Happy as Larry

http://www.lancefuhrer.com/Chevy%20Commercial.htm
In "1955, General Motors was hauled before the U.S. Senate to explain how it had become the largest corporation in both the United States and the world and how its investors were able to enjoy twice the average manufacturing return on investment. The Senate wanted to know: “Wouldn’t America be better off if General Motors reduced the price of a Chevrolet substantially to make it more affordable for the workingman?” ... Charlie Wilson, the chairman of General Motors, summed up G.M.’s philosophy: “What’s good for General Motors is good for the rest of America.”" http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/Chronicles/May2002/0502Hartman.html
(I was looking for that "good for America" quote and found it in that cite; it is a provocative article and I do not wholly endorse it.)

I was reminded of that "good for America" quote this morning while listening to Dylan Ratigan and his guest discuss the current GM financial bind on Larry Kudlow's show on CNBC. I'm sure Larry will never leave again. The guest, I believe he was from an automobile magazine, was saying the current talks with the UAW to get the workers to reduce their benefits was a little presumptuous in that GM was trying to "abrogate its contract" with its workers. I thought I could hear Larry moan all the way down here in Sydney.

But when the guy suggested that GM could obtain a more level playing field advantage with its non-US competitors if the US government absorbed the health care costs that GM had contracted to provide its workers (nationalized healthcare!), I am quite possitive that they picked up Kudlow's explosion at the California seismological monitoring laboratory.

Now, I'm not sure what you think of Kudlow, but in Australia they have a saying: "Happy as Larry". It has a certain delirious connotation to it. One of the people who is not too happy with Larry is Fiona: http://blogs.salon.com/0001705/2003/02/09.html#a90

Dylan also had that guy back on pushing "Australia" as an index buy. Ugh. See http://guambatstew.blogspot.com/2005/08/back-handed-compliment.html and back posts noted there.