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Trump uses Defense Production Act to require GM to make ventilators

I like the "Lean:" field. It is interesting when you see a "Libertarian" not only advocate for the State to seize the means of production from private hands but also maliciously work to destroy shareholder wealth.

Shareholder wealth created in part by taking tax breaks intended to jolt the economy and instead using them to goose stock prices.

Screw 'em.
 
Normally i do not approve of such measures, but GM is not acting in good faith on this and doing what they promised to do.
I say this is the right action for the right moment but it should be limited in how it is used.
 
"Finally" done something?
You probably need to stop depending on faux news.

True. Trump has been really busy denying that there was a crisis.

Slandering the media for reporting the truth. Insulting state governors.

Flip-flopping daily on just about every aspect of the pandemic--first it was a hoax, then it was really serious, then it was serious but not as serious as hurting the economy, no, we don't need a lot of ventilators, yes, we need them now and I'm ordering their manufacture.

Lying about how this "blindsided the world" when "the world" has been screaming about the coming crisis since January.

Sending idiotic confusing messages about the expected duration of stay-at-home measures.

Staging pseudo-campaign TV appearances every day in the guise of "briefings" on the virus, mostly just to give himself an opportunity to demonstrate what a "very stable genius" he is. :roll:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1242193904553865216
 
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I say this is the right action for the right moment but it should be limited in how it is used.

And if it's one thing we know from history, when government gets to apply some of it's "limited" powers, it tends to give those powers right back when it no longer needs them. :lol:
 
Trump has finally done something right in this crisis. Shame on GM for offering help only to demand a billion dollars to retrofit their factories. Good on Trump for ordering them to shove it and eat the cost.

Using war powers for things that aren't related to war doesn't seem amazing to me. Like with the Patriot Act, I fear this will be used in a way to normalize government behaviors that would've never been allowed normally. Then we find out years down the road the true consequences of the actions taken.
 
Using war powers for things that aren't related to war doesn't seem amazing to me.

It does require a bit of cognitive dissonance to say that the virus is just a "flu" and so we shouldn't freak out about it but also this is war.
 
I'm betting you do though... :mrgreen:

I used to watch Shep occasionally. No reason to now. I do watch Chris Wallace clips now and then. Otherwise it is a wasteland IMO.
 
This poor old country mouse hasn't been what you might call a fan of President of the United States of America Donald Trump's handling of this epidemic.

That said, I believe he did the right thing in this instance.

Stay well, all.
 
We saved GM from oblivion during the financial crisis only for them to turn around and try to price gouge us on ventilators. No. We’re taking what is owed now.

Yeah this was just inexcusable. Im rather miffed he used this for something completely unrelated to the act’s purpose.
 
Trump has finally done something right in this crisis. Shame on GM for offering help only to demand a billion dollars to retrofit their factories.

Exactly how is GM going to be able to pull this off? They can't immediately switch from producing cars and trucks to producing ventilators overnight.

Good on Trump for ordering them to shove it and eat the cost.

Of course trump would let its pettiness get in the way. We can't have the government help one of our largest car manufacturers transition into manufacturing life-saving apparatuses, can we now? :roll:
 
Exactly how is GM going to be able to pull this off? They can't immediately switch from producing cars and trucks to producing ventilators overnight.



Of course trump would let its pettiness get in the way. We can't have the government help one of our largest car manufacturers transition into manufacturing life-saving apparatuses, can we now? :roll:

GM’s negotiators had the opportunity to do the right thing, but they didn’t. First GM offered to do it at cost and then demanded $1 billion. Incidentally, that’s about how much we lost saving them from the dustbin of history so, as far as I’m concerned, forcing them to do this at no cost would just be long overdue compensation.
 
GM’s negotiators had the opportunity to do the right thing, but they didn’t. First GM offered to do it at cost and then demanded $1 billion. Incidentally, that’s about how much we lost saving them from the dustbin of history so, as far as I’m concerned, forcing them to do this at no cost would just be long overdue compensation.

So, punishing GM is more important to you than saving human lives. Got it. I thought you people were "prolife." :lol:
 
So, punishing GM is more important to you than saving human lives. Got it. I thought you people were "prolife." :lol:

We can do both. That’s the purpose of the DPA. Who is “you people?”
 
Why the **** would Trump pick GM anyway?


The ****ing 70's called. They want their industrial giant back.

Moron should have gone to Honda or Toyota. At least they still have production facilities in the USA.
 
**** GM. My grandchildren will be paying for their last bailout. And I’m sure they spent 98% of the money they saved from Trump’s tax-cuts-for-the-rich on stock buybacks. Cry me a ****ing river.
 
Now is no time to play coy. You know exactly why: because he's a galaxy-class asshat.

This is weird consider he was on Hannity last night, and argued that he doesn't believe the governors need all the ventilators they are asking for. What he said, was terrible. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to invoke the PDA in order to save himself from his previous statements. I have heard reports that he has handlers and people calling, giving him advice on clean ups. He did it after his initial Charlottesville comments, Helsinki, and many other.

I am not going to condemn Trump for doing this. Our healthcare workers need help, and protection. However, Trump has a tendency to lie about details, so we will see how this actually works out.

On a side note, I have came to see another similarly between Rev Jim Jones, Trump, and their followers. Jones also had a clean up crew and PR team. They were called this Planning Commission/PC. They knew all of Jones' worst instincts and plans, including mass murdering the followers. The PC were the most loyal followers. They served to insulate Jones, create propaganda, and clean up his messes. Jones' followers did see a lot of his bad instincts. He even talked about mass suicide years before it happened. His followers, however, made a decision to ignore Jones' instincts and impulsive statements. Such instinctual behavior is the most revealing about the person you are following. Instead of recognizing the red flags, the followers rationalized all of his craziness... he didn't mean it, etc.

I personally talked to a Jonestown survivor, and she said, "the hardest thing about leaving a cult, is admitting you're wrong." You let a person define your worldview and reality. Once you buy in, it's hard to leave it. She wasn't totally buying into Jones in the end, but she couldn't bring herself to leave. She survived because she wasn't in Jonestown during the massacre.
 
I am glad he finally bowed down to the pressure to do so. I hope it's not too little, or too late.

I feel the same, but he also tends to exaggerate and lie. Every press conference he does is super rosy, and he is heroic war time president. I feel a lot of relief, but the trust isn't there. I need to see it to believe it. The drive through testing the WH promised never happened.
 
Trump has finally done something right in this crisis. Shame on GM for offering help only to demand a billion dollars to retrofit their factories. Good on Trump for ordering them to shove it and eat the cost.

Let us not forget first he tried to leave it entirely to the private sector.
 
. Shame on GM for offering help only to demand a billion dollars to retrofit their factories. Good on Trump for ordering them to shove it and eat the cost.

It's a triumphant moment!

Finally, Trump has done something good, from you.

Keep up the good work. ;)
 
This is weird consider he was on Hannity last night, and argued that he doesn't believe the governors need all the ventilators they are asking for. What he said, was terrible. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to invoke the PDA in order to save himself from his previous statements. I have heard reports that he has handlers and people calling, giving him advice on clean ups. He did it after his initial Charlottesville comments, Helsinki, and many other.

I am not going to condemn Trump for doing this. Our healthcare workers need help, and protection. However, Trump has a tendency to lie about details, so we will see how this actually works out.

On a side note, I have came to see another similarly between Rev Jim Jones, Trump, and their followers. Jones also had a clean up crew and PR team. They were called this Planning Commission/PC. They knew all of Jones' worst instincts and plans, including mass murdering the followers. The PC were the most loyal followers. They served to insulate Jones, create propaganda, and clean up his messes. Jones' followers did see a lot of his bad instincts. He even talked about mass suicide years before it happened. His followers, however, made a decision to ignore Jones' instincts and impulsive statements. Such instinctual behavior is the most revealing about the person you are following. Instead of recognizing the red flags, the followers rationalized all of his craziness... he didn't mean it, etc.

I personally talked to a Jonestown survivor, and she said, "the hardest thing about leaving a cult, is admitting you're wrong." You let a person define your worldview and reality. Once you buy in, it's hard to leave it. She wasn't totally buying into Jones in the end, but she couldn't bring herself to leave. She survived because she wasn't in Jonestown during the massacre.

You say "I am not going to condemn Trump for doing this"

I just want to be clear: I'm not condemning Trump for doing it. I'm not sure you were saying I was condemning him, but like I said....to be clear.. My comment was tongue-in-cheek, but I also rather meant it. He's always claimed he's this great big dealmaker. But yet again, we see that he's not. He has to invoke the law to get it done.

If he was the great negotiator, he'd have been able to get their price down and pay them. Ok, so he's doing it this way. Trouble is, the workers and customers will suffer. They just pass on the cost. The only way to stop that is price controls, but that ends badly more often than it ends well.

So yes, it's good on the one hand that we will get those ventilators, BUT it is bad that the people who shouldn't pay for it will. And that's because he's a galaxy-class dumbass, not some great negotiator.



And that Jones thing. Yeah, that was chilling. I, against my better judgment, went and listened to the recordings of him convincing his followers to do it. Just.. ****.
 
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GM’s negotiators had the opportunity to do the right thing, but they didn’t. First GM offered to do it at cost and then demanded $1 billion. Incidentally, that’s about how much we lost saving them from the dustbin of history so, as far as I’m concerned, forcing them to do this at no cost would just be long overdue compensation.

Why the hell would he pick GM? They dont even specialize in medical technology.
 
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