I appreciate you documenting this story. I’m on your side, but this doesn’t smell right.

Let me summarize: You get the Obama people over and pitch the FVA + TARP funds plan. They don’t respond. You lower your expectations and continue to lose yardage. Finally, you punt from the back of your own endzone by giving a large dose of TARP with no FVA oversight plan at the end of December.

I get it that the FVA oversight has teeth if the Obama team publicly buys in. But since they didn’t you should have started the plan, announce how it should be continued, and say team Obama had been advised. This would force them to continue the plan or come up with a better one. As it is, they made a bloody mess and had an easy scapegoat.

Wallace to Goolsbee:

I also want you to talk about the clash between policy and profits. The governments wants General Motors to make small cars, fuel-efficient cars, while all the indications are, that according to the market, the cars they make most profit on are SUVs and pickup trucks. So which takes preference? Profits for the taxpayer shareholders, or environmental policy?

Anyone see any sign of an answer, or of further discussion of that subject?

This is a basic rhetorical ploy, especially in politics. When asked a question to which you have no good answer, change the subject entirely with a non-sequitor attack on someone else, which starts a distracting dispute that doesn’t do you nearly as much harm.

Goolsbee had no answer to the question asked of him that doesn’t look very bad: “We are going to maximize profits first, selling big cars if that’s that what it takes”, gets half of his own party infuriated at him … “We are going to put our green hobbyhorse first even if it costs the taxpayers $50 billion” gives Republicans a cannon to shoot.

So… “Look, first I just want to point out the big damned mess the Bushies left us!…” … and he never gets to second.

Wallace should have followed up: “That may all be true, but getting back to the question I asked, will you answer it?”

Anyhow, Goolsbee seems to be adjusting well in his move from economist to politician.

It took courage to do that.

You have the thanks of a grateful nation.

When I watched Goolsbee’s interview I was dumbstruck by his verbal machinations and truth twisting and non-answers. He seemed to be trying to string together a litany of White House talking points, which often had nothing to do with the questions being asked. More b.s. for the masses – or should I say lemmings.