More from that revealing Detroit News story about high-level federal officials who purport to preach the gospel of a American jobs and who say they support American companies but don't practice what they preach. And this is Obama's team to revitalize the American auto industry?!?:
• Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag owns a 2008 Honda Odyssey and a 2004 Volvo S60. He previously owned a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee and 1982 Datsun.
• Carol Browner, the White House climate czar, said earlier this month at the Washington Auto Show that she doesn't own an automobile. Public records show she once owned a 1999 Saab 9-5 SE.
• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson owns a 2008 Toyota Prius and a Honda Odyssey minivan, she said Sunday. "It's great," she said of her Prius.
(Go ahead, Lisa - boast about it. Laugh about it. You're from Joisey. You dont' have to be accountable!)
• Austan Goolsbee, staff director and chief economist for the White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, owns a 2004 Toyota Highlander.
• Joan DeBoer, the chief of staff to LaHood, said in an interview Sunday she drives a 2008 Lexus RX 350. She doesn't consider herself "a car buff" and views her car as a way to get around town.
• Heather Zichal, deputy director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change, owns a Volvo C30, according to public records and officials.
• Lisa Heinzerling, senior climate policy counsel to the head of the EPA, owns a 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback station wagon, according to her husband.
• Diana Farrell, the deputy National Economic Council director, doesn't own a vehicle. Her husband, Scott Pearson, owns a 1985 Peugeot 505 S.
• Dan Utech, senior adviser to the Energy Secretary, owns a 2003 Mini Cooper S two-door hatchback.
• Jared Bernstein, Vice President Joe Biden's chief economist, owns a 2005 Honda Odyssey.
The White House declined to comment.
4 comments:
After all this talk about socialism streaming from the right. Why should anyone, public servant or not, buy an inferior product for the sake of theoretically propping up an industry that effectively wrote its own obituary decades ago?
My first car was a Ford. A glorious Ford Festiva. (Insert laugh here if you've ever seen one). It was a weak attempt at a compact car. It topped out at 85, looked like a clown car, but was less maneuverable. I got it to save gas, which it really didn't do, even though it was had a manual transmission. It lasted 4 months, when it reached 87,000 and then it died, without dignity. Thank God that it blew up on a side street.
Until Detroit shapes up, I'll treat them the same way I treat financial stocks. No trust, no future, and I'm not buying. Look at it the other way: if a family needs a car, why buy one that's not going to last as long, or be as reliable?
I agree, buy American. But if there are no good products made in the USA...then cut out the cancers in this economy, and start again.
Radu:
In my entire life I've owned only two foreign cars and they were both lemons.
For more than three decades I've driven a Mercury -- and I love it.
I have four Ford cars in my immediate family. They're all great. They're fine cars. My dealer is first-rate and the service center is competent, thorough and honest.
American cars are equal to or better than any others. They're attractive. They're often roomier. And they're economical as well.
I hope that the Big Three automakers survice. We need them.
And frankly, I think all this "foreign car appeal" is nothing but brand snobbery.
I guess it's all about the experiences you have. I've had nothing but problems with domestic vehicles.
I can see how you'd pick up on SOME snobbery from people who drive BMW and Mercedes; just like I pick up a whiff of ignorance when I pass a Hummer. I wouldn't pin snobbery on a family driving a Hyundai.
As for the country and the people in general, Detroit's success would mean increased competition, lower prices, and more jobs. I'm just not convinced that their concepts are up to par, or that the current executive leadership is on the right track.
Some foreign-branded cars are made in the U.S. or are subsidiaries of American automakers.
Honda Odysseys since 2005 have been made in Alabama.
Subaru Legacys and Outbacks are partially assembled in Indiana.
Volvo is owned by Ford.
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