The latest twists from the debacle that ate Detroit. Via Steve Benen:
Let me get this straight: the Bush White House reached a deal with congressional Democrats on a $14 billion rescue package, and the compromise passed the House with a bipartisan majority. Some Senate Republicans not only opposed the measure, but refused to let the chamber vote on the bailout unless a series of unreasonable changes were made.
Democrats, hoping to stave off disaster, went along, and agreed to Republican demands to reduce the United Auto Workers' wages and benefits as soon as the UAW's current contract expired in 2011. The GOP, led in this case by Sens. Corker, Shelby, and DeMint, said that wasn't good enough -- autoworker wages had to be cut in 2009, or else. The deal fell apart, the Asian markets tumbled, U.S. futures tumbled, and at least one of the Big Three is poised to collapse.
This, for lack of a better word, is madness.
Democrats, hoping to stave off disaster, went along, and agreed to Republican demands to reduce the United Auto Workers' wages and benefits as soon as the UAW's current contract expired in 2011. The GOP, led in this case by Sens. Corker, Shelby, and DeMint, said that wasn't good enough -- autoworker wages had to be cut in 2009, or else. The deal fell apart, the Asian markets tumbled, U.S. futures tumbled, and at least one of the Big Three is poised to collapse.
This, for lack of a better word, is madness.
More details supplied by Talking Points Memo:
I do think it'll be hard for Senate Republicans to explain themselves.
They were invited, repeatedly, to participate in more than a week of negotiations with a Republican White House. They declined.
They were asked to provide an alternative bill. They refused.
Finally, one of their members - Senator Corker of Tennessee - participated in a day-long negotiation with Senate Democrats, the UAW, and bondholders. Everyone made major concessions. Democrats gave up efficiency and emissions standards. UAW accepted major benefit cuts and agreed to reduce workers' wages. Bondholders signed off on a serious haircut. But when Senator Corker took the deal back to the Republican Conference, they argued for two hours and ultimately rejected it.
Why? Because they wanted the federal government to forcibly reduce the wages of American workers within the next 12 months.
Heard this morning that President Bush may still use TARP money to rescue the automakers. He reportedly doesn't want to end up as the next Hoover.
They were invited, repeatedly, to participate in more than a week of negotiations with a Republican White House. They declined.
They were asked to provide an alternative bill. They refused.
Finally, one of their members - Senator Corker of Tennessee - participated in a day-long negotiation with Senate Democrats, the UAW, and bondholders. Everyone made major concessions. Democrats gave up efficiency and emissions standards. UAW accepted major benefit cuts and agreed to reduce workers' wages. Bondholders signed off on a serious haircut. But when Senator Corker took the deal back to the Republican Conference, they argued for two hours and ultimately rejected it.
Why? Because they wanted the federal government to forcibly reduce the wages of American workers within the next 12 months.
Heard this morning that President Bush may still use TARP money to rescue the automakers. He reportedly doesn't want to end up as the next Hoover.
I think neo-Hooverism will be the Republican legacy in the next generation. Presumably, they want to see if they can run the country's economy into the ground at least once a century.
And this point can't be overstated: The key to the Republican strategy is to make ordinary Americans worse off.
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