It came a lot faster than I thought it would. Hizzoner, Wisconsin Governor Diamond Jim Doyle, issued a statement today that does exactly what we predicted - he places the blame squarely on General Motors and completely overlooks the downward turn in the market, sales of SUV’s that have plummeted and he wants GM to reconsider the closing, just as we predicted. Much of what he said is true, but some of it (see bold text) is just typical, political bloviating.

“After all the years of work and everything the people of Janesville have given, it is tough to stomach what GM is doing here today.

“Families here have dedicated their working lives to this General Motors plant. The city of Janesville, the state of Wisconsin – we have all been committed to making this plant work.

“So many people here have put their hearts into building trucks at the Janesville assembly plant, and now they are left with a cold decision that casts them aside. We all feel it in our guts.

“GM made it clear that this was a plant that they were invested in. They brought Barack Obama here just months ago. It was clear that this plant was the pride of GM.

“But, it should have been obvious long ago that the future was not where GM was headed. Bad corporate decisions kept these lines turning out gas guzzlers as fuel prices went from 2 dollars to 3 dollars and now to 4 dollars per gallon.

“Now we stand here, carrying the burden of those bad corporate decisions – failed leadership that culminated in a calculation that left out the very heart of this company, the workers who built it.

“I am inspired by the workers who in the face of all this – in these difficult times – are saying they will work to make the best of this. That’s the spirit that made this company worth something, and that’s the spirit that built Janesville.

“I want Wisconsin workers to know that the state will stand with you. We will work together to fight for Janesville and our future together.”

Of course, politicians blaming GM for building products people actually wanted to buy is nothing new.

Gov. Doyle: “…the future was not where GM was headed.”

Governor? Perhaps you’d like to share just where GM was headed? Did they figure out a way to head somewhere other than the future? That would be a pretty remarkable R&D Department.

In 1973, when OPEC deeply curtailed oil output, extreme shortages were the norm. People who had been comfortably driving their large, American land yachts like Buick Electras, Chevrolet Impalas, Ford Galaxies, Plymouth Furies, Dodge Coronets, even Cadillacs, Lincolns and Imperials, suddenly wanted to trade them in on Pintos and Vegas, even AMC Gremlins. The big cars were sale-proof, no one wanted them.

Public outcry was immediate, and loud. Why hadn’t GM, Ford and Chrysler built downsized automobiles? The answer is simple. Before the oil embargo, GM, Ford and Chrysler could hardly give away small cars, let alone sell them to Americans who wanted luxo-boats.

By federally mandated fuel economy standards, those cars were reduced in size. GM introduced downsized B and C body cars in 1977, lopping nearly 1,000 pounds off the signature Cadillac. The A body cars followed in 1978. While the cars were popular, many GM customers went to Ford and Chrysler in those years. Why? Ford and Chrysler were still building large cars, large cars that Americans wanted to buy - despite government intervention.

!977 Cadillac Deville
The 1977 Cadillac was 950 pounds lighter than its 1976 ancestor.

Well, here it is, 35 years later and history is repeating itself. Gasoline, now four bucks a gallon, is finally making people look at abandoning their large vehicles, which happen to look like Tonka toys compared to the their 1970 counterparts.

And just like 1973, the politicians are pointing fingers for the sake of trying to put the blame…somewhere, anywhere, trying to make themselves look good.

And just like 1973, they look foolish.