We Shoulda Hired The Smart Regulators

As the NY Times continues to study the GM Cobalt debacle they finally swing around to noticing that in addition to Evil Greedy Corporations we have witnessed a Big Government fail:

U.S. Agency Knew About G.M. Flaw but Did Not Act

By MATTHEW L. WALD  MARCH 30, 2014

Federal regulators decided not to open an inquiry on the ignitions of Chevrolet Cobalts and other cars even after their own investigators reported in 2007 that they knew of four fatal crashes, 29 complaints and 14 other reports that showed the problem disabled air bags, according to a memo released by a House subcommittee on Sunday.

Then in 2010, the safety agency came to the same decision after receiving more reports that air bags were not deploying.

Of course by 2010 Obama owned GM and ran the safety agency, so move on.

I guess they can't blame Greedy Government and I know I shouldn't be surprised by their surprise, but this is a mini-replay of all the angst and hand-wringing about failed regulation of the banking system.

 

Comments

[MarkO]

Objection. Lacks foundation.

[dublindave forever]

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[dublindave forever]

Champagne corks a poppin today........

[narciso]

Yes, they happened back in the 00's, but still it's equivalent to the Toyota mess, yet they got the recall, and GM didn't.

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

Seven six in one blow; UK sniper takes out six Taliban with one shot. He'll never kill anywhere near as many as Barry but it's still pretty impressive.

Is the trading deadline past? I'd gladly exchange WeeDavey for this kid.

[narciso]

How long has Mary Barra, known about this?

[narciso]

In this capacity,

In February 2008 she became Vice President of Global Manufacturing Engineering. In July 2009 she advanced to the position of Vice President of Global Human Resources, which she held until February 2011, when she was named Executive Vice President of Global Product Development.[6][8] The latter position included responsibilities for design; she has worked to reduce the number of automobile platforms in GM.[2] In August 2013, her Vice President responsibility was extended to include Global Purchasing and Supply Chain.[9]

[Account Deleted]

How could the USG hope to recover its "investment" in Govmo if it disclosed the defects in the KillerKobalt model? The focus on damage caused by idiots mistaking accelerator for brake in Toyotas was a much better investment decision. Now that the government has recovered its investment, it can apply pressure on Govmo to keep the plants running to fill all available parking lots in order to keep UAW funds flowing to the Fascists.

This is a real win, win, win for government at the cost of only a few lives.

[narciso]

Well the chocolate rations have to be delivered along the Malabar front, but anybody notice the potholes.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/modest-obamacare-reforms-insured-more-people-than-massive-system-overhaul/article/2546551

4.5 million Medicaid would suggest a small singularity of revenue proportions,

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

7 million sign up!!!; what maybe 5.5 Million actually pay for Exchangecare... hmm... 5.5Million lost their individual coverage because it was made illegal by ObummerCare. So about the same number of people have insurance now as before ObummerCare? Oh, some of the formerly insured are now some of the 3-4 million more people on MediCaid? Oh and a couple million 24-26 yos are still on mommy/daddy's plan because they can't get jobs? So the taxpayers are paying $2TRILLION to add medicaid Welfare rolls and stay stuck on mommy/daddy's plan? $2T for THIS-- oh and this summer, people start being kicked off of employer group plans. yeah, pop those corks. ObummerCare is a shitstorm for dems.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

That washExaminer piece reinforces the point I made at 11:26. The previously uninsured now with ExchangeCare? maybe 1-2M.Say it's 2M, almost all older, or with previous conditions, 80+% on subsidy, virtually no young healthy joined ExchangeCare. Next comes the multi-BILLION dollar bailout for ExchangeCare Insurers. Yeah, pop those corks.

[narciso]

ok there was some recalls, but for other reasons;

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/03/02/us-gm-recall-idUSTRE6210IQ20100302?feedType=nl&feedName=usmorningdigest

[James D.]

In my new office (sadly, not a new job yet - we were merged/sold to another company), there's a big TV right behind my "pod" (think a cubicle, except without even half-walls to give the illusion of privacy or dignity), and per the dictate of our new owner, it's set pernanatly to MSNBC.

I've been spending the entire day with headphones on, but just in the brief gaps when I have to take them off to talk to someone, or when I'm leaving my desk, I hear enough to kill off chunks of brain cells several times a day.

I can't begin to express how much I despise that channel and everyone on it.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

JamesD-- set to MSNBC? Isn't that actionable workplace abuse?

[narciso]

that's a whole brainslug colony, like on Deneb 5, and Spock had to fly into the sun, to dislodge

the facts suggest that Barra was more involved with the Cruze then the Cobalt,

[jimmyk]

Yes it happened before GuvMo, but let's remember that the automakers have been forced into building smaller cars and making other design changes to meet CAFE requirements going back some 35 years.

[James D.]

NK, yeah, I think so.

Apparently, it used to be on Fox News, but then someone complained.

Not that Fox News for 9 hours straight would do my sanity all that much good, either...

[Jeff Dobbs]

TM:
Of course by 2010 Obama owned GM and ran the safety agency, so move on.

And don't forget Obama's appearance at the Cobalt plant on his Cash for Clunkers Used-Car-Salesman World Tour in September 2009.

Everything he touches...everything.

[narciso]

well what the heck would he know anyways;

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/04/breaking-cia-station-chief-in-libya-told-obama-administration-no-protest-occurred/

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Obummer visited the negligent plant? you can't make this up. Did he visit a Cruze plant? because GM has announced they won't build those in the USA any longer.

[narciso]

Why is there virtually no skepticism any more;

http://claytonecramer.blogspot.com/2014/04/cia-use-of-torture-very-troubling-report.html

[Threadkiller]

Champagne corks a poppin today.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBLLJzn7Jss

[rich@gmu]

ask them to turn the tvs off. it'd save money (electricity and they could drop a cable bill). hope it works out for the best JamesD.

and great news ... finally got my braces off this morning. teeth are all straightened out.

[narciso]

Well he did serve as pitchman;

http://www.autotribute.com/4500/obama-calls-chevy-cruze-car-of-the-future/

then again if no one told him of the hangups on Healthcare.com, how could he know about this?

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

We know for a fact Rice, HildaBeast and Obummer are shameless liars about Benghazi. What I want to hear from this Morell guy is what did petraeus know, then I want petraeus to give public testimony. Did petraeus aid and abet the lies Obummer/Hildabeast/Rice told? and if so, why?

[Dave (in MA)]

Jughead is hosting the World Champion Red Sox at the White House right now.

It must be painful for such an ardent White Sox fan to have to do this.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Thanks Narciso. It's really true, Obummer has the Merde-Ass touch, everything he touches.....

[narciso]

We have President Joe Isuzu, with many grounding stations,

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

DaveinMa-- for the love God, please don't let Obummer 'throw' a baseball at the event. The spectacle of Mayor 'Bane' Wilhelm yesterday was bad enough.

[narciso]

We know that CIA IG report, Schlesinger, and Church (his brother the Admiral as it turns out) did not say what the press said it did,

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

--hmm... 5.5Million lost their individual coverage because it was made illegal by ObummerCare. So about the same number of people have insurance now as before ObummerCare?--

We don't know.
If 5.5 mill lost insurance and all bought insurance then we have about the same number.
If 5.5 mill lost insurance but all of the Barrycare sign ups were already insured and just wanted susbsidies then we have 5.5 mill more uninsured.

No doubt the number is somewhere in the middle.

And then there is how that number is affected by the Medicaid provisions which of course we didn't need 2000 pages of unread government coercion to enact.

[rich@gmu]

anonamom-

thanks for your comment on the other thread.

[narciso]

Actually it was his cousin, but it shows there was some sense in the family;

http://cryptome.org/church-report.htm

[narciso]

His father, Annapolis '38, brother to the Senator, his grandfather, in the same class as Admiral Nimitz,

[narciso]

Is there anything that works, that he has any even passing association with?

[Jim Eagle]

I have been hearing that so far only 11% of the total enrollments are people who previously had no health insurance. We have destroyed our countries health care system to fall short by 90% of the reason we were given to do this. And the Dems want us to believe it is better if we allow them to fix it then to have the Republicans repeal or replace it?

[narciso]

And we're still forty million short, by their own estimates,

[jimmyk]

Sharyl Attkisson looks to be able to beat Mooch at arm wrestling. I wonder if her ring finger is also longer than her index finger.

https://twitter.com/SharylAttkisson/status/450838100072484864/photo/1

[narciso]

lord love a waterfowl:

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/04/01/dnc-chair-er-no-i-cant-think-of-a-specific-bill-or-anything-glaring-i-would-fix-about-obamacare/

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

Why didn't she use those muscles to punch out that evil little dwarf she was interviewing?

[pagar]

"Is there anything that works, that he has any even passing association with?"

This is bound to be a winner!

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2014/04/01/when-obamas-bullcrap-goes-airborne-his-regulations-stink-as-much-as-what-he-is-regulating/

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Nice gunz Sharyl. I do like a strong woman.
I'm sure Ailes will give her a personal trainer in the contract to keep her buff.
Oh and JimmyK-- you'd have no shot arm wrestling Sharyl ;)

[Old Lurker]

James, stay late and experiment with some superglue...

[Threadkiller]

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/03/31/senate-probe-caterpillar-avoided-24b-in-us-taxes/

Car Levin is holding a hearing on cspan3

[Old Lurker]

On which subject do we have the most real facts?

1. Location of that airplane.

2. What is really going on with the kid at BCH.

3. The actual numbers of paying Obamacare enrolees.

4. What happened in Benghazi including where the CIC was.

5. Obama's grades and test scores.

The list can be as long as you like.

[matt]

So did the government delay its investigation in order to recoup its investment in GM? What did he know and when did he know it?

[Miss Marple]

"Is there anything that works, that he has any even passing association with?"

In my opinion, the only thing is killing bin Laden, And on that I am not sure but that SecDef and Hillary and others went through some chicanery in order to get it done while he was thinking up excuses not to.

So I don't even give him total credit on bin Laden.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

OL's points 2-5 show the disgrace of the Legacy Media. All 4 of those stories (plus IRS targeting TP, F&F, AutoBailout union payoffs, the debt Bomb etc) are huge muckraking stories, instead they cover up for their teammate Obummer. Complete disgrace. They aren't journalists... they are whores.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Matt raises an interesting point. Treasury sold its GM shares well after bankruptcy... and the government sold with knowledge (at least constructive knowledge)of this inquiry. OK you ambulance chasing trial lawyers, get those securities fraud class actions against the Treasury going.

[Old Lurker]

NK just ask yourself what would be happening to say the Koch Brothers had they played the same role as the government did in the GM BK. Or Bain Capital.

[Danube on iPad]

Michael Moore blames Bush for the GM ignition issue, and calls for the death penalty for the executives.

[rich@gmu]

...sovereign immunity ... and whatever cover TARP provides.

[Old Lurker]

DoT here were my last two posts on the dead thread regarding that:

CR it seems to have been human nature from the beginning. Public servants eventually cease being that. If they start running in packs (unions) and can be led for malignant purposes, then you have Robespierre or Nazi Brown Shirts or Black shirted thugs or SWAT teams with no-knock tactics or Police Departments with tanks or Coercive Departments of XYZ, and soon Death Panels.

Posted by: Old Lurker | April 01, 2014 at 11:58 AM

And right after writing the above, I read:

"Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore believes that whoever was responsible at General Motors for failing to recall a faulty ignition switch deserves death."

A night of broken glass, anyone?

Posted by: Old Lurker

[Old Lurker]

Fatman Moore fits nicely into the historical context, seems to me.

[rich@gmu]

which if I recall is quite a bit ... including the 363 sale of oldGM to newGM (GOVMO)

[Jim Eagle]

rse and the rest of you out there with an interest or questions about Common Core, they have finally released the documentary:

Building the Machine

I have just spent 40 minutes watching it and I recommend it highly just for the well summarized synopsis of why, by who and for what.

The Israeli guy from California makes the best point.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Is the Treasury participating in stock market sales immunized? I assume not, but get to work you ambulance chasers!

[henry]

Michael Moore math: regulators knew about the problem for less than 2 years under Bush ** eleventy!! times greater blame than ** regulators knew about the problem (and did a second review) for over 5 years under Obama, including after the gov takeover.

[rich@gmu]

NK-

think they would be.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

rich-- my guess is that the bankruptcy may have immunized 'newGM' from liability claims. The stock sale was not part of the bankruptcy proceeding, and certainly not a traditional action of the 'sovereign', that's why I assume it's not immunized. Interesting question though. If it were immune from a securities fraud claim? then the ambulance chasers will sue financial advisors who bought from Treasury for not warning customers.

[henry]

NK, how does bankruptcy immunize "new" GM if the conduct continues past the reorg?

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Henry-- don't know the defect facts nearly well enough to have an idea whether newGM was immunized, or whether GM's post-bankruptcy conduct in and of itself is actionable. My main point is that the Treasury sale of its GM stock was post-bankruptcy reorg, and indeed the Treasury got the stock as part of the reorg, so I doubt the public sale of the Treasury's shares would be immune from securities law. Besides, I'd love to see Geithner frog marched by US Marshal's to an arraignment.

[Thomas Collins]

Well, OL, at least we know how the Choomer-in-Chief looks when chooming.

http://www.louisvillepolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Smoking-Weed-Obama1.jpg

[Jane]

It must be painful for such an ardent White Sox fan to have to do this.

It was painful to watch my guys be put thru it. They went to visit wounded vets afterwards. I wish that was the part they aired.

Iggy, I love that sniper story.

[GMax]

The real question might be what did old GM disclose to the BK court and to its creditors about the potential claims it knew or should have known about. If it hid known information, the BK could potentially be reopened. Given how political the BK restructuring was, I am skeptical that anyone will have to balls to do the right thing here, as the UAW could take it in the neck.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

ThomC-- my firm's server refuses to show the link. Can you post the photo?

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

GMax-- fair points all around. But how does that immunize the Treasury? they took the stock knowing about the government's own safety inquiries pre-bankruptcy. yet again, Obummer turns something to absolute shite. Which WallStreeter rain the auto bailouts?

[lyle]

Now just imagine if Bain Capital rather than Uncle Sugar had rescued GM...

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

Bret Stephens in today's WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303978304579473241738635168?mg=reno64-wsj&mod=rss_opinion_main&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303978304579473241738635168.html%3Fmod%3Drss_opinion_main

[narciso]

the Abzorbaloff of Flint, is an exceedingly dense Nazgul, his problem with Bin Laden seems to have been simplified to his family had some acquaintance with W's, of course we know his 'ranting incoherently' re Florida,

[narciso]

I was just going to bring that one up, NK, the pasdaran, the siloviki, the PLA all have his number.

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

Dating site OKCupid warns people they should boycott Firefox because the new CEO gave $1,000 to a pro Prop 8 group in 2008.
Now, leaving aside that a substantial majority of CA voters, some of the most liberal in the land, voted for Prop 8 you just gotta love the petty little ayatollah thought police enforcing tolerance with intolerance.
The most sickening thing though is Mozilla and the new CEO making their kow tows to the MiniTru thugs

[matt]

One of my leftists FB "friends" published a list of Koch companies to boycott. Thug life is coming to the fore everywhere as the Left wallows in its sheer incompetence.

[narciso]

You notice how they never 'move on' there is never 'what difference does it make' for them, it's always the Spanish Inquisition.

[Dave (in MA)]

Oh, no. What did Mrs. Christie do?

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

It all goes back to modern Lib/Leftism being a mental illness (except for the Dem pros who make huge fees off of the true believers. The pros are pigs, not mentally ill.)

[narciso]

It's a travismockasham;

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/04/liberal-success-7-million-sign-up-for-obamacare-you-get-to-pay-for-5-6-million-of-them/

[narciso]

Here too, it seems;

http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-liveblog-day-43-right-sector-implicated-in-shooting-in-kiev/

there should be more caveats, spetsnaz, the Vostok unit of the GRU could all be involved;

[boris]

"notice how they never 'move on' there is never 'what difference does it make' for them, it's always the Spanish Inquisition"

And then some.

[narciso]

this was not unexpected;

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/03/31/glen-beck-sued-boston-marathon-attack/

discovery will be interesting in this regard;

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

Thanks for the link at 1:18, JiB.

[Thomas Collins]

I can't figure out how to paste it, NK. But here's a link to a Google page with the images. You've probably already seen it. It appears from time to time on Drudge.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=obama+smoking+weed&gbv=2&oq=obama+smoking+weed&gs_l=heirloom-hp.3..0l10.1469.4413.0.4631.18.15.0.2.2.2.413.3431.2-6j4j1.11.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..7.11.2858.n02Yv0MBUxQ

[anonamom]

Jane, re your partner's assumption either the MA DCF or the higher ups at Childrens first priorities are children--did she just spend the weekend at a unicorn ranch???

Oh, but that were the case.

I've seen plenty of entrenched incompetence with state welfare systems and far, far too much ego in academic medicine.

[narciso]

Until I read that Boston Globe piece, I didn't know the manner of how this came about, the why is less clear, although that piece from the Blaze suggests a reason,

[Old Lurker]

Anonamom, returning to my theme of late, having unchecked power over people is corrupting. This is true for individuals and for groups.

It just is.

It used to be that incompetence itself was a check. Or a reliable set of laws, fairly enforced. Or a certain shaming by an inquisitive press. Or the threat of a religious hell and damnation. Or a good whupping by Dad. Or a shunning by the community. Or the promise of hunger. Or the fear of not being able to provide for one's own family.

Once again I could go on and on listing checks that no longer apply much.

[narciso]

the press, with the exception of bridge tolls on the way to Ft. Lee, Mitt's tax returns, and most everything about the Huntress, is not inquisitive, they are courtier and other words that begin with court, the only hell that is acceptable, is delivered by Sky Dragon,

[rich@gmu]

lets see if this posts ...

First, the Treasury
Department and the Federal Reserve are generally controlling shareholders, even
in spite of relatively low minority interest in particular companies. Second, they
are controlling shareholders that also enjoy sovereign immunity from the federal
securities laws and state corporation law. The presence of a control shareholder
in publicly traded corporations is relatively infrequent. The presence of a control
shareholder in publicly traded companies that also enjoy sovereign immunity
from corporate and securities law is entirely novel.

http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/TREASURY-INC.--HOW-THE---BAILOUT-RESHAPES-CORPORATE--THEORY-AND-PRACTICE.pdf

if the bankruptcy didn't immunize them tarp probably did

[narciso]

A little riff on the Kleinster;

[Old Lurker]

Narc the press worked hard on GWB's Air National Guard shenanigans and also his failure to get those school buses running during Katrina, right?

[Janet - the districts lie fallow, while the Capitol gorges itself]

JiB's YouTube link is very good.

[narciso]

Yes, they did, but with perfect myopia, they missed the buses in the schoolyard that cable guy, Nagin, failed to move.

[NK(withnewsoftware)]

TARP review article-- I read that article to opine that Treasury was at risk for damage claims under class action '33 Act violations (basically nondisclosure) and private cause of action 10b-5 claims (insider trading.) But the issues have not been resolved.

[rich@gmu]

OL-

lol ... the media was frontrunning the "fortunate son" dnc campaign that was supposed to feature them prominently. if only they could have found an old typewriter ...