Detroit has not been a source of good cheer in recent decades. But this past week, it provided some of the most encouraging economic news in years.
General Motors, the nation's No. 1 automaker, reported that 2010 was its first profitable year since 2004 – $4.7 billion, enough to ensure that union autoworkers would receive profit sharing checks of $4,300.
The Obama administration's controversial 2009 decision, championed by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to bail out General Motors seems to be working out well, at least so far.
We wish we could say "Told ya so" to all those who questioned the wisdom of Washington's plan to rescue American automakers, a once-calcified bunch who produced clunkers that for decades were laps behind foreign competitors. But we were among the skeptics, editorializing on Dec. 4, 2008, that the cash infusion could lead to a continuing cycle of bailouts for GM and other companies.
General Motors, restructured and leaner in large part because of Uncle Sam's intervention, has emerged as a solid player in the world market.
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