Skeptics take note:
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) -- General Motors is investing $131 million in the Kentucky plant that assembles the Corvette, creating 250 new jobs.
Mark Reuss, GM's North America president, made the announcement Wednesday at the south-central Kentucky plant with Gov. Steve Beshear and local officials. GM says the investment will support production of the next-generation Corvette.
For those like Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) who said the US government shouldn't bailout the American domestic auto industry, news like this can't be easy.
Corker, a former construction company CEO who has become notorious for his hardline stance against unions and labor, took credit for the strengthening of the auto industry after he took a hardline stance on the renegotiation of labor contracts and pensions during the restructuring of GM. Ironically, while Corker serves on the Senate Banking Committee and considers negotiations one of his strengths, he voted in favor of TARP in 2008 and then voted against the financial services regulations signed into law in 2010 (after trying, then failing, to get fellow Republicans on board).
The continued preference of Republicans for the protection of wealth against the creation of economic opportunity runs directly counter to the pragmatic approach supported by President Obama. But the addition of the GM jobs (which will be filled mostly by formerly laid-off workers) shows that when the government focuses less on wealthcare and more on job creation, it's possible to get a win-win situation for working families and businesses.
There is still much more work to be done to overcome the credit collapse of the Bush years and the massive transfer of wealth to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. But in the Mid-South these days, with tornadoes, floods, and unemployment over 10% in many parts of the region, any good news is welcome.