Ford Cancels Mexico investment, Dems get no credit and deserve no credit.
In his announcement Ford CEO Mark Fields was able to suck up to President Trump. That’s fitting because Trump created the conditions in which this type of announcement is newsworthy. The Republicans know how to claim a victory.
While this may feel like “the Iranian hostage crisis redux” to many Dems who remember how Jimmy Carter saved the hostages while Reagan received the credit, it shouldn’t.
While it true that Obama “saved” the auto industry in the US, the Democrats don’t have a culture that can capitalize on this types of strategic wins. The Republicans…THEY have a culture and as we’ve seen time and again, culture beats the shit out of strategy.
Ford announced today plans to cancel a $1.6-billion plant in Mexico and to invest $700 million in metro Detroit’s Flat Rock Assembly plant.
“We are today announcing that we are investing $700 M to transform Flat Rock into a new manufacturing & innovation center,” Ford CEO Mark Fields said at a press conference held this morning at the plant.
Ford CEO Mark Fields said the decision to cancel the plant in Mexico was based in part on changing market conditions with sales of small cars declining as well as the pro-business climate the automaker expects under President-elect Donald Trump.
“We look at all the factors, and our view is we see a more positive U.S. manufacturing business environment under president elect Trump and the pro-growth policies and proposals that he is talking about, so this is a vote of confidence for President-elect Trump and some of the policies that they may be pursuing,” Fields said.
Ford Vice Chairman Bill Ford called Trump this morning to inform the president-elect of the decision and Fields called incoming Vice President Mike Pence.
“They were very pleased that we are investing here in the United States,” Fields said.
Is the assertion that we don’t deserve credit because of casual facts or is it because we don’ t have a culture that can capitalize on these kind of things? I am genuinely curious as to how we develop this culture, because I, and you, want it.
Again, it gets back to your world view. Most liberals drive foreign cars. Most conservatives drive American made cars. So, ask yourself this simple question, who better supports the American auto industry, liberals or conservatives?
Obama didn’t “save” the auto industry in America. He saved the auto worker UNIONS in America. A normal bankruptcy would have paid the unions according to their place in line as creditors, and the unions would have been out the door in the restructuring of the companies. Net losers? Chrysler and GM bondholders like myself.
Boo hoo hoo. You wanted to feast on the company’s remains, you little Mitt Romney, you.
No matter how mad you are about it, he did save the companies, just not in the way you would have preferred.
The value of that to the public was clear and simple: If the unions went belly up, government would have had to assume their liabilities, particularly on health care.
You were screwed one way or another. I was a stockholder myself and got nothing.
People with signifcant positions in corporate bonds are always getting the short end of the stick. It’s crazy, right? We all feel your pain, Walt. Frankly, I don’t know how you can go on…
Also, Rusty, there’s this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-car-companies_us_586fd096e4b043ad97e32aae
The drop headline on this story reads, “Donald Trump seems oblivious to automaker supply chains.” So do you.
Democrats don’t seem to know how to capitalize on things. Ever. Way to cerebral.
Democrats and Republicans deserve ZERO credit for doing anything to keep manufacturing in the US. Because they both believe in the free trade bullshit. Republicans are bought and paid for by free trade corporations, Democrats are in escrow.
The only thing Trump has right is that bringing jobs back to America and trade agreements putting America first should be a priority. Democrats and Republicans? Not so much. How he decides to go about doing that will probably be a train wreck. (if he decides to do anything at all since he is abandoning all of his campaign promises) But he ran on a simple plan: NAFTA and trade agreements suck. Hillary? “Oh we need better enforcement of our trade agreements” yeah, that’ll sell well and work out great.