More bad news (not) for the Obama administration. The U.S. economy is picking up a head of steam.
The economy gained strength at the end of last year as Americans spent at the fastest pace in four years and U.S. companies sold more overseas. The growth is boosting hopes for a stronger 2011.The Commerce Department reports Friday that growth rose to an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the October-December quarter. That’s an improvement from the 2.6 percent growth in the previous quarter. And it was the best quarterly showing since the start of last year.
So much for the GOP’s meme that the Recovery Act was a failure. I just have to believe that Americans will wake up one of these days and see these hypocritical liars for what they are. It’s pretty hard to hide the fact that things are getting better, despite the apocalyptic doom-and-gloom, sky-is-falling vision of America purveyed by Republican leaders like Paul Ryan in his Debbie Downer response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address.
Meanwhile, Ford announced this morning that it had a record year in 2010.
Ford said this morning that it earned a profit of $6.6 billion in 2010, less than the company was expected to report, but the most since 1999 when the automaker’s Explorer was America’s most popular SUV.Ford also said that its hourly workers will receive an average profit-sharing check of $5,000.
The profit-sharing checks that Ford’s 40,600 U.S. hourly employees will get in March will be the largest since they received $6,700 in 2001.
Also, too, General Motors has decided not to seek more help from the federal government to fund its green vehicle initiatives.
General Motors Co., confident in its strategy and financial future, will forge ahead with its green vehicle program without government retooling loans, and plans to accelerate its national rollout of the plug-in Chevrolet Volt.GM applied in late 2008 for $14.4 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy’s $25 billion program to help the auto industry build fuel-efficient vehicles by upgrading factories. But the automaker now says it can pay its own way.
The decision to withdraw the application “is based on our confidence in GM’s overall progress and strong, global business performance,” said GM Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell. Avoiding another financial obligation “is consistent with our goal to carry minimal debt on our balance sheet,” he added. GM has an estimated $20 billion on hand.
Keep the good news coming.
I’m just sayin’…
