Kokomo gets stimulus money

I had just finished checking out at the U-Scan line at Kroger when the headline caught my peripheral vision. I swiveled quickly, in time to see the front page of the Kokomo Tribune my fellow grocery buyer had purchased. There on the front page, in gi-normous block letters of multi-point font: DELPHI WINS BIG.

The story went on to detail the $89 million that President Obama had just announced that our local Delphi plant would be receiving.

For me, the verbiage of the title spoke volumes. How exactly did this "win" take place?

Democrat Congressman Joe Donnelly, of Indiana's Second District, has an answer:

"I voted for the stimulus, and this is why I voted for it. All the folks who say nothing’s happening ... now $90 million has come to Kokomo for long-term growth... I’m just really excited about this development. It just further affirms the greatness of Kokomo.”

The emphasis is mine and it is purposeful. Joe Donnelly is a blue-dog Democrat, as close to a conservative as the Democratic Party has to offer today. He is pro-life, at least in some instances and he voted against the Cap & Trade bill.

Yet, his core business/finance philosophy is solidly within the Democratic Party mainstream. To Donnelly, a "win" for Delphi means that they have been awarded the lottery ticket of government largesse. And this proves greatness? HOW? At one time, greatness was defined in the automotive industry by production on the free market of cars that people wanted to purchase by companies that remained competitive the old-fashioned way: cost analysis, insightful leadership and shrewd management of the bottom line.

I still believe that a "win" is predicated on actual achievement in a field where there is tangible measurement of achievement and the lack thereof. But to the Kokomo Tribune and Joe Donnelly, my vision must seem desperately outmoded.

Delphi will hum along a while longer, perhaps even for a few years, with an infusion of cash like that. And Kokomo residents will breathe a collective sigh of relief. But not only have we simply postponed our day of reckoning; we celebrate at the expense of our children and grandchildren who have been stuck with a credit card statement for $89 million plus interest.