Thursday, December 11, 2008
Hard to see the Senate Republicans seriously filibuster the auto bailout bill:They will probably do something. Something to appeal to their base. But actually stopping the bill from passing carries too much risk. Republicans would then own whatever fallout that would ensue, which could see GM and Chrysler go down in flames. As it is, a half-hearted filibuster allows the Republicans to say, should the auto bailout not succeed in the months ahdad, "I told you so." UPDATE: To my great surprise, it appears that the Republicans will kill the auto bailout bill. UPDATE2: Looks like the bailout is dead. Not that the Republicans "killed it" via a filibuster (at least not yet), but more in the fashion of a failed compromise. The fallout from this could be huge. Maybe I'm wrong, but this auto bailout - however you feel about it - strikes me as a really big story. Yet there hasn't been a whole lot of media or blog attention. This week has been all about that corrupt Illinois governor, which is not all that interesting, at least on a national policy level. If the big three (or two) stop for a while, we could see 15% unemployment.
posted by Quiddity at 12/11/2008 08:15:00 AM
12 comments
Anything to kill a union.
The GOP can kiss the Midwest goodbye for the next two or three decades. For the short-term satisfaction of destroying the UAW, the party's willing to trade away its long-term electoral viability. It's a suicidal strategy, but Republicans have apparently chosen the hill they're going to die on.
Never underestimate GOP spite. The inaugural party is on and they will piss in the fireplace and take a dump in the foyer on their way out.
Anything to kill a union.
My exact thought.
Way things are going should be no problem reaching 15% unemployed with the auto bailout loan. I'd go for 25% without.
Two trillion no questions asked for Wall Street; nothing for the UAW.
Nice.
lamp posts across the land could be decorated with the political corpses of ALL rethuglicans... an entire party to hang the blame on for the New Great Depression... but i doubt it - dumbocrats will blow this one too.
Given that the Right is still in possession of the "liberal media", we will see a (likely successful) campaign to blame it on the Dems for "refusing to compromise"*. The unemployed are also natural targets of the Kristian(TM) Right. It may be bad for the GOP image in the short run but they are experienced in the art of turning public anger in their favor. Say hello to a new GOP majority in 2010!
HB
*that will of course also be used against the "liberal n|gger" in the WH who "broke his promise of bipartisanship". Remember Limbaugh: "This is an Obama recession"?
but they are experienced in the art of turning public anger in their favor. Say hello to a new GOP majority in 2010!
Yeah, right. That strategy worked really well for them in 2008, didn't it? President McCain's inauguration is next month, right?
The neo-Hooverite GOP is eagerly trying to shove the UAW off a cliff. Stupid bastards don't realize they're going over the edge, too.
The Repubs are all in on this one. The opportunity to stick it to the unions is trumping their survival instincts. Alex Castellanos, who is actually a savvy guy, was on CNN today and he was right with the idea of killing the American auto industry. This is pure reflex and very deep. They hate the idea of people working together, if they're not from the ruling class, that is.
Another symptom of this was the ban on prescription drug bargaining by Medicaid and Medicare. Pooling the demand saves money for the VA but we can't let the "free market" work to the detriment of Big Pharma. That's how "fiscal conservatism" works.
Republicans, since they insist on behaving like children, should not be allowed to play with matches lest they burn the house down.
This shows, again, that they only give a shit about the narrow elite who funds them, even if America gets flushed down the toilet as a result.
This is a national security issue because we cannot lose that manufacturing capability and remain powerful. It's gonna blow up in their ugly Pugsley Republican faces, and I have my popcorn ready because I'm going to enjoy every frackin' microsecond of it.
There were 10 Republicans ready to pass the legislation. All the Democrats had to do was call a vote on it.
The reason they wouldn't bring it to a vote was because the Democrats were too cowardly to pull the trigger -- they had enough Republican support to pass it but not enough Republican support to politically pin the unpopular legislation on the Republicans.
I hate to see anybody put out of work, but I'm wondering if the longshoremen should keep offloading parts for the home state plants of the Senators who are trying so hard to destroy their brothers and sisters jobs.
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