Friday, May 29, 2009

Is Obama Admin punishing Chrysler dealers who donated to Republicans?

Longtime readers of this blog know without me having to remind anyone: party allegiance doesn't exist in this dojo. Personally I'd rather see a country full of citizens who are beholden to no political parties at all. And I like to think that one of the end characteristics of that drastic un-affiliation is that this blog and its peculiar proprietor are equally hard on both Democrats and Republicans.

But I also believe absolutely in the right to expression, whether in speech or belonging to the party of one's choice, if one chooses to belong to one at all. I just try to do my best to encourage people to think about it before they commit to something, but that's beside the point of this post...

WorldNetDaily was the first to report that there is apparently a disturbing pattern among the Chrysler dealerships that have been targeted for closure as part of the company's bailout by the federal government. One-fourth of its dealerships will be shut down... but as WorldNetDaily discovered, 90% of those to be closed were owned by donors of "substantial sums" to Republican candidates.

I'm not going to automatically jump on the "bash Obama" bandwagon on this, 'cuz... well... 'cuz if something like this was politically motivated it seemed too brazen. Then I started hearing about how many of the dealerships scheduled for closing had been some of the most profitable to the company.

And then I discovered that one group that donated heavily to the Democratic Party was getting to keep SIX Chrysler dealerships that it owned while its local competitors who gave to GOP candidates are getting shuttered.

Could Obama's White House be so brazen?

I'm starting to now think... yeah, it could.

This not only merits some formal investigation, it demands it. Like, congressional hearings with everyone involved in this hauled before the lights and cameras. If for no other reason than to apply the scrutiny this incongruity calls for and clear the air one way or another.

4 comments:

  1. The pertinent question here is whether the political mix of shut-down dealers is any different than the political mix of dealers in general. And apparently it's not. Auto dealers in general lean heavily Republican: http://tinyurl.com/autodealers

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  2. Your news sources, as usual, are questionable. JP probably has it right. If this administration is anything, it's not dumb and what you speculate is very dumb and very unlikely. Find another right wing rumor to spread. This one doesn't have legs.

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  3. Excuses, excuses. Dems trying to protect Obama by pointing out that many or most car dealers heavilly donate Republican doesnt explain the fact why profitable (Republican) dealerships are closed while corrupted (Democrat) dealerships are left alone:

    http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/05/dealergate-update-corrupt-dem-donating.html

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  4. Hey bmovies, how about an actual news source to back this story ... not a right-wing blog. I'll even accept Fox News as long as it's not an opinion piece. Oh, I forgot. It's on the Internet so it must be true. Never mind.

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