Nov 2023 Mod notice:
There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.
If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations
and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines
before posting here.
Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.
If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules
when posting here.
In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.
Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Howard Dean: "Romney running hocus pocus campaign"
I think the moderator wasn't tough enough.
If I was moderator I'd have a buzzer so when they tried to interrupt me I just go "BWAAAAAH"
Like on Whose Line Is It Anyway
edited 17th Oct '12 5:38:52 PM by Thorn14
I just thought it pleasant to have a mod actually do the job.
Heck... she was kitten in comparison to some... Ladies and Gents, I give you... Betty Boothroyd
, ex-Speaker for the House of Commons. A fine, Yorkshire lass who can make MPs cower if they try to be idiots anywhere near her. Not one to mince her words if you cross lines or make stuff up on the spot, her.
edited 17th Oct '12 5:44:23 PM by Euodiachloris
We need more of that. Just completely non nonsense moderators who don't take no shit.
How about a Sassy Black Woman ?
Here's the ad as it is currently shown on Bulbapedia, in a little frame on the bottom right that includes a "SIGN UP NOW" button, a "DONATE" button, and Facebook and Twitter buttons:
[contemplative piano music throughout ad]
President Barack Obama: "We bet on American works, and tonight, the American auto industry is back.
[video: Obama speech before Congress]
[news clipping: "Almost two thirds of GM's jobs are in other countries." -Forbes]
[background image, blurry: online news article titled "Outsourcer-In-Chief: Obama Of General Motors", with what appears to be a web ad next to it advertising IBM]
Dan Akerson, General Motors CEO: "Seven out of ten of our vehicles are made outside the United States."
[video allegedly showing Dan Akerson saying this in a speech, and showing his name and title]
[news clipping: "GM, which closed 13 U.S. plants....opened 15 in China." -CNN]
[background image, blurry: online news article titled "U.S. companies dump billions into China", with what appears to be a web ad next to it advertising "home renovations"]
[news clipping: "The Obama administration appointed Akerson, 61, to GM's board" -Washington Post]
Narrator: That is the CEO of General Motors, that President Obama appointed.
[background image: Obama with two people, one who is implied to be Akerson (camera zooms in on him) and an unspecified other person]
Akerson: "Our commitment to working in China, with China, for China, remain strong" [not sure if that's actually "remained"]
[video allegedly showing Dan Akerson saying this in a speech, and showing his name and title]
(the phrases "In China", "With China", and "FOR CHINA?" appear on the screen as Akerson says them; the first two are black text on white and the last is red text on white]
Tom Rose, Retired Auto-Worker: "Is this a, a GM America bailout or a GM [i]China[/i] bailout?"
[text on screen: "Learn more at www.AutoBailoutTruth.com"]
[Let Freedom Ring logo]
[text on screen: "Paid for by Let Freedom Ring"]
Enjoy your factchecking.
edited 17th Oct '12 7:29:04 PM by GlennMagusHarvey
I thought everyone knew that GM (and others) had opened up factories in China, although this isn't a new thing. I know of a Buick factory specifically, so they can sell fairly nice cars to well-off Chinese citizens. Again, this is not a new thing.
Like, 1998.
Seems that Buick is rather popular there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors#Asia
edited 17th Oct '12 7:05:46 PM by pvtnum11
Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.![]()
I think the point is that when companies come begging us for cash they do so on the premise that they will use the money to reinvest in us, not to enrich themselves and China. In other words, they aren't saying GM was bad to outsource, they're saying the Obama administration was foolish to give them our money to do it with.
Based on what info I've been able to find:
True, according to GM's annual report. GM employs 202,000 people worldwide, of which about 75,000 are in the US.
True, according to factcheck.org
.
True, according to CNN
.
True. He was appointed
by the US Treasury, which is part of the Obama administration.
Can't find an independent source for the video, but that does appear to be him shown, and he did make the earlier "7/10" statement at the same conference in Shanghai where he allegedly said this.
So it appears that the content of that ad was all factually true, though you may disagree with the opinion parts.
edited 17th Oct '12 7:16:44 PM by EdwardsGrizzly
<><What they miss out includes the fact that most of that "seven of ten" is cars built in different continents for sale there. GM sells European-built cars in Europe. It sells Chinese-built cars in China. It sells South American-built cars in South America. And so forth.
Also, pretty much all the cars they sell in North America are built in North America. Just a lot of them are built in Canada ... something about having a national healthcare system making it easier to operate, perhaps?
A brighter future for a darker age.
None of that alters the fact that we handed a bunch of cash to something that presented itself as a poor struggling American standby when in fact it was an expanding multinational that was wisely exiting the stagnant American market. They took our money and ran, essentially, or at least that's the interpretation the ad presents.
edited 17th Oct '12 7:18:50 PM by EdwardsGrizzly
<><
Diddums: would you prefer it to go under without the cash-injection to get competitive elsewhere and lose all the jobs in the US? Don't forget, the vast majority of the design will still occur in the US itself. <shrugs>
Face it: this is the type of thing countries in Europe have also had to deal with for years. Sometimes, money gets thrown at companies, and they end up going under, getting sold to overseas companies or shifting the work elsewhere. Damage limitation is about the best various governments can do.

Just... Go to Urban dictionary and type it in.