Nibbles isn't treating me right for the last couple of days; there's supposed to be a picture of a Crown Victoria there.
Anyway, here's the bitmap. Again.
Sorry, I stole your diz and edited it to express my own experience.
/SAAB, come back!
Also, if you hold down the shift key while trying to type "2:21" you get "@:@!" which seems appropriate.
Here are the legislative facts. On 12/10/08, the House passed the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act of 2008. The vote on the bill was 203 (D)s and 32 (R)s for, and 32 (D)s and 150 (R)s against. However, the bill failed in the Senate, where 60 votes were necessary to invoke cloture; the vote there was 41 (D)s, 9 (R)s and 2 (other)s for and 4 (D)s and 31 (R)s against. At this point, Bush defied the vast majority of congressional Republicans (181 to 41), and by a Presidential finding decided that $13.4-billion out of the $700-billion TARP program could be allocated as loans to the Detroit automakers.
I was relieved and quite surprised when I read about it. I've never been a GWB fan, far from it, but that was a responsible decision and particularly admirable in that it was so unpopular with his political base. Keep in mind that when workers are laid off, aggregate demand takes a major hit leading to yet higher unemployment, and property values in residential housing also take a hit, leading to yet more pressure on banks holding mortgages. Now look at this graph, which I lifted from the Calculated Risk website and made even more pessimistic to illustrate an alternate history where there had been no bailout. The length of those red lines hanging down during 2009 represents the number of jobs lost in each month. Now let's imagine Bush had gone along with the party line and thus added an additional million jobs lost in 2009; that's an average of 83,000 jobs lost per month. That's shown by the dotted lines. That's what Republican congressmen voted for by a margin of 181 to 41.
You call this "fiction," but these are historical facts. Concerning the subsequent continuous Republican opposition to the auto industry bailout, if I had to I could supply you with hundreds of links to document it. It would be a trivially easy exercise, but a depressing one however, searching out quotations by so many swine so fully dedicated to transferring the wealth of the U.S. working class to the U.S. investing class.
They are sublimely comfortable. They are unrealistically speedy. All sidewalk eyes, green with envy, will be upon you as you ride in one. One can enter or exit the car without contorting oneself like an Olympic gymnast. There is room for many friends, admirers and sycophants. Practically every indulgence imaginable can be practiced inside one. Last but not least, I can not remember any Rolls-Royce sedan committing hari-kiri by self-immolation, as is the too-common case for these so-called "supercars."
* Weenie for "custom"
Yerah it's a road, it's a dirt road. Gotcher seat belt fastened? Well you betta, lemme show ya something cool HA HA YAAAAAAH! GGrrrrrrrrRRRROW! waaaaAAAh WUH mmMMmmMMmm MMMMMRRRROWwuh wuh wuh eeeEEEE! WAHHHHwuhwaaaaAAAAHHH wuh wuh chkWAHHHHH!! (whisp) (THUMP!) vrrrRRRROW bap bap VRRROW bappa EEE!!SSSSS! bubba bubba bubba pop bubba bub bub bub Oh ho ho ho ho! Ah ha ha ha ha! Didn't think we'd make that corner didja? Thought we'd end up in those orange trees? Just looka the 2-stroke-smoke! Can you believe that? LET'S DO IT AGAIN!