Thanks to all who made our latest photo caption contest a huge success.
We had so many clever captions I needed to bring in a “celebrity guest” to help me judge. This “celebrity” also happens to be very familiar with the GM bailout news upon which this contest was based because he wrote the piece I linked to in our contest post.
So let’s give a hardy round of applause to Rick Newman, Chief Business Correspondent for U.S. News & World Report.
Rick picks were as follows:
Third place
Where’s the forward button? Submitted by Querulous
Second place
Will this thing outrun Issa? Submitted by fortibus85
First place
I built this! Submitted by RockThisTown
(Who has won in the past, so I would watch my back Mr. Cfbleachers and Chris Henderson!)
Now along with those winning captions, here are a few more that I thought deserved an extra shout out:
Warning: Objects in mirror are more liberal than they appear.
and
Who needs air bags with an inflated ego in the car? Both submitted by RockThisTown so congrats to you again.
Drove my Chevy to DC, but the Treasury was dry. Submitted by Tron
Can someone shut off Clint Eastwood’s America is Coming Back voiceover? I think I’m going to be sick. Submitted by Mr. G.
And two by Rex Lex playing off a Chevy ad slogan:
Chevy Runs Debt
and
Chevy Runs Deep (into your pockets!)
Thanks again to all who played along and especially to Rick Newman for being our first “out in the open” celebrity judge. (Our other celebrity judge, “Dr. Spin,” still remains anonymous and at large.)
Merry Christmas everyone and see you all next time a photo is worthy of a Tatler Photo Caption Contest.
US GM UAW autoworker to get $7,000 dollar bonuses? For what, pray tell? Read the full story about Obama’s folly!
General Motors faces the greatest impact, almost 22% extra on some sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and other cars with engine capacities above 2.5 litres. Chrysler faces a 15% penalty, while a 2% levy will be imposed on BMW, whose US plants make many of the cars it exports to China.
Existing taxes and duties already push up the cost of US imports by 25%, and the new levies make it even more expensive for Chinese consumers to buy American.
Now we learn what they were after. In a May 2 Huffington Post commentary (“Commies in Cadillacs: GM Turns Chinese”), economists Peter Navarro and Greg Autrey reported that GM will build its luxury cars in China instead of exporting them to China. They began:General Motors announced this week that it will start building the Cadillac XTS, CTS and ATX in China in an attempt to keep up with the insatiable demand for luxury consumption by that nation’s nominally Marxist elite. It seems that Communist Party princelings and their crony capitalist clients just can’t get enough Caddies, not to mention the BMWs, Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
This will be a joint venture with SAIC, the company that owns 51% of GM’s China business. The announcement of the new factories was made by the vice president of GM China at a Beijing auto show on April 23. Valuewalk.com reports:In 2012, GM will build the new 2013 Cadillac XTS sedan in China, followed by the ELR luxury electric coupe.
Currently, China is only selling one model, the large-length luxury sedan, the Cadillac SLS; it is built in the country while it imports the CTS, SRX crossover and Escalade from U.S. and Mexico plants, reported The Detroit News.
Nine months ago, the same scenario played out even more quickly. On September 16, the Wall Street Journal reported (“Road Gets Bumpy for GM in China”) that the Chinese government was pressuring GM to give away its proprietary electric car technology. At that point, GM was refusing. Here’s a selection:GM would like to bring its Volt electric car into China. But Chief Executive Dan Akerson said he refuses to share electric-car technology in exchange for hefty consumer rebates from the Chinese government that would juice sales of the vehicle.
Just one week later, on September 22, the NY Times reported (“GM to develop electric cars with Chinese automaker”) that GM had caved to the Chinese government demand:HONG KONG: General Motors said Tuesday that it would develop electric cars in China through a joint venture with a Chinese automaker [SAIC], and would transfer battery and other electric car technology to the venture.
As a condition for doing business in China, the Chinese government requires that GM share its made-in-America technologies with SAIC, which is both its Chinese partner and its competitor. Back in 2009, Bloomberg reported (“GM Set for ‘Harder Life’ in China as Partner SAIC Adds Models”) that SAIC is already using GM’s technology to produce cars for the Chinese market, outside its partnership with GM. In February, SAIC got GM’s electric car technology. In April, SAIC got GM’s Cadillac technology.
The left pretends that evil corporations owned by wealthy Americans build factories in China in order to avoid paying higher U.S. wages. But this is Obama’s car company we are talking about. GM (Government Motors), the company that Obama saved from having to pay its pension benefits, the company that Obama saved from being owned by its bondholders, the company that Obama saved from break-up into its constituent parts, the company that Obama claims as his biggest accomplishment. Here it is building Cadillac factories in China instead of exporting Cadillacs from the United States to China. Why?
The reason is simple. Manufacturers know that, under the current system, they can produce in China and sell to the United States, but they will not be allowed to produce in the United States and sell to China — all because the Obama administration does not have the intelligence or will to invoke the WTO rule for trade-deficit countries invoked by President Nixon on August 15, 1971, when he imposed an across-the-board 10% tariff which balanced U.S. trade by 1973.
Chinese reality check:
(5 May 2012) For 2012, Government Motors, GM, had set a goal of about 45,000 Volt sales in the U.S. Through the first third of the year, GM sold just 5377, 12% of the annual goal. (Source: 1 May 2012 GM.com)
Chinese factories producing GM automobiles:
GM has increased its manufacturing capacity in China by an estimated 55 percent after the bailout, according to industry watchers. GM’s Dan Akerson crowed at the Beijing auto show earlier this year: “One of our aims is to help grow a new generation of automotive engineers, designers and leaders right here in China.” The U.S. auto giant’s ventures with the Communist regime include:
1) Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co., Ltd.;
2)GM China Advanced Technical Center;
3)FAW-GM Light Duty Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd., in Harbin, Heilongjiang;
4)FAW-GM’s Changchun plant in Changchun, Jilin;
5)FAW-GM Hongta Yunnan Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd., in Qujing, Yunnan; and
6)Shanghai Chengxin Used Car Operation and Management Co., Ltd. (some portions are from American Thinker)
Has any of this “open and transparent” information appeared in MSM? HUH? American GM Union workers are getting bonuses for producing what? Recent information has GM’s production stake in China as high as 70% (from the initial 55%).
Facts are just pernicious little things this Obama regime just can’t hide from We The People. Pray. Amen.
[quote]I built this! Submitted by RockThisTown
(Who has won in the past, so I would watch my back Mr. Cfbleachers and Chris Henderson!)[/quote]
No shame in being beaten by the best!
Well, thank you Chris and Ms. Adams. I am humbly grateful for your comments.
I’m glad there are others who appreciate my (off)brand of humor – b/c my family often doesn’t!
Now show me the money!
“Backwards!, Yes we can!, change your getting…”