Republican Senators Torpedo Auto Loans
The Republicans in the Senate have managed to bring the auto industry bridge loan proposal, already passed by the House and agreed to by the White House to a screeching halt, which probably means upwards of 3 million more Americans will be unemployed shortly.
The Republicans were demanding that the United Auto Workers take major pay cuts and give up benefits before they would even discuss the loans, and the UAW refused to participate in a one-sided give away.
I don’t remember the Republican Senators offering to give up their health care or Senate pensions as a result of the huge deficits they have accumulated over the last 8 years. Nor have they explained why none of the money we have been pumping into the financial sector was available to the auto companies while the financial sector is talking about megabuck bonuses for executives.
4 comments
…the pure politics of this whole situation just simply suck. This game is all about defeating the huge evil monster UAW, which to Republicans is a horrible monster of Democratic money and political influence by working-class Americans who – in the minds of Republican leaders of all stripes – don’t deserve a place at the table.
I am starting to grow tired of the plainly clear games of the Republican party and the stark refusal of so much of the MSM to report honestly about these games. A person can only be either stupid or vicious to buy in to the idea that there is no difference between buying a ticket on an airline that is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and buying a motor vehicle from a company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This isn’t apples and oranges; it’s apples and road apples….
Every owner of a Big Three vehicle just lost a bundle. If they go into bankruptcy the dealerships will die all over the country. The parts suppliers are already in major trouble because of the slow down, and they’ll fold up shop in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The warranties are worthless, which will put governments at all levels in a bind as they primarily buy US vehicles.
We can only hope that the Senators start hearing from constituents, because nothing else will move them. I don’t think they really understand what they have done. This is going to be a bloodbath for the economy.
What is the military supposed to do when it can’t get vehicles?
Stupid, just stupid.
But the constituents are also blindsided. When I discuss these things, the best I can reach for is a “let the US Auto makers die gracefully, instead of how they are going down.”
If it was just the three corporations and their employees, this wouldn’t be as big a problem as you are talking about a quarter million jobs, and we are shedding jobs at twice that rate every month. The real problem is the two and half million jobs directly related to the existence of those three corporations, at dealerships, trucking companies, parts suppliers, etc, as well as the loss of ad revenue to the media which will impact many more.
These Southern Senators need to ask their constituents how they are going to feel about the loss of NASCAR, because that will go with the rest of the package.
They have to change to survive, but let’s limit the “collateral damage”.