Okay, Now, I Get Why Republicans Like to Watch Folks Drown

An American Axle family memebr sent me an e-mail this morning about the bridge loan that Seante Republicans decided not to allow to come to the floor for a vote. It reminded me of Katrina and how Bush and McCain celebrated McCain's birthday while New Orleans flooded. By deciding NOT to debate the bill, a bill with a Majority of Senators in favor of (more than even a simple majority) and only 35 voting against, it's a just a wonder how significant cuts in wages without ANY cuts in dealerships is an acceptable path to anything, anything except Bankruptcy. Oh, wait, that's what they want, for GM and Chrysler to go bankrupt, that way, the judge can lift the wait of the union's negotiated contracts. Oh, the bitter chains of worker rights.

So, anyway, after venting a little about the Shelby staffers not knowing a damn thing about the 11 week American Axle strike (88 days), or how it shut down more than 30 GM plants in the US, Canada and Mexico AND how GM had to step in and work out a deal with Dick E-boy Dauch, well, I'd had it. Had it up to HERE. That's when I got another e-mail about the White House trying to pull the same shit Corker and Shelby and McConnell just pulled in the Senate. Workers make concessions, but for some reason, GM and Chrysler are still going to be under the oppressive Dealership agreements they suffer with and that were taken off the table by Corker.

You see, they want to see the UAW agree to these concessions because they believe that doing so means that the Employee Free Choice Act will fail, from the Detroit Free News (which I can't believe I'm even linking to?!)

"We can see ample political logic (from the point of view of the Republican minority) for imposing strings along the lines of the Corker proposals. By including strings around union concessions, the Bush administration would be setting up a political challenge for the incoming Obama administration," he said. "If the new administration leaves the strings in place, they would risk union ire, upsetting a large constituency that was helpful in winning the White House and a larger Senate majority. On the other hand, if the new administration were to introduce new legislation to override the strings, it could create a political stage for Republicans to argue that a 'union giveaway' was in progress. Moreover, this would focus public attention on union demands, perhaps making it harder to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow union organization by way of signature cards as opposed to secret ballots."

Okay, so it's not like I didn't know this already, in fact, I said as much last night at the DCLabor council delegate's meeting. Drowning GM is the only way to exact the kind of political relevance they think they can get. Kind of like drowning New Orleans. Remember the pictures of "looters" and the talk about how "those" folks didn't get out of town before the storm? As if every one had the ability to leave or resources to stay elsewhere.

I suppose this is what Grover Norquist meant by saying:

"to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

Is this really what they want?

Do you want to watch us drown? Is that it? Do want to see the last gurgle of economic air spit from our lips? If so, senators, know this: You’ll go down with us. America isn’t America without an auto industry. You can argue whether $14 billion would have saved it, but you surely tried to kill it.

Well, what happens if they actually get thier wish? What happens if in their pettiness, anger and ridiculous behavior they actually get their wish? Instead of just GM or Chrysler drowning, we all drown?

In the end, their actions taken were based on a political expedience, one that they hope will cause the Employee Free Choice Act to die before it's even brought to the floor. And this is what they really care about...ensuring that there is a permanant underclass, to hell with the middle class represented by workers in the auto industry.

Don't worry Shelby. McConnell and Corker, in a few more weeks, you'll head right back into utter obscurity, a place you belong.