Doh! Obama labor secretary buys Canadian made car
posted at 1:25 pm on September 1, 2011 by Jazz Shaw
File this one under the, “Wow! I could have had an American V-8!” column.
To show her support for American workers, President Obama’s labor secretary, Hilda Solis, has junked the standard black limo and purchased a new Chevrolet Equinox to ride around Washington in. The problem: the crossover SUV is built and assembled in Canada from parts also made in Canada.
Solis proudly arrived at a media breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor today in the shiny silver vehicle, which she has dubbed the “bullet.” She was asked about why she traded the standard-issue limo for the SUV. “What better example could I set if I encouraged my staff to go and purchase and seek how we could acquire a vehicle that would for me would send a signal that we’re for supporting our American workers, American-made products, fuel efficient as well,” she told the Monitor’s Dave Cook, who provided this video of her answer.
What better example indeed? Ms. Solis expounds at length about her extensive tours of Detroit, the great pride the workers (many of whom are… *gasp* women!) take in making fine quality American cars. She cites this as proof of “the recovery,” presumably to claim that the policies of the Obama administration are working out just fine, thank you very much. Sadly, the car she is featuring is very nearly 100% Canadian. (Hey… at least she’s doing something to help somebody’s economy.)
In the current economic conditions it should be a no brainer that everyone in the administration be buying American built cars, as well as pretty much anything else they can sink some money into. But the labor secretary? It’s days like this when the word irony simply packs its bags and heads out of town in despair.
There’s not much more for it, so let’s all break out a fresh bag of popcorn and watch the video, shall we?
Blowback
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WTF? DOJ Advises Gibson Guitar to Export Labor to Madagascar…
http://www.redstate.com/aglanon/2011/08/31/doj-advises-gibson-guitar-to-export-labor/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Kaptain Amerika on September 1, 2011 at 12:54 PM
The bus… the car… and to top thing off, the suit was made in Kenya! /sarc
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 12:54 PM
Dumb.
She should stick to her usual “Illegals are better than US citizens” shtick.
tetriskid on September 1, 2011 at 12:55 PM
Strikes me as a stupid Latina.
AH_C on September 1, 2011 at 12:55 PM
Hilda: what a maroon… “Par for the course” with this Administration…
Khun Joe on September 1, 2011 at 12:56 PM
She’s too busy making jabs about the Texas Miracle…
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 12:56 PM
Canadian buses and now Canadian SUV.. Is Obama President of Canada?
sandee on September 1, 2011 at 12:56 PM
I mean a North American car…
E L Frederick (Sniper One) on September 1, 2011 at 12:57 PM
LOL. I suppose it is hoping for too much that blowhard BOR talk about this. Has Rush mentioned it?
a capella on September 1, 2011 at 12:58 PM
The research this administration puts into its decision making process is astounding…astoundingly lacking.
WashJeff on September 1, 2011 at 12:58 PM
BO administration = village idiot
David in ATL on September 1, 2011 at 12:59 PM
I’m just shocked that she didn’t select a Ford product. Shocked!
strictnein on September 1, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Why the violent rhetoric?
RadClown on September 1, 2011 at 1:01 PM
Question. How does one determine whether a vehicle, sold by a company whose tagline used to be “See the USA in your Chevrolet”, is manufactured in the US or abroad?
vcferlita on September 1, 2011 at 1:02 PM
He’s King of ‘da World!
/sarc
realitycheck on September 1, 2011 at 1:02 PM
In all 57 states.
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 1:02 PM
It’s hard to shock me, but I’m shocked. This is stupid to infinity and beyond.
faraway on September 1, 2011 at 1:02 PM
Later on at this event, Solis said her favorite American bands are The Guess Who and Loverboy
Mark1971 on September 1, 2011 at 1:02 PM
If they weren’t so incompetent they’d be doing even more damage, so I’m glad Obama and his appointees don’t know what they are doing.
forest on September 1, 2011 at 1:03 PM
The 0bama regime`s blindness regarding the optics of MANY of their decisions borders on the comical. Mrs. NY Conservative drives a pre-Govt Motors Equinox and right there inside the drivers` door jamb plain as day is a BIG old Canadian Maple leaf sticker proudly stating the Country of origin…Ms. Solis needs some new spectacles…or a clue.
NY Conservative on September 1, 2011 at 1:04 PM
IIRC, there’s actually a sticker on GM cars stating where they were assembled.
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 1:04 PM
E L Frederick (Sniper One) on September 1, 2011 at 1:05 PM
But she’s an open borders, nanny state globalist who’s exempt from eating peas, so, you know, it’s OK.
locomotivebreath1901 on September 1, 2011 at 1:05 PM
Someone should have told Hilda that Obama’s illegal aunt wasn’t working … ever … on that assembly line.
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 1:05 PM
Same with Honda
E L Frederick (Sniper One) on September 1, 2011 at 1:08 PM
If this regime were trying to destroy American jobs, what would it be doing differently?
rbj on September 1, 2011 at 1:09 PM
what is BOR?
Kaptain Amerika on September 1, 2011 at 1:11 PM
They continue to exhibit their abject stupidity and incompetence all they poke us in the eye, claiming illegal invaders are better than we are, and to just shut up and sit down. I can’t wait to throw all these clowns out of office and put some of them in jail where they belong.
HomeoftheBrave on September 1, 2011 at 1:12 PM
The knowledge of the Obama Administration, on everything, is a mile wide and 1/4″ deep.
RBMN on September 1, 2011 at 1:12 PM
I thought SUVs were bad for the environment.
yo on September 1, 2011 at 1:12 PM
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some federal regulation requiring the disclosure of this information … *snicker.
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 1:12 PM
What to here something funny. I had a cousin that use to work with her, in her illegal alien congresional district in CA. She stated that Solis would be the next president.
Oil Can on September 1, 2011 at 1:12 PM
I think Obama needs an administration czar – someone to keep the rest in line.
Michelle?
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 1:13 PM
Sorry – all = while :(
HomeoftheBrave on September 1, 2011 at 1:13 PM
That would make sense, which means that Obama sure as hell didn’t do it.
E L Frederick (Sniper One) on September 1, 2011 at 1:13 PM
Obama could make her VP. She has screwed up a lot less than many of his appointees.
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 1:14 PM
Hilda’s foot meets her mouth. Again!!!
capejasmine on September 1, 2011 at 1:14 PM
ahh the giant sucking sound of nafta continues
maineconservative on September 1, 2011 at 1:14 PM
Exactly!! Something wrong with a Volt, Hilda??? Hmmmmmmmmm?
capejasmine on September 1, 2011 at 1:15 PM
Ahhh..thanks.
vcferlita on September 1, 2011 at 1:16 PM
I’ve owned a Chevy Lumina and Dodge Intrepid. Both were made in Canada.
Now we own a Hyundai Santa Fe (built in Montgomery, AL) and a Honda Accord (built in Marysville, OH).
Mr. D on September 1, 2011 at 1:17 PM
Oh stop the bullshit Canadian bashing. Canada sold out our own auto industry in 1964 to the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_%E2%80%93_United_States_Automotive_Products_Agreement
gh on September 1, 2011 at 1:18 PM
At least she didn’t call it a “Chebby”
Mark1971 on September 1, 2011 at 1:18 PM
Yeah, but it is still a Government Motors car so all of us stockholders really appreciate it. Has anyone gotten their dividend check, yet? I’m still waiting.
Cindy Munford on September 1, 2011 at 1:18 PM
Figures. Guess Who’s givin’ me a hand-me-down world?
Patrick S on September 1, 2011 at 1:18 PM
They are only bad for the great unwashed. Government officials, sports stars & movies stars, mandatory.
Cindy Munford on September 1, 2011 at 1:19 PM
Gosh, this is quite a surprise — an Obama administration appointee who is functionally illiterate, really stupid, and whose only apparent attribute is that she fills two necessary (for liberals) identity politics quotas.
So, if you’re an American of Latino heritage, do you accept this type of juvenile pandering as an entitlement, or are you pissed off that Obama can’t seem to find a female Latino Democrat who can speak English in reasonably complete sentences and is lucid enough to ask where her show-purchase car was manufactured?
Just askin’.
Jaibones on September 1, 2011 at 1:20 PM
Wow, that is one realy poor sentence. It’s pretty sad when people in our government can’t handle that whole noun-verb thing. Worse, they buy a Canadian car and try to claim it’s American made.
What an idiot.
dogsoldier on September 1, 2011 at 1:21 PM
Uh…they were bashing the illiterate idiot Obama tool, not Canada. Victim much?
Jaibones on September 1, 2011 at 1:22 PM
lighten up francis,
chasdal on September 1, 2011 at 1:23 PM
Are they considering for a possible VP spot? This is new to me, but I haven’t been following her career in politics. I can see Obama doing that to try an pull Hispanic votes.
Oil Can on September 1, 2011 at 1:24 PM
Only a Canadian would read “US Labor secretary brags about buying US built car actually built in Canada” and somehow draw the conclusion that somehow the US has peed in Canada’s coffee again.
TexasDan on September 1, 2011 at 1:25 PM
My Honda is made of 65% American parts, and assembled in Indiana.
More “American” than GM or Ford, plus no anti-American union got a nickle of my money.
Rebar on September 1, 2011 at 1:25 PM
She’s having it lowered by an illegal immigrant tomorrow.
Tim Zank on September 1, 2011 at 1:26 PM
I picked up a truck load of component parts (in NJ) that go into automotive wiring harnesses, took’m to Laredo. From Laredo, it was a truck load of completed wiring harness going to an assembly plant in Ohio, but didn’t go directly to the assembly plant. Instead it was delivered to a freight forwarding company that did ‘just in time’ parts delivery. While the wiring harness were being offloaded, I was examining the other freight on the dock; Honda rotors imported via Long Beach, and some German parts came in through NYC. All going to a Ford plant in Ohio..
Go figure.
Skandia Recluse on September 1, 2011 at 1:28 PM
By the way, the widow sticker by law denotes where it was assembled and also has a disclaimer on where the preponderance of parts came from as a percentage as well.
The VIN also denotes where it was manufactured.
The door jamb & sill plate have stickers.
You have to be deaf, dum and blind to NOT know where your new car was made.
Tim Zank on September 1, 2011 at 1:29 PM
What I am pointing out is that since 1965, there is no separate US and Canadian auto industry as far as GM, Ford and Chrysler are concerned.
gh on September 1, 2011 at 1:29 PM
Don’t I wish!
BlueCollarAstronaut on September 1, 2011 at 1:30 PM
I guess they never learned how to plug in “Chevrolet Equinox” into a search. Wiki would have told them that it is made in Canada at the CAMI plant in Ontario.
journeyintothewhirlwind on September 1, 2011 at 1:31 PM
Who got a paycheck for assembling that car for Solis? An American citizen or a Canadian citizen??????
Tim Zank on September 1, 2011 at 1:32 PM
aye carumba!
cmsinaz on September 1, 2011 at 1:33 PM
What a stupid irrelevant question.
Some models are made exclusively in the US and some are made exclusively in Canada. Some are made in both.
It’s a NORTH AMERICAN industry!!
Go look at the wikipedia article. From 1965 to 1982, Canada had a $12B auto trade deficit with the US because the Auto Pact initially favoured the US.
gh on September 1, 2011 at 1:38 PM
She’s Hispanic? It’s amazing how minorities are continually the most qualified and capable people appointed by this administration. One would think it would be statistically impossible for that to happen so often.
rogerb on September 1, 2011 at 1:39 PM
Ms. Solis is bragging about supporting American jobs and workers by buying an American car. The glaring truth is the car was actually assembled in another country and the laborers that assembled it got the paycheck, not American workers she wanted to help.
The American based corporation rec’d a profit yes, but the WORKERS THAT BUILT THE DAMN THING live in Canada.
Tim Zank on September 1, 2011 at 1:42 PM
BOR is Bil O’Reilly
herm2416 on September 1, 2011 at 1:45 PM
A better argument would be that she bought a carbon-emitting SUV.
gh on September 1, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Liberals don’t give a damn about American workers, their concern is if it’s made by union workers.
Daemonocracy on September 1, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Minor point of order – for the purposes of CAFE, that is an American vehicle. Moreover, it is a Government Motors vehicle.
Steve Eggleston on September 1, 2011 at 1:54 PM
There is nothing wrong with Canada or buying a car assembled there. Canada is our #1 trading partner.
The problem is our Sec. of Labor is supposed to promoting American jobs.
She thought she was doing that… she wasn’t.
tetriskid on September 1, 2011 at 1:55 PM
Yes there are FTC rules for ‘made in America’ labels. I’m surprised no one here remembers Ross Perot and that ‘giant sucking sound’ of jobs going to Mexico, and the union/media frenzy over Walmart and their imports from China.
Skandia Recluse on September 1, 2011 at 1:55 PM
The first ‘digits’ of the VIN number indicate the country of manufacture.
DarkCurrent on September 1, 2011 at 1:58 PM
You don’t have a real clear grasp on what the definition of “irony” is do you?
Her decision to support American workers by buying a car built by Canadian workers in a Canadian plant (thus enriching their Canadian household and not an American one)is the height of stupidity and most certainly ironic.
Tim Zank on September 1, 2011 at 1:58 PM
I have no problem purchasing a vehicle made in Canada. That said, I would never offer up such a vehicle as having been Made in the USA.
She obviously didn’t read the equipment manifest pasted on the passenger window (the “sticker”), for that would also have provided, in clear French, the fact that the vehicle’s final assembly point was in Ingersoll, ON, Canada, that the engine was made in Canada, and that the transmission was made in Mexico.
See here
unclesmrgol on September 1, 2011 at 2:07 PM
And as far as Obama and Hilda are concerned, we must all pander to US labor workers. Products brought in from other countries or manufactured/assembled in foreign countries is a big bad NO for the rest of us.
It’s a double standard. I hope you can see that most people on here aren’t upset with Canadian made cars as much as the hypocrisy from the Obama administration.
MeatHeadinCA on September 1, 2011 at 2:09 PM
OT: Maxine Waters is urging ObaMao to use his “bully pulpit” to go after “gangsta” banks to modify home loans, or she promises to “tax them out of business.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/179193-waters-obama-should-go-after-gangsta-banks
onlineanalyst on September 1, 2011 at 2:09 PM
I understand your childish concerns. But they’ve been irrelevent as far as Canada is concerned for 45 years.
gh on September 1, 2011 at 2:09 PM
Doh. Stupid is as stupid does. It’s still a stupid argument. Free trade benefits both sides. It’s fundamental to capitalism (see Friedman). The problem with Obama and pals is that they are socialists … and green. Watermelons.
gh on September 1, 2011 at 2:11 PM
You can tell where any vehicle was assembled by the first digit in the VIN number:
First vehicle identification number digit: U.S.A.(1 or 4), Canada (2), Mexico (3), Japan (J), Korea (K), England (S), Germany (W), Italy (Z)
JetBlast on September 1, 2011 at 2:13 PM
This is just wrong an ignorant. It was assembled in Canada. So what. There were thousands of people in Detroit and elsewhere in the states (non-union even!) who had a hand in getting the damn thing to the point that it could be assembled there of parts sourced from all over the world.
Get a grip.
PS, I hate this administration. But get a grip.
Youngs98 on September 1, 2011 at 2:26 PM
Are in like the 5th grade? The article is about the irony of her bragging and being unaware. It’s not about you, trade agreements, or Canada.
My “childish concerns” are actually the topic.
Tim Zank on September 1, 2011 at 2:26 PM
Now come on, so was she supposed to return it back after receiving it?
Its not like she went in person to a car lot and picked out a car.
It was most bought through GSA fleet services, and you have no idea where it was made. GSA does not keep track of where cars were assembled, and I highly doubt federal government employees are notified in advance where certain vehicles are assembled.
Besides, you are not going to find any vehicle made by Ford, GM or Chrysler, that is 100 percent domestic parts regardless. It isnt going to make a huge difference if it is assembled in the US or Canada for that matter.
I am no fan of the Obama adminstration, but this is just a bit silly…
firepilot on September 1, 2011 at 2:34 PM
It’s HILARIOUS because it illustrates nobody in this administration has a freaking clue, they don’t check with one another, no one knows what the other is doing, that make bold statements (as Solis did above) without knowing the facts etc etc etc etc etc etc etc…..
Tim Zank on September 1, 2011 at 2:39 PM
I’m looking forward to the first candidate brave enough to buy a non-UAW vehicle and proudly say that they do not support greedy unions like the UAW.
slickwillie2001 on September 1, 2011 at 2:39 PM
This certainly looks bad for her but honestly, does anyone actually believe she went down to a GM dealership and picked up that SUV? I’d wager she tasked some overworked, underpaid staffer to “go find me something to drive at the top of the congressional travel alottment so I don’t have to spend any of my own money. Buy GM so we can say we’re supporting the auto industry.”
It’s the lack of knowledge or curiosity that’s more telling, that in the end she and her staff wouldn’t look past “GM” to know where the darn thing was made.
smfic on September 1, 2011 at 2:41 PM
United States of Canada Eh!!!!
Political Chef on September 1, 2011 at 2:45 PM
Last night (Fox, I think) was covering her various agreements with latin american countries to properly treat illegal aliens workers
These are workers who are both here illegally, and working illegally at jobs, in our jobless economy
She has signed papers of agreement with various nations.
I remember the days when a treaty was called a treaty and therefore reserved to the Senate for ratification
In earlier times, Solis had introduced legislation to drop legal residency requirements for drivers licenses
“We are all Americans, whether you are legalized or not”
She has a new vision of legality. Keywiki bio
entagor on September 1, 2011 at 2:47 PM
General Motors has been building cars in Canada for over a century. First through an agreement with McLaughlin Motor Car, where McLaughlin put their bodies on Buick chassis and later after GM bought out McLaughlin. The McLaughlin operations were the basis for what is now a huge GM assembly facility in Oshawa, Ontario where Impalas, and Equinoxes and Chevy Camaros are built. GM, Ford and Chrysler’s Canadian facilities are an integral part of their North American operations. Chrysler has a big plant in Brampton and Ford has a large facility in Oakville.
I live in Detroit and can tell you that in general, Detroiters consider the cars that the domestic companies build in Canada to be domestic product. The Mexican and Canadian plants are supplied by the same vendors, for the most part, as the American plants.
I’ve been doing a series over at Left Lane News about unique cars that the Canadian subsidiaries of the American car companies made for the Canadian market, but those subsidiaries have supplied the American market as well for generations.
That’s simply wrong. According to Consumer Reports, the Chevy Equinox has 66% US content. It is assembled in Canada but from mostly American parts. By way of contrast, the competing Ford Escape is made in Kansas City, but has 65% US content. The simple reality is that cars are a global industry.
The sad truth is that if you saw the recent article about Amazon’s new Kindle, a lot of things simply cannot be made in the US anymore. Those industries simply don’t exist here anymore.
Ronnie Schreiber
Cars In Depth
rokemronnie on September 1, 2011 at 2:56 PM
Perhaps she learned how to speak English in Arizona. Arizona had a law that required teachers teaching English to actually know how to speak English properly.
The DOJ and DOE, outraged at this, threatened to sue Arizona, saying the requirement discriminated against hispanics. They recently reached a settlement. Now AZ English teachers don’t need to demonstrate proficiency in English in order to teach English.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/08/31/arizona-us-agencies-reach-pact-on-teachers-speech/
“Social justice!”
Isn’t it great?
AZCoyote on September 1, 2011 at 3:00 PM
Took me about 5 seconds:
The Equinox is produced at the CAMI Automotive GM/Suzuki joint venture plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada. The 3.4 L LNJ V6 engine is made in China (by Shanghai GM), while the Aisin AF33 automatic transmission is made in Japan.
Trafalgar on September 1, 2011 at 3:09 PM
So a car manufactured in Canada at a GM/Suzuki plant, that has a Chinese made engine and a Japanese made transmission is still somehow 66% American? What parts did we make here…the cupholders and the door handles?
Trafalgar on September 1, 2011 at 3:13 PM
It did grab our attention…
Fallon on September 1, 2011 at 3:24 PM
Why aren’t they driving Volts?
seven on September 1, 2011 at 3:49 PM
Some research her and her staff did…
So who got paid for assembling the car? Americans or Canadians…
She made a stupid decision, and made an even more stupid statement.
right2bright on September 1, 2011 at 4:00 PM
What exactly does ‘content’ mean? Wouldn’t a Ford Escape with 65% American made content assembled by American workers be more American than a Chevy Equinox with 66% American made content assembled in Canada?
Oleta on September 1, 2011 at 4:12 PM
No, what you were doing was setting up a whiny strawman. Nobody up to that point bashed Canada.
BillH on September 1, 2011 at 4:39 PM
Joey Biden. may turn out to be the most competent one in the whole litter.
chickasaw42 on September 1, 2011 at 5:19 PM
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