The proposed $14 Billion Auto Bailout package from the Federal government has collapsed in the Senate. Senate Republicans doomed the bill, which had won support of both the White House and Congressional Democrats, after pressing for steep cuts in both the wages and benefits guaranteed to auto workers by the UAW union contract. The UAW had already made steep concessions in an effort to move the much needed loans from the Federal government swiftly through Congress. However the GOP Senators, many of whom represent
southern states home to foreign owned auto factories who are not obliged to offer UAW contracts to their labor force due to state anti-union laws, would not accept any compromise that did not fall in line with the wages and benefits offered with Toyota, Honda and Nissan in their southern factories.
The Senate was able to muster a majority in favor of consideration of the bill with 52 voting for and 35 against. However due to the arcane rules of the legislative body, 60 votes are needed in order for a bill to be considered by the full Senate - at which time it could then be filibustered which would require 60 votes to break. Such ridiculous rules, not even found in the Constitution of the United States, but rather by Senate specific rules that nobody other than Senators ever agreed upon, are why the US Senate has long been known as the place where good legislation goes to die at the hand of one aggrieved minority interest or other. Getting 51% of the vote is hard enough in a democracy. Getting 60% is simply unattainable for most measures that even involve the semblance of opposition.
Meanwhile the auto industry and the minimum 2,000,000 number of jobs it provides Americans hangs on the edge of a cliff after a group of Southern GOP Senators decided to play politics with the lives of millions of people rather than stand up for their responsibilities to do right by this country, not by Toyota. Now the fate of the industry is left to the White House who can divert treasury funds from the previous bailout bill to Detroit if it so chooses. The White House says it is considering such a plan.
You can takepart in checking out the energy efficient cars of the future, of which hopefully some of will be American made, by logging onto AutoBlog Green.
LINKS:
NY Times: Senate abandons automaker bailout bid
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It’s scary to think about what could happen to our economy if the automakers are allowed to go under. We’re in a deep enough hole already — we can’t afford to lose another million or two jobs!
The Southern Republicans were correct in votng against the bail out. Automakers and Unions should Bring their prices and salaries down equal to the average workers affordability. If they don’t want to do what is necessary to survive, then let them sink. No one is bailing out the tax payers. In the end the tax payers will have to pay the bill and get nothing for it. To hell with them they got themselves into this mess with all their greed now let them go away.
Thanks for commenting Ed.
I could not disagree more. While it might feel good to wax poetic and act tough on ordinary workers wanting to simply maintain some of their income - from salaries that have already been reduced as part of the bailout package - the fact of the matter is that if these companies are allowed to fail we will have a minimum of 2 Million new unemployed workers in this country. This is not even counting the vendors and support services that surround these jobs. To let this industry go in these troubled times would be one of the worst mistakes this country ever made.
Why don’t you, Jon, pay them if you are concerned so much? Why Ed should pay? Why I should pay? If we pay now, what would we do if they have wasted all our money again and start asking for more? What would you say? Wait a minute, I know! You’ll say: “To let this industry go would be one of the worst mistakes this country ever made.” Am I right?
I am paying them, or at least guaranteeing their loans from the federal government, with my tax dollars. If you’re a taxpaying American, then so are you and whether you know it or not you’re doing it for good reason. A loss of 2,000,000 jobs in an economy that is already on its knees will cost you, myself, Ed and the rest of the country much more than $30 Billion in the long run. It would be nice if people all cooperated well enough to have a true free market system that didn’t result in enormous social problems, but we simply don’t behave that way . So we redistribute wealth to maintain stability and our way of life. Hopefully we can do it in a sensible way and to as small of a degree as is practical and possible.