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FarCenter

(19,429 posts)

1. What's good for General Motors is good for the country

Thu May 1, 2014, 03:49 PM

May 2014

"Engine Charlie" Wilson, Secretary of Defense, former CEO of General Motors.

Wilson's nomination sparked a controversy that erupted during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services Committee, based on his large stockholdings in General Motors. Reluctant to sell the stock, valued at the time at more than $2.5 million, Wilson agreed to do so under committee pressure. During the hearings, when asked if he could make a decision as Secretary of Defense that would be adverse to the interests of General Motors, Wilson answered affirmatively. But he added that he could not conceive of such a situation

"because for years I thought what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa".

This statement has frequently been misquoted as "What's good for General Motors is good for the country". Although Wilson tried for years to correct the misquote, he was reported at the time of his retirement in 1957 to have accepted the popular impression.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Erwin_Wilson

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The Interstate Highway System was started [View all] MineralMan May 2014 OP

What's good for General Motors is good for the country FarCenter May 2014 #1

It was created for military necessity and created huge economic growth. lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #2

"It's broke" is a little dramatic. B2G May 2014 #3

They don't need to "get" the money, they already have it. lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #5

I'd be all for cutting foreign aid to pay for it. B2G May 2014 #8

Foreign aid spending is trivial. lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #23

32 billion a year is trivial?? nt B2G May 2014 #33

The economic growth would have happened anyway Spider Jerusalem May 2014 #4

How?? B2G May 2014 #6

By creating popular demand and political will for alternatives Spider Jerusalem May 2014 #9

There is no alternative to traveling to another state or B2G May 2014 #11

Well, not quickly, anyhow. But there are a number of cross-country routes MineralMan May 2014 #18

We use to have trains ... GeorgeGist May 2014 #24

We also used to have horses and buggies. nt B2G May 2014 #32

nonsense. lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #10

In the end, we all pay for it, one way or another. MineralMan May 2014 #7

Yep, you got it. nt B2G May 2014 #12

The United States lost, and by "lost" I mean "misplaced" as much money in Iraq lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #14

The military industrial complex also gets its money from us. MineralMan May 2014 #15

I don't think I'm lost. lumberjack_jeff May 2014 #16

We spend a ridiculous amount of money on military /nt think May 2014 #28

Not only that, Sissyk May 2014 #13

IF that's what the President is saying, fine. Laelth May 2014 #17

Here is a part of an article I found interesting. Sissyk May 2014 #19

I have to recant. Laelth May 2014 #20

I understand what you are saying, Laelth. Sissyk May 2014 #27

Did you mean to give me a link? Laelth May 2014 #29

Yes, that was what I intended to link to. Sissyk May 2014 #30

Thank you. Laelth May 2014 #31

I see a military advantage to single-payer health care ... JustABozoOnThisBus May 2014 #21

Send him an email. I have no idea. MineralMan May 2014 #22

Umm.....not quite entirely. AverageJoe90 May 2014 #25

Yeah, civilian firms built it under subcontract with the feds. It was a federal project, iirc. pinto May 2014 #26