Holman Jenkins, Jr. writes “If Obama Had Carter’s Courage . . .”- WSJ.com and offers a series of deceiptful and disingenuous arguments that should be called out.

Most notably, Jenkins writes “We have a second auto industry, founded after the political and legal system had thought better of mandatory unionization, born of foreign parents, mostly in the South. It’s surviving the recession without extraordinary help.”

The US auto industry, unlike that industry in Japan and Europe does not receive government support for pensions and/or healthcare. Nor do US manufacturers receive huge tax breaks to locate manufacturing facilities in particular states.If foreign automakers are not receiving extraordinary direct intervention by their home governments, it does not mean that they have not received years of such assistance. It is deceptive and disingenous to imagine that there has been a level playing field for US automakers.

Likewise, by pinning the blame for the failure of the auto industry on increased fuel economy standards (CAFE), Jenkins takes a pet right-wing cause (opposition to reducing greenhouse gases and the notion of global warming) and repackages it.

CAFE standards are not the problem, bad management is, as is an unequal playing field. Create national health care, solve the problem of pensions and social security by creating a viable and effective social safety net, and some of the competitive problems facing manufacturing will begin to disappear. Also, enforcing safe labor and environmental standards in other places will serve to make American manufacturing healthy once again.

Don’t buy right-wing deceptions.