Relief at Last

So, at almost the end of his two-term presidency, "W" finally does something really good - he decided to give GM and Chrysler a "bailout." The terms were quite similar to what the House had passed and the Senate Repubs had stopped a little over a week before. It remains infuriating to listen to right wing pundits pontificate on how the U.S. car companies are already bankrupt, why couldn't they have just been allowed to go into Chapter 11?, the foreign car companies are doing great, who needs Detroit and their $70 per hour union workers?? LIE LIE LIE LIE!!!! Of course, it does remain to be seen 1) how much GM and Chrysler can actually do between now and the deal's March 31, 2009 deadline and 2) how Obama is going to change or keep the same the terms and conditions of the deal.

Anyway, the knot in my stomach finally went away, as of 9:30 am, Friday, December 19, 2008. Have to give props to George W., at long last.

Will calmer heads prevail?

The UAW did not buckle under to the Southern Repubs, seeking to break them and to make unilateral wage/benefit concessions without collective bargaining. So the Congressional bailout failed - and NOW it looks as though Bush will relent and allow some "loans" out of the $700 billion TARP. Enough to keep GM and Chrysler from declaring bankruptcy. This is what should have happened already, weeks ago.

Perhaps no Michigander is far removed from the automaker crisis but I'm reasonably well insulated from it. Yet, it has been causing me troubled sleep and anxious waking hours. How much more so all those thousands of hourly and salaried auto workers and all the suppliers, dealers, etc. etc. I just hope there isn't any further political game-playing and up-the-ante-ing. Unfortunately, that is probably too much to hope for . . .

*Bleep* the Auto Bailout!

Well, I have been anxiously reading and watching news reports about the progress of the GM-Chrysler bailout and all the unfair and stupid requirements being foisted on the companies - IF they get any money at all from this Congress - looks increasingly unlikely.

I read Fair's favorite blogger on the topic: http://www.autoextremist.com/ and now I have decided - in all MY infinite wisdom - that the companies would be better off in Chapter 11 than to take the $14 billion with all of it's restrictions, efforts to break the UAW, a stupid car czar, etc. etc.

I know this will leave a terrible burden on Obama's doorstep, not to mention the pain and suffering of untold thousands of workers and dependents - but I don't think the current efforts are going to result in the "loans" and if they did, it would mean additional concessions to the union-hating Southern Repubs.

The timing of all this had to do with the economic crisis that began a few weeks before the presidential election. Had there been no economic crisis and of the magnitude it quickly attained, maybe Obama would not have been elected. So, the economic crisis was the price to pay for President-Elect Obama and now there will be additional, heavy, heavy collateral damage in the form of GM, especially, bankruptcy. I want GM's dire predictions of millions of jobs lost to be wrong - for the sake of all those people - but if GM is right - IT IS ALL ON THE HEADS OF THE SOUTHERN REPUBS! Is there a lower place in Hell than is reserved for them??? (they're all Bible-thumping believers in Hell, so one hopes their places are reserved).

Saxby Chambliss Silver Lining

Obama, by his words and actions (cabinet appointments) is trying to send out a post-partisan message. How successful this will be remains to be seen. But post-partisanship may have been harder to achieve had the Democrats attained a 60-vote supermajority in the Senate. This would have enabled them to roll over Repubs, without seeking consensus or compromise. This would have also allowed them to force Obama into territory more leftward than he desires.

Seeking consensus and compromise among both parties is exactly NOT what the Bush administration did and is exactly the CHANGE WE NEED!