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A $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers collapsed in the Senate Thursday night after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts.Yeah! Screw the union goons!
The collapse came after bipartisan talks on the auto rescue broke down over GOP demands that the United Auto Workers union agree to steep wage cuts by 2009 to bring their pay into line with Japanese carmakers.
UPDATE: More good news: GM ready to declare bankruptcy! After so much bad economic news, it's good to see real progress. (And if you don't understand why GM's bankruptcy is good news, you don't know anything about economics. Or bankruptcy.)
UPDATE II: Ed Morrissey:
Montana’s two Democrats, Max Baucus and Jon Tester, sided with the Republican filibuster.Smart move, and indicative of the libertarian mood of the West. The reason Reid & Pelosi wanted to shove through another unpopular bailout before Christmas was to let Bush take the blame. Now, it will wait until after Jan. 20, and we'll see if Obama is willing to put his name on this kind of crypto-fascist economics.
UPDATE III: Malkin has a roundup with highlights:
Stabenow whining about demands for union concessions. Babs Mikulski calls for order, bleats that Stabenow is not being heard. Get out the Kleenex. They both seem on the verge of tears. Stabenow concedes the "votes are not there."Anything that makes Debbie Stabenow cry is good for America!
UPDATE IV: Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan ruined himself:
Can we now stop considering Paul Ryan as one of the "bright, young talents" that is expected to lead conservatives and the GOP to future electoral success?Club for Growth needs to find a primary challenger for Ryan.
He folded on his principles and voted for the $700 billion bailout package in September. After yesterday's aggravating and disappointing House vote, I think it's time to pull the plug on Ryan's "potential" as a conservative voice in the Republican party for the time being.
UPDATE V: If Ryan is disgraced, Jim DeMint of South Carolina has covered himself in glory by telling the blunt truth about the bailout:
"The primary driver behind this is the unions, because bankruptcy allows the auto companies to basically restructure all their contracts in a way that a bankruptcy judge says will make them sustainable," DeMint said. "And if they do that, then essentially the unions lose all their leverage. It's the unions that have brought them to the brink. So definitely, I think the reason they want a political solution and a car czar is because a car czar can protect the unions through this whole process at the expense of the taxpayer."(Via Business & Media Institute.)
UPDATE VI: Sam Brownback voted for the bailout, which makes no sense at all, since Kansas is not a big labor-union state, and therefore Brownback is voting against his state's economic interests. It's enough to make you wonder . . . what's the matter with Kansas?
UPDATE VII: Linked at Outside the Beltway, where James has a roundup of reaction.
Automaker's Bailout: What About Toyota?
ReplyDeleteThere is an urgent need to act fast to save the failed car manufacturers yet widespread confusion about how to do it seems to prevent that. I don't blame anybody for that: It's not politicians job to manage automakers and the failed automakers' management has already proven their incapability.
The answer is simple: Give the money to the successful Japanese and Korean automakers so they can take over the failed big three and nurse them back to health. This is a win-win-win solution.
P.S.
Socialism is bad! Government messing with the economy is socialism. Yet leaving the people working for the three failed automakers out in the cold before Christmas is outrageous. The only solution is ask thous who know how to make cars profitably and they will use your money wisely and productively
There are plenty of things that I don't like about this bail-out business.
ReplyDeleteOne of them being the lack of Republican/Conservative post-financial collapse planning.
What happens when the economy collapses? Conservatives seem all to happy to let it all go to the crapper. Why? So you can have something to hold over Obama's head for the next 4 years?
Or is it the cult-like belief in the magical powers of the free market system?
All the while villifying Americans who might or might not make 71 dollars an hour. Isn't it communism when you allow government( in this case Republicans who seek Union concessions on wages) to determine how much an individual is allowed to make?
What gives?
Who's side are Conservatives on?
Wait, not to mention that Conservatives want Detroit workers to take paycuts so that they get
EQUAl pay to workers working for FOREIGN car manufacturers in the South...
What the deuce?
To satisfy an abstract principle of free market capitalism?
You guys have alot of work to do....
You know, it's funny. I don't recall these great defenders of free market capitalism demanding that Merrill Lynch stockbrokers agree to large pay cuts before any Wll Street bailout. I guess it's just a coincidence. Blue collar guys are just goons in some people's view.
ReplyDeleteThe Republican Party will live long and prosper . . . well, maybe just in the South. Judging by the reaction of stock markets world wide, everyone else thinks you are bunch of idiots.
Or is it the cult-like belief in the magical powers of the free market system?
ReplyDeleteThe invisible hand always knows best. As it is, our markets are just barely free, which is why we're in such a pickle.
All the while villifying Americans who might or might not make 71 dollars an hour. Isn't it communism when you allow government( in this case Republicans who seek Union concessions on wages) to determine how much an individual is allowed to make?
Actually, I think the proper term is "Corporatism."
When they're begging for a taxpayer-funded handout, the government should be able to set conditions. If they don't like the conditions of the bailout, then they are free to turn it down.
But kudos! You are on the right track -- it's not Congress' job to dictate how a private business operates (labor, management), or what sort of products they make and how (CAFEE standards, regulations), which it has done and which has created big problems in the market for a very long time (see the housing, financial, energy, education, automotive and health care industries for a few examples of govt. meddling gone horribly wrong).
But, why are you so mad? Aren't you glad the Republicans are looking after your interests, y4-e?
Wait, not to mention that Conservatives want Detroit workers to take paycuts so that they get
EQUAl pay to workers working for FOREIGN car manufacturers in the South...
Why do you hate successful NA FOREIGN car companies that make affordable, quality products, y4-e?
December 10, 2008 Stat of the Day
In 2007, Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles.
In 2007, General Motors sold 9.37 million vehicles.
In 2007, Toyota made $17.1 billion.
In 2007, General Motors lost $38.7 billion.
You see, Toyota actually has a sustainable business model (they don't have the UAW choking the life out of them).
If the UAW gave a shit about the workers (which they don't) or the companies they work for (which they don't), they would have played ball and made concessions and they'd have their bailout.
As of now, they will (hopefully) restructure in bankruptcy court (which will lead to the exact things the UAW was trying to avoid), or the Dems' corporatist counterpart in the WH will go ahead and use TARP funds to bailout their unsustainable business model, and they'll be back in March for more. (Which should make you happy since you and the rest of the Dems feel they have a right to our money to prop up their failed business models, again and again and again.)
For myself, I will not buy an American made car from any of the Big 2.5 that accepted any sort of taxpayer-funded bailout.
Pug said...
ReplyDeleteYou know, it's funny. I don't recall these great defenders of free market capitalism demanding that Merrill Lynch stockbrokers agree to large pay cuts before any Wll Street bailout.
It is funny, because I do, even though the Wall Street Welfare Queens are still getting their huge bonuses. And it's the Congressional Democrats who are refusing to allow any oversight on TARP.
And FYI, there were far more Congressional Republicans opposed to the No Banker Left Behind Bailout than Democrats. And they were right to do so, on principle as well practicality, since it isn't working.
Throwing money at a problem, and using the same loose credit, loose monetary, bubble-inflating policies to "fix" the problem, when those very same policies caused the problem, is Einstein's definition of insanity.
Blue collar guys are just goons in some people's view.
Yeah, people like the UAW. They cared so much about the blue collar folks they supposedly represent, they played chicken with their jobs and the companies they work for.
When Carter bailed them out back in the 70s, huge concessions, from top to bottom, were made. No more.
Moral hazard has become a national disaster.
Rae-
ReplyDeleteThis Conservative myth put forth by Rightwing pundits that Detroit is not competitive because of how much the workers--hard working Americans-- earn per hour is the kind of class-warfare Liberals are accused of waging.
And while you try to hide your contempt for blue-collar workers behind your high and mighty "principles" you don't bother explaining how Conservatives plan to deal with the aftermath of a Detroit collapse.
AS far as I can tell it wasn't the UAW who decided to sell SUV's. And I never hear Conservatives complain about how much CEO's make."Well, that's just free-market capitalism doing what it does. Who are we to predetermine how much executives can make?"
Hmmm?
This is my point about how Conservative "principles" just don't add up. And Rae. your reply post just shows it. It's like talking to someone with a split-personality disorder.
Sophistry in the hands of a novice like yourself is just comedy.
Get your head straight and go think about it some more....
And while you try to hide your contempt for blue-collar workers behind your high and mighty "principles" you don't bother explaining how Conservatives plan to deal with the aftermath of a Detroit collapse.
ReplyDeleteI have no contempt at all for blue collar workers. We employ them -- we are blue collar.
You pretend like a bailout is their only option. It's not.
Once again, it's not Congress' job to do anything about failed private businesses with unsustainable business models.
As far as my "split personality" goes, perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I do not want any bailouts, ever. But if the Craven Criminals on Capitol Hill are going to take my money, against my wishes, and give it to a private company then you can be assured I will expect them all, from top to bottom, to make reasonable concessions on how they plan on spending it.
But don't you worry your pretty little 4-eyed head about it. Your Corporatist counterpart in the WH is going to bailout the Big 2.5, and no concessions will have to be made by the UAW goons (and no, I don't mean the blue collar workers they supposedly represent).
While the left whines and cries about the Big 3 and the UAW, what do they have to say about these job losses? Are these jobs not important?:
ReplyDeleteBlame me for job losses
When the jobs report for November came out last week, many so-called "experts" were shocked at the massive loss of an estimated 533 thousand jobs. Even a Time /CNN organization called "The Curious Capitalists" were at a loss to explain it.
Let me attempt to help out these "curious capitalists" (though I am still skeptical that anyone working for CNN or Time is either curious or a capitalist). I caused part of this job loss and I know precisely why; the election. The results portend big trouble for small business.
[...]
Like many business owners, we are no longer willing to take all of the financial and legal risks and put up with all of the aggravation of owning and running a business. Not with the prospects of even higher taxes, more regulation, more litigation and more emboldened bureaucrats on the horizon. Like others we know, we are getting out while the getting is, well, tolerable. Many who aren't getting out are scaling back.
[...]
And that is but one example of why the lay-offs of November 2008 - which will be part of George W. Bush's statistical record - fall in reality on the Obama election. Business owners understand that the election of 2008 just gave a lot more power to people who think like these liberals in Illinois. For crying out loud, an Illinois liberal is now "President elect" and he chose another one for his Chief of Staff. He chose Michigan liberals for his economic team. Illinois and Michigan are broke!
It is no secret that owners circulated endless emails leading up to election day discussing lay off plans were Obama to win. Entrepreneurs instinctively understand the danger posed by larger liberal majorities in power. The risk-reward equation and fierce independence spirit of start up businesses are anathema to the class warfare, equality of outcome and spread the wealth mentality of the left.
We have very little appetite to have our lives run by elected or un-elected officials like Barney Frank and Jamie Gorelick. We have no appetite to be taxed even more by the likes of Charlie Rangel. These clowns destroyed Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and our entire economy as a result. Congress, by their own admission, cannot even run their own damned dining room with a captive customer base! Some of them refuse to pay their own tax burden. Why in the world would we subject ourselves to their ilk armed with the unchecked powers of the Oval Office and both houses of congress and a massive army of bureaucrats?
We got into business to be independent. We will get out for the same reason.
Most of the kind of people who start and run businesses are by definition trying to opt out of depending on anyone else -- be it a large corporation or government -- for their welfare. We take on tremendous risks and responsibilities. We do so expecting a better than average return. Since we require nothing from government, most of us deeply resent and resist being pestered by government.
For nearly 30 years, I have been one of these business people. It was an amazing journey and literally involved blood, sweat and tears. But now I am done. This election screams that we are going to see a deterioration of the risk-reward equation and the ability to be left alone. Apparently, any appreciation of our crucial place in the economy is lost on over 50% of the voters as well as those they elected.
So, like many business owners, I will "stay home" so to speak. Others more brave than I are opting to try and stay in business by cutting way back on purchases and payroll. They have already started. They are not waiting for the little sign on Obama's lectern to be updated to the official Presidential seal. November 2008 job losses belong to "The Office of the President Elect." I know. I caused some of them, and I know why.
He's not even in office yet and Atlas has already begun to shrug.
Don't blame us, even though we too have laid off workers and scaled back operations.
For those job losses, the blame lies squarely on the Democrats and their anti-small business, pro-meddling ideology. Trust me, the coming job losses under the Obama Administration will far exceed whatever the Big 3's job losses would have been under a restructuring.
(Sorry I posted so much of it, but it's just too good not to.)
Just to be clear.. The Car Czar will be the Cuffy Meigs Character from Atlas Shruggs..
ReplyDelete