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BO's federal task
force charged with analyzing and tuning a plan to
salvage the US auto industry drives dorkmobiles. |
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By David Shepardson, Detroit News Washington Bureau
With
editorial comment by
GlobalNewsLive |
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The vehicles owned by
the Obama administration's auto team could reflect
one reason why Detroit's Big Three automakers are in
trouble: The list includes few new American cars. |
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Among the eight
members named Friday to the Presidential Task Force
on the Auto Industry and the 10 senior policy aides
who will assist them in their work, two own American
models. Add the Treasury Department's special
adviser to the task force and the total jumps to
three. |
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The Detroit News
reviewed public records to discover what many of the
task force and staff members drove, but information
was not available on all of the officials, and
records for some states were not complete. At least
two task force members don't own a car, and there
are still two open slots on the 10-member panel that
will be filled by the secretaries of labor and
commerce, who have not yet been appointed. |
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The co-chairs of the
task force -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner
and White House National Economic Council Director
Lawrence Summers -- both own foreign automobiles. |
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Geithner owns a 2008
Acura TSX, registered in New York. He once owned a
1999 Honda Accord and a 2002 Acura MDX, according to
public records. |
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Geithner is the
president's designee for purposes of enforcing loan
agreements with GM and Chrysler and must approve or
reject any proposed transactions by either company
that would cost $100 million or more. |
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His maternal
grandfather, Charles Moore, was a vice president at
Ford Motor Co. from 1952-63, according to Peter
Geithner, the secretary's father. But Geithner
wasn't very interested in cars growing up -- in part
because he graduated from high school in Asia, his
father said. |
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Summers owns a 1995
Mazda Protege that's registered in Massachusetts. He
previously owned a 1996 Ford Taurus GL. |
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What other task force
members drive: |
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Office of
Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag owns a
2008 Honda
Odyssey
and a 2004 Volvo S60. He previously owned a 1997
Jeep Grand Cherokee and 1982 Datsun. |
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Carol Browner, the
White House climate czar, said earlier this month at
the Washington Auto Show that she doesn't own an
automobile. Public records show she once owned a
1999 Saab 9-5 SE. |
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Energy Secretary
Steven Chu doesn't own a car, his wife, Jean Fetter,
said in a telephone interview on Sunday. Cabinet
officials are typically transported to and from work
by security officials in government vehicles. |
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Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson owns a
2008 Toyota Prius and a Honda Odyssey minivan, she
said Sunday. "It's great," she said of her Prius. |
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Vehicle information
was not available for Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood or Christine Romer, head of the Council of
Economic Advisers. |
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Here's what task
force policy aides drive: |
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Austan Goolsbee,
staff director and chief economist for the White
House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, owns a 2004
Toyota Highlander. |
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Joan DeBoer, the
chief of staff to LaHood, said in an interview
Sunday she drives a 2008 Lexus RX 350. She doesn't
consider herself "a car buff" and views her car as a
way to get around town. |
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Heather Zichal,
deputy director of the White House Office of Energy
and Climate Change, owns a Volvo C30, according to
public records and officials. |
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Gene Sperling,
counsel to the Treasury Secretary, owns a 2003
Lincoln LS, and previously owned a 1993 Saturn SL2. |
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Edward B. Montgomery,
senior adviser to the Labor Department, owns a 1991
Harley-Davidson and previously owned a 1990 Ford
Taurus L station wagon, public records show. |
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Lisa Heinzerling,
senior climate policy counsel to the head of the
EPA, owns a 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback station
wagon, according to her husband. |
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Diana Farrell, the
deputy National Economic Council director, doesn't
own a vehicle. Her husband, Scott Pearson, owns a
1985 Peugeot 505 S. |
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Dan Utech, senior
adviser to the Energy Secretary, owns a 2003 Mini
Cooper S two-door hatchback. |
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Rick Wade, a senior
adviser at the Commerce Department, owns a 1998
Chevrolet Cavalier and previously owned a 1998
Toyota Corolla. |
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Jared Bernstein, Vice
President Joe Biden's chief economist, owns a 2005
Honda Odyssey. |
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The White House
declined to comment. |
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Obama traded in his
Chrysler 300C for a more fuel-efficient Ford Escape
hybrid during the 2008 presidential campaign. |
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Joe Biden, the son of
a car dealer, owns a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette -- a
wedding present from his dad. He primarily commuted
from Delaware to the Senate on Amtrak. |
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Ron Bloom, a special
adviser to the Treasury Department who is also
advising the task force, owns an aging Ford Taurus. |
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* * * END * * * |
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We are betting that
Joe Biden's Corvette -- not selected by him --
handed to him -- is an automatic. It likely has
one of those dorky 3-speed crappy automatic
transmissions that GM arrogantly stuck in even
Corvettes for many years. And that is the real
reason the US auto industry is near dead. |
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Imagine how filthy
and strewn with used Starbuck's cups the interiors
of these cars must be! |
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It is easily observed
that an indicator of a dorky person is the car it
drives and how messy its interior is... even after
being "cleaned out" by the dork that owns it. |