Every Foreign Dollar Counts at NRO
National Review Online has run numerous editorials against the idea of a federal loan to the Big Three, without, so far as I can tell, any dissenting voice arguing for such a loan from any of its columnists, most of whom have also attacked the idea of a loan for Detroit. NRO's opposition to a loan for the Big Three cannot credibly be explained by any general opposition to government loans to private enterprises or concern for fiscal restraint, since NRO was an active proponent of the Wall Street bailout, with National Review editor Rich Lowry going so far as to chide House Republicans who had argued against Treasury Secretary Paulson's plan for being "extremely irresponsible." So far, the amount of federal money given to the financial sector by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve is $4.6165 trillion, vastly more than the Big Three are requesting, and Bloomberg reports that the "U.S. government is prepared to provide more than $7.76 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers." Instead, NRO has taken a line that, in any other context, it would condemn as anti-American, repeatedly praising foreign manufacturers and denigrating American manufacturers and the Americans who work for them.
Given NRO's position, one would think it unseemly, at least, for NRO to be running advertisements for the "Hyundai Holiday Sales Event," but NRO has done just that. Of course, Beltway conservatives have a long history of accepting foreign money while taking positions inimical to American manufacturers. The Heritage Foundation's dependence on South Korean donations became something of a scandal in the 1980's. And there is no doubt that Hyundai is a foreign interest: in the 2007 model year, its cars sold here had an average of 10 percent domestic content, as opposed to 80 percent for GM and Ford. Meanwhile, South Korea, a country saved from communism by American blood and still guarded by Americans, effectively blocks American car imports into the country. Perhaps NRO might want to change the slogan for its current fundraising drive from "Every Dollar Counts" to "Every Foreign Dollar Counts."
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The problem with free-market economic libertarians is that they haven't the slightst interest in cultural questions, which are paramount today. They will allow nothing --not even political advantage -- to interfere with their pursuit of profit.
Detroit needs some sort of a bailout because those working-class jobs belong to the core of whatever remains of a paleo-conservative constituency. It's a simple fact of political life: you don't screw your own people.
Will it cost? Yes, it will cost. But not a fraction of what it will cost for the government to bail out those yuppie scum in the banks and on Wall Street. And you don't measure the costs when it comes to preserving your political viability.