The Moderate Republican: Auto Bailout Money Lost For Good

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

Republicans came to power as the party of big ideas, and without returning to that model they could be looking at a long winter. Additionally, those big ideas need to focus on Middle America. Three issues that could work are conservation, reform and localism.

Conservation- a return to the Teddy Roosevelt model of conservation. One doesn’t necessarily have to buy into global warming to appreciate the need to protect the natural resources we have.

Reform- the federal government is bigger than ever, and won’t be getting any smaller over the next four years. Republicans need to fashion themselves as national reformers. Much of Middle America wants the government as safety net, but bloated bureaucracies breed corruption that needs to be dealt with.

Localism- this is the lynchpin that brings it all together. If we bought our food locally, shopped locally, governed locally, many of the issue we now have to deal with would go away, or at the least become manageable.

Below is a collection of writers who speak about the things that matter. Some are Right, some Left and some Center, but all intelligent and rational voices.

Remember when we (the American tax payers) bailed out the auto industry with the idea that we were making a sound investment? We would simultaneously save an industry and get a return on our money when the car companies rebounded. Well, so much for that. From CNSNews:

Taxpayers are unlikely to recover their full investment in General Motors or Chrysler, government investigators said Monday in the latest review to cast doubts that the government will recoup the $80 billion it poured into the two automakers.

The Government Accountability Office concluded that General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC likely won't be valuable enough for the Treasury Department to break even on its investment in the two auto companies that went though bankruptcy earlier this year.

The GAO also revealed that the Obama administration is closely scrutinizing the finances of GM and Chrysler and has set some requirements on production even though it has said it will maintain a hands-off approach on the automakers' daily operations.

The Moderate Republican

What the Moderate Republican Stands For

The American Conservative » Rod Dreher

Via Meadia

Front Porch Republic

David Brooks

The Soap Box

Auto Bailout Money Lost For Good

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