Obama disses Jeep Wrangler- calls jobless report a bump in the road

Hey if it’s just a bump in the road, then a Wrangler I can assure you would have no problem getting over it. I can also assure you a Chrysler factory filled with autoworkers hanging onto their jobs by a thread, is not the place to joke about the one product they’re really proud of, the Jeep Wrangler.

Oh I know I know, the president was just trying to make a joke, trying to relate to the everyday working man and woman, but even as analogies go this probably wasn’t the best when trying to describe how tough it is to overcome this really bad economy.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0OV-3p_-ws

I included the Boehner retort because I think he’s right. The time for stupid jokes is over. With unemployment at 9.1% nearly half of the unemployed, more than 6 million people, have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks, the joke is particularly tasteless.

On top of that, I’ve been driving a wrangler for some time now. I know a lot of people who love their wranglers. I know people who take these wranglers through places no car or pickup would  even  go. So if you’re trying to make a good analogy about how tough it is to get through this economy, I’m not sure the president pick a good fight here.

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

13 Comments

  1. Jeff S on June 5, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    We can not endure another 4 years of this guy.



  2. Shared Sacrifice on June 5, 2011 at 8:48 pm

    Would that be the 14 to 19 MPG Wrangler?? I hope Obama’s plan includes some oil drilling because the Wrangler, unlike the Obama administration, doesn’t run on hot air!



  3. sammy22 on June 5, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    Well, since Chrysler, hence Jeep, is now owned by Fiat (52% at least), you can stop blaming Pres. Obama and find another “blamee”.



  4. Dimsdale on June 5, 2011 at 10:18 pm

    Sammy: ?bama chose the venue and the jokes.? As has been the case since Willys created it, the Jeep has been the big money maker for a variety of owners, including Kaiser, AMC and now Chrysler/FIAT.? Hardly the product to criticize, even in jest.
    ?
    I am usually loathe to quote Clinton, but he had it right here: it’s the economy, stupid.? Are you listening, ?bama?



  5. Tim-in-Alabama on June 6, 2011 at 10:11 am

    He really thought his Wrangler line was clever. Now that’s funny. I don’t think Barry’s new “bumps in the road” line is going over too well anywhere else either, especially since he caused the bumps. Perhaps we should start calling him Bumpy Barry.



  6. Dimsdale on June 6, 2011 at 10:16 am

    When you are determined to drive the economic bus over a cliff, the speed bumps don’t matter much.? Or anything else in your way…



  7. JohnK on June 6, 2011 at 8:54 pm

    Leave it to Barry to bang on the Wrangler.? As a former employee of a dealer, I think very highly of the vehicle.? Not my cup of coffee, but it does what it does better than anything else.
    i have seen lots of vehicles come and go, but the Wrangler just keeps coming.

    I knew that Jim could not resist this one.? LOL?



  8. rickyrock on June 7, 2011 at 1:21 am

    Ok guys ………what do we do to fix the economy…..
    specifically ????
    Remeber the bailouts were part of the tarp program that was voted on favorably by Bush Mccain,even Paul Ryan….amazing you leave that fact out of the equation.
    We could drill for oil …..which wouldn’t dent the oil supply.Also drilling and actual delivery of the oil would take years Obama has nothing to do with gas prices ….nothing..it’s called commodity trading …….? or how about the out sourcing of jobs…I think it’s called corporate greed …Too many complain in generalities .you’re all starting to sound like Palin…on second thought…. nobody sounds that bad..
    ?
    ?



  9. SeeingRed on June 7, 2011 at 7:27 am

    How is it that ‘ole Barry delivers a dumb line to auto-workers and Austan Goolsby gets shot the next day for saying ‘just a bump in the road’?? It seems to me the President should look in the mirror a little more closely.



  10. Dimsdale on June 7, 2011 at 8:45 am

    Bailouts were wrong, under Bush or ?bama.
    ?
    Drilling for oil?? Ten years ago, under Clinton (and afterwards) they said it “wouldn?t dent the oil supply” for ten years.? Well, wouldn’t it be nice to have that oil now?? And how about ten years from now.? And this is before they knew about those fabulous oil shale deposits.
    ?
    Outsourcing?? It is bad and getting worse, partly because of artificially cheap labor etc. overseas (corporate greed)? and because the unions have priced our workers out of the market here (union greed).? I would pay extra for U.S. made goods, and do whenever possible, but it is becoming impossible.? We need to attack that problem from both ends, or we will take it in the end, so to speak.
    ?
    Stop the spending (hemorrhaging) and stop the ridiculous over regulation.? That would be a good start!



  11. Don Lombardo on June 7, 2011 at 9:49 am

    Socialism on the march.



  12. rickyrock on June 7, 2011 at 4:37 pm

    I appreciate your specifics..
    1.Again my research shows that the amount of oil would be minuscule..world oil prices are determined in a market of roughly 85 million barrels a day of production and consumption.further the consequences of domestic drilling would likely be in the range of several hundred thousand to one million barrels per day..unfortunately drill baby drill is not the answer.
    2.Outsourcing will never be reduced due to the sheer magnitude of the profit margins.you may be willing to pay more for goods produced in the usa but your cash strapped neighbors would not.
    3.Tax cuts for the rich and large corporations drains the government coffers…from55 percent paid by the wealthiest ion the 50’s to the 17 percent paid by the wealthiest today is part of the problem….why do you think the wealthy give to political campaigns if not to influence legislation.
    4.Reducing spending is absolutely necessary …a consistent percentage cut ..across the board is what we need ……
    Thanks again for the specifics ………..it’s the only way we’ll get anywhere.



Obama smiles at Chrysler plant

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