On the one hand, Ford is not anywhere near as squeaky clean as it like to present. From the article:
So their reticence about taking the money was circumstantial, not principled. And to an extent, the White House feels like they made things easier for Ford, too.
Ford did seek a line of credit from the feds, borrowed billions under a government program to "retool" its plants and effectively failed first. That's why it recruited a superstar CEO from Boeing Co. and gave him some $23 billion in borrowed money to save the Blue Oval from bankruptcy.
Or it would have taken the money, too.
On the other hand, screw the whole ugliness of this. The day a car company can't lash out against its competitors because the President doesn't like it is not a great day for liberty. Because after all, Ford still doesn't have GM's gubmint-gay-run-teed advantages:
There's no help from American taxpayers to help lighten its debt load, giving crosstown rivals comparatively better credit ratings and a financial edge Ford is working diligently to erase all on its own.Hmmm....the government legally disbarring a union from striking, to benefit a major corporation, for the "common good" of the whole country. There's a word for this...anyone, anyone?
There's no clause barring a strike by hourly workers amid this fall's national contract talks with the United Auto Workers — a by-product of the taxpayer-financed bailout that General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC retain until 2015.
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