
Obama's 13-15 mpg (city) Chrysler 300C, currently on sale at eBay
Some Presidential candidates gain management experience in the private sector before they go into politics.
Barack Obama, however, has chosen to gain that private-sector experience
after taking the Oath of Office.
Obama first fired Chrysler's current CEO. Then he put together a merger between Chrysler and Fiat, giving unions
majority ownership of the company and forcing the company's creditors to receive
29 cents on the dollar for they debt they held. When the actual bondholders of the company balked at the deal, Obama threatened these private citizens with
public humiliation in the press.
As if all that wasn't enough, Obama then brought about the closing of
1/4 of Chrysler dealerships around the country and declared that every car
and truck in America have an average fuel economy of
35.5 mpg by 2016.
So yes, now a man who has never fixed a car, sold a car, designed a car, advertised a car, or managed a car company, knows what's best for the auto industry. Never mind that the best
small trucks in America today get a maximum of
26 mpg on the highway, so Obama is asking for a 36% increase in fuel efficiency over a period of 7 years (56% if we're talking larger trucks that have a maximum of 20 mpg on the highway). Never mind that increasing fuel economy will undoubtedly decrease the safety of vehicles and lead to more deaths in crashes. Never mind that increasing fuel economy will have a miniscule, if not absolutely negigible effect on global carbon output. Never mind that this will force the poorest people in America to pay anywhere from
$600 to $1300 extra per car when the economy, wages, and employment are already down. Fuel economy is not the reason people won't buy Chrysler/GM/etc., the vehicle's higher purchase price (due to unreasonable union wages) is.
But let's borrow a page from the mainstream press and not get upset about how Obama just forced thousands of working-class people to lose their jobs and is pushing through a plan to force everyone to pay a $600-$1300 carbon tax when they buy a car. The important thing is
this is not the responsibility of the President of the United States. The President should stick to his Constitutionally enumerated responsibilities, such as appointing Cabinet members.
But that's not a very high priority right now for Obama. He would rather run a car company than fully staff the Treasury in the middle of what he calls an economic crisis.