When Monday morning’s news of GM bankruptcy broke, I was already two hours from home, talking with patrons and local workers in a Bob Evans Restaurant in my district, just a few hundred yards away from our local GM stamping plant that was on the list for closure in June 2010.
Having visited the facility on multiple occasions, I have come to know it for a high quality of work with dedicated employees. My first thoughts that morning were with the affected workers and their families. I also had the opportunity to speak with a number of local elected officials that morning, who would feel the brunt of this decision as well.
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The Big Question is a feature where influential lawmakers, pundits and interest group leaders give their answers to a question that’s driving discussion in news circles around the country.
Some responses are gathered via e-mail, while others are gathered in person via tape recorder.
Today’s Big Question is:
To what extent are President Obama’s political fortunes tied to the health of GM?
See responses below from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) and Thomas McClusky.
I think President Obama’s success is tied overall to how good a job he does for the American people, and so far I think he’s done a great job. Who could have predicted a year ago the magnitude of issues that we would be dealing with? To tie President Obama down to any one issue would be unfair.
I think it is hard to measure right now until we see both how General Motors and the overall recovery of the economy play out. Some of that is going to be tied hand in hand. It is too early to calculate and premature to speculate. Obviously GM and the entire auto industry are the foundations of the manufacturing sector and contribute much to our economy and obviously are having a profound impact through these devastating loses in bankruptcy and everything that comes from that. How the American people evaluate Obama’s overall economic strategy, including his decision on general motors are going to play a big part.
I don’t think it’s that singular. He is the president in a time of great economic stress and distress. Virtually every significant development in regard to the economy will have an impact on how people view his administration. What people have seen so far is that he not only talks about difficult challenges but also is willing to tackle them. The fact that he is focused so much on the future and not on what GM will look like proves to the American people that he is looking towards the future instead of looking to the past. The judgment that people make about both President Obama and our Congress will be broader than just GM, but obviously it will play a big role.
If GM fails even more it is not likely that President Obama will be affected. It has been a long time that a CEO has been held responsible for ruin they cause a company, why should Barack Obama, as CEO of GM, be treated any differently?
The situation is actually a good analogy of how President Obama seeks to rule the nation. Get rid of anything that is successful (such as selling of Saturn and Hummer) and replace it with actions that force a failed liberal agenda on people who do not want it (i.e. “green” cars).
While I was visiting with our troops in Afghanistan today, President Obama called to inform me that he will nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the next Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor has a long and distinguished career on the federal bench. She has been nominated by both Democratic and Republican presidents, and she was twice confirmed by the Senate with strong, bipartisan support. Her record is exemplary. Judge Sotomayor's nomination is an historic one, and when confirmed she will become the first Hispanic Justice, and just the third woman to sit on the nation's highest court. Having a Supreme Court that better reflects the diversity of America helps ensure that we keep faith with the words engraved in Vermont marble over the entrance of the Supreme Court: "Equal justice under law."
The Supreme Court is the final arbiter in the federal judiciary, with a fundamental role in our system of government and a fundamental impact on Americans' everyday lives. One need look no further than the Lilly Ledbetter and Diana Levine cases to understand how just one vote can determine the Court's decision and impact the lives and freedoms of countless Americans. I believe that Judge Sotomayor will be in the mold of Justice Souter, who understands the real-world impact of the Court's decisions, rather than the mold of the conservative activists who second-guess Congress, and who through judicial extremism undercut laws meant to protect Americans from discrimination in their jobs, their access to health care and education, and their privacy from an overreaching government. I believe Judge Sotomayor understands that the courthouse doors must be as open to ordinary Americans as they are to government and big corporations.
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I recently signed a discharge petition, which is a process to force a bill out of committee and be brought to the House floor for a vote. H.Res. 251 directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to the House of Representatives, no later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of the resolution, copies of any portions of all Department of the Treasury documents, records, and communications referring or relating to any:
· Negotiation concerning the controlled break-up of the American International Group, Inc. into at least 3 Government-controlled divisions;
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) says she was “misled” by the CIA and Bush Administration about the use of waterboarding and enhanced interrogation techniques.
Just five months ago, the Department of the Navy concluded an exhaustive two and a half year study weighing the strategic, operational and environmental consequences of upgrading Naval Station Mayport to homeport a nuclear carrier. The study concluded that Naval Station Mayport should homeport a nuclear carrier and the upgrades must be done since consolidating all nuclear carrier homeporting and maintenance in one east coast location would greatly limit the Navy’s strategic operational flexibility.
That decision was based on neither economic input nor political influence. It was a decision to protect our strategic assets and sailors. It was made after a review by professional military minds and the recommendations of senior DOD and Navy leadership, who all endorsed the establishment of a nuclear homeport and maintenance facility at Naval Station Mayport. It was a decision based on national security – pure and simple.
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Rosy economic projections by the Obama administration mask the true cost of future deficits and undermine global confidence that America will address its dangerously escalating debt-to-GDP ratio that is raising worldwide concerns about the stability of the dollar.
The Obama Administration has shown great confidence in the success of the stimulus and the President's budget, but that confidence may be misplaced. Unfortunately, trillions of tax dollars are being spent based on overly optimistic economic assumptions that the Administration has failed to update. The Administration continues to project that America's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will decline by 1.2% this year -- less than half the 2.8% decline forecast by the Blue Chip Consensus. The Administration continues to assume that the unemployment rate will be 8.1% this year -- yet the current jobless rate is 8.9%. Unrealistic economic assumptions result in faulty projected deficits. In other words, the debt the Administration and Congress are piling on our children will be much worse that the White House is willing to tell us.
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Recently the Environment Protection Agency was asked to increase the ethanol blend in gasoline above the current ten percent. Increasing the ethanol blend would result in serious economic consequences that could negatively affect already struggling American consumers.
First and foremost, raising the ethanol blend requirement could decrease automobiles’ fuel economy. Since ethanol has lower energy content per gallon more fuel is required to travel the same distance, which will mean drivers will have to fill their gas tanks more frequently. In fact, the Department of Energy (DOE) has begun assessing the use of ethanol blends and their effects on vehicle performance. In their recent report, the DOE tested 13 different vehicles with ethanol blends up to 20% and, on average, fuel economy of the vehicles decreased by over 7 percent.
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A newlywed couple seeking a home never knew they were risky borrowers as a result of limited credit history, negative income-to-debt ratio, and virtually no savings. Eager to purchase a home, they heavily relied on their broker's advice to determine how large a mortgage they could afford. With his reassurance, they took on a mortgage that accounted for 70% of their combined income. A year later, they entered foreclosure.
Everyone in this scenario assumes blame, but the broker was most aware of the impropriety of the loan he advised the family to assume.
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