Dec 13 2008
Auto Bailout’s Failure Viewed by Many as Republican Blow at Unions
So what does “GOP” stand for? If you ask a member of the United Auto Workers union, he or she might answer, “Greedy Obstinate Poopy-heads” – or something less kind.
According to Jim Puzzanghera of The Los Angeles Times, many supporters of the unsuccessful $14 billion auto bailout bill see Senate Republicans’ opposition to the legislation as a blow to the UAW and organized labor in general.
The bill had received the support of President Bush and Congressional Democrats, including President-elect Barack Obama. Up until Thursday evening, there was still a chance that a compromise could be reached which would allow the bill to pass, but negotiations stalled after Senate Republicans – many of whom come from Southern states with right-to-work laws – demanded massive cuts in pay and benefits for UAW members.
The death of the auto bailout package proved to be a crushing defeat for President Bush, who has barely a month left to go in his second term. The result of this failure, writes Puzzanghera, may be “the collapse of one or more of Detroit’s Big Three.”
Dealing a crushing blow to the unions and their Democratic supporters in Congress was also viewed as a preemptive attack on what many see as an upcoming battle over organized labor’s bid for a “card check law” that might return lost power to the unions by “making it easier for them to organize workers.” Various business groups have come out four-square against the proposed measure.
Flush from their victory in the bailout fight, conservative Republicans in the Senate are gearing up for the expected battle over the card check law, which is expected to begin when the new Congress meets in January.
“This is the Democrats’ first opportunity to pay off organized labor after the election,” read an e-mail issued to Senate Republicans on Wednesday. “This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.”
Sen. Jim DeMint, a Republican from South Carolina and one of the leading opponents of the auto bailout, said, “Year after year, union bosses have put their interests ahead of the workers they claim to represent. Congress never should have given these unions this much power, and now is the time to fix it.”
Source: The Los Angeles Times
Well, I agree on this one with the Republicans.
Not that I specifically oppose the unions, but they ARE one of the reasons that the Big three are uncompetitive.
If the Big Three truly want to dump their obligations to the unions, they’d welcome the opportunity to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings - that would be one of the major benefits, the ability to renegotiate those contracts.
As for the Big Three themselves, if they cannot compete, they will continue to go broke, so why should we continue to throw good money after bad?
And as for the card check law, that’s bad stuff. ANY election should be anonymous. Period.
Yes, of course, why would anyone want to be perceived as a human being when they could just be machine fodder? Who needs crazy things like health care when you could simply pray? Why on Earth would you want the same work week as your corporate masters? Who needs to be able to pay their bills when you could just move? You know, with the money you don’t have…
GOP= Greedy Old People
GOP= Gaga Over Palin
GOP= Gimme Oil Pronto
GOP= God Obsessed Prudes
GOP= Guile, Obstruction, Perjury
GOP=Good Old Petroleum
Your attitude is showing again. But I guess the GOP has a point.The health care costs of the autoworkers are killing the industry, keeping it from being competitive. It seems this is the only point union members are not willing to compromise on. Too bad these big burley union guys get squeemish and run their baby to a Doctor each time they become ill.
ooh I like this game…
GOP = outdated greedy philosophies at the expense of conservative beliefs.
Yeah I know it doesn’t start with the same letters, but…
“Your attitude is showing again.”
Sorry for being slow on the uptake Spin, but whose attitude are you referring to? Mine? I’m neutral on this issue. I think both sides make good points.
That was amazing Pancho. That is the only Spanish written in English I have ever seen. Unfortunately, you are totally wrong about unions. Granted many labor unions have problems with their leadership but, guess what? So do many corporations and many government agencies. Duh. I’m not gonna give you a history of unionism in a few words here but I suggest you look it up. Unions came into existence because of the predatory nature of corporations. Deny that and you deny the evidence of history.