GM = Tipping Point

This morning, as I was doing my typical surf through on iGoogle, I happen to find this gem of an article by Byron York from The Washington Examiner that asked “Will the GM bailout be Obama’s tipping point?” York states throughout the article that Obama may be reaching a tipping point between his personal popularity and the unpopularity of his policy proposals.

“We might be catching a glimpse of Obama’s tipping point with his handling of General Motors’ bankruptcy, and Chrysler’s before it. The government takeover of the automakers is by far the most unpopular thing Obama has done so far. And it’s not just unpopular — it is partisan, appealing to the base of his party and virtually no one else.

In a Washington Post poll in late April, just 41 percent of those surveyed approved of Obama’s handling of the automaker problem, compared to clear majorities who approved of the job he was doing in other areas. According to a detailed breakdown of a Gallup poll from the same time, people in virtually every demographic and political category looked askance at the continuing bailout of the automakers.

People of all age groups disapproved. People in every region of the country disapproved. Men disapproved. Women disapproved. People with graduate degrees disapproved. People with less than a high school degree disapproved. People who go to church a lot disapproved. People who don’t go to church at all disapproved. People who make more than $75,000 a year disapproved. People who make less than $20,000 a year disapproved.”

While I think the GM government bailouts will contribute to Obama’s drop in the polls, I think the unveiling of his other initiatives will make the numbers drop off significantly. We can only look at his health care and education proposals, and his handling of the Guantanamo Bay situation to gauge how the public unrest will grow.

The entire GM situation is enough to stir my anger.  I believe in the free market system, and when you make bad decisions as a business owner, then you should fail and learn from these lessons.  With Obama’s decision to bailout GM, which declared bankruptcy, the American taxpayer will be paying for their mistakes for a long time.