Clint Eastwood Makes Obama's Day

From The National Journal:

Clint Eastwood Makes Obama's Day
By George E. Condon Jr.
February 5, 2012 | 10:04 PM

President Obama's ad-makers may have to pay royalties to Clint Eastwood after a remarkable two-minute Chrysler commercial that aired on the biggest of all stages - the Super Bowl - and gave a pretty good preview of what the president's reelection commercials might look like. At the very least, the ad and Eastwood's powerful narration make it much, much more difficult for Republican front-runner Mitt Romney to keep pushing his line that Washington should have let the automakers go into bankruptcy.

And don't think that Team Obama wasn't watching the Super Bowl along with millions of other Americans and immediately grasped the boost they could get from the commercial. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer quickly tweeted "Saving the America auto industry: something Eminem and Clint Eastwood can agree on." Senior strategist David Axelrod tweeted "Powerful spot. Did Clint shoot that, or just narrate it?" Former White House aide Bill Burton tweeted, "Clinton Eastwood #winning."


.....................................


With 30 second spots selling for $3.5 million, the commercial cost Chrysler an estimated $14 million and was kept under wraps by the automaker, which, with the help of the Obama administration, has come back from the dead after being counted out in 2009. And one can only guess what the automaker paid Eastwood. Whatever, it was worth it for it was a master stroke. The 81-year-old actor has told interviewers he has always voted Republican for president, though he has endorsed some Democrats in California and has praised libertarians.

The commercial itself was reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" commercials, though with the famous Clint Eastwood tough guy touch. Shown shortly after Madonna's halftime performance, it began with the silhouette of Eastwood, walking in the dark and recognizable only for his gravelly voice. "It's halftime. Both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game," he says. "It's halftime in America, too." With scenes of an iconic front porch and a city skyline," he continues, "People are out of work and they are hurting. They are all wondering what they are going to do to make a comeback. And we're all scared because this isn't a game."

With more every day scenes flashing on the screen, Eastwood adds, "The people in Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together. Now Motor City is fighting again." With the music punctuating his remarks, Eastwood goes on: "I've seen a lot of tough eras, a lot of downturns in my life. Times when we didn't understand each other. It seems that we've lost our heart at times. The fog of division, discord and blame, made it hard to see what lies ahead." As scenes of protesters give way to black and white photos of kids and firefighters, Eastwood builds, "But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right and acted as one. Because that's what we do. We find a way through tough times. If we can't find a way then we'll make one. All that matters now is what's ahead. How do we come from behind? How do we come together?

At this point, viewers see Eastwood in the light. "And how do we win? Detroit is showing us it can be done,. And what's true about them is true about all of us. This country can't be knocked out with one punch." To conclude, a close-up of Eastwood fills the screen. "We get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, its halftime America and our second half is about to begin."

All that was missing was him turning to Mitt Romney and challenging him to "make my day."

Boehner Spokesman: Auto Industry Revival Is ‘Nothing To Celebrate’

FromThinkProgress::

Boehner Spokesman: Auto Industry Revival Is ‘Nothing To Celebrate
By Pat Garofalo on Jun 5, 2011 at 1:30 pm

Last week, the Obama administration announced that Fiat has agreed to buy the final government share in Chrysler, officially completing that company’s trip through federally managed bankruptcy. The U.S. losses from the auto industry rescue, according to the latest projections, will be much lower than estimates showed over the last few years.

In the first quarter of this year, all three of the Big Three auto companies were profitable. As President Obama said, were it not for the government rescue, “by the time the dominos stopped falling, more than a million jobs, in countless communities, in a proud industry that helped build America’s middle class for generations, wouldn’t have been around any more.”

But Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) would rather have seen those jobs disappear, as his spokesman said yesterday that the auto industry’s revival is “nothing to celebrate”:

“The administration’s auto bailout is nothing to celebrate,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. “The model the White House should be touting is Ford, which, instead of relying on a taxpayer-funded bailout, saw trouble coming and made the tough decisions necessary to preserve jobs and weather the storm.”

This is hardly the first time that Boehner has been utterly unsympathetic to the prospect of widespread job losses. Back in February, for instance, Boehner said “so be it” when asked about the loss of federal jobs that would occur if the House Republicans’ desired spending cuts were implemented.

Boehner is also highlighting Ford’s refusal of money as if Ford did not benefit from the auto rescue. But as the Wall Street Journal noted, Ford will “benefit from many of the concessions that General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC exact from the suppliers, unions, dealers and debt holders shared by all three companies.”

Since the President has already made it clear that he's running on the success of the Auto Industry Bailout, which EVERY REPUBLICAN is on record for being AGAINST...suddenly, it's 'nothing to celebrate'.

The continued success of the American Auto Industry, as well as all the ancillary jobs that were saved when it was bailed out by the Government - get that.... it's 'NOTHING TO CELEBRATE'.

I swear, if the DNC doesn't run an ad in EVERY AREA where there's a new plant going up, and where those are STILL operating, with quotes from Orange Julius and Flipping Mitt's ' Op-Ed' about letting Detroit die, then they are idiots. These ads, in additional to the ones employing folks in the high-speed rail projects, need to play in a continual loop in districts all around the country.

GM whacks 1,100 dealers

Hat tip: GreenLadyHere


These numbers will have ripple effects. This is what I mean by taking care of Main Street. The Auto Industry's ripples are far larger than people realize. The sheer number of jobs associated with the auto industry is why I didn't care about the money given to it, and I for damn sure didn't think it should be a loan. There's something so wrong about giving billions- GIVING billions -- to those liars and thieves on Wall Street, while making Main Street beg for crumbs. Where are the wholesale firings at the banks?

I simply do not believe that The President has anyone on this in Treasury that actually SEES this. Oh, I don't mean that they don't know it - in theory, but I'd bet money not a one of them mofos at Treasury is remotely related to anyone or grew up in a house with anyone who actually had to work a blue-collar job. That they knew anyone that didn't wear a suit to work.

From CNNMoney.com:

GM whacks 1,100 dealers
Automaker makes big cut as part of plan to drop 40% of dealer network. Many are expected to leave the business this year.
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: May 15, 2009: 4:45 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors notified 1,100 of its 6,000 dealerships Friday that it is terminating their contracts with the struggling automaker, the first step in cutting up to 40% of its retail network.

GM spokeswoman Susan Garontakos said that the dealers receiving notice Friday are being told that their contracts will not be renewed in October 2010. Many of them are expected to close shop this year.

The company is likely to cut another 900 and eventually get its network down to between 3,600 and 4,000 dealers by next year, GM vice president Mark LaNeve said.

Of the 900, about 500 will come from GM's plans to sell or close four brands - Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Pontiac. Another 400 dealers will be eliminated in a second cut as GM continues to restructure.

On top of the dealers GM is cutting, LaNeve said another 400 will be lost through attrition and consolidation. Some will decide to move away from selling GM brands and others will decline to meet the automakers' requirements for additional investment in their facilities.

The company's expectation is that the surviving dealerships will become larger and more profitable as a result of the thinning out, which in turn will allow them to spend more on advertising and facilities. But GM also acknowledges that its long-term decline in U.S. market share will continue as a result of the smaller network of dealers.

Rest of story at link above.