefarious motives. It makes a lot of sense to demonize the competition if you want to boost GM and Chrysler’s sales. The government is in a unique position where they can abuse their powers to grow their investment.

Just another reason why government should stay out of business – private companies are at a severe disadvantage when competing against government owned companies.