Thursday, December 11, 2008

US Senate Republicans Walk Away From Auto Deal

Since they can't take out the UAW, they are going to take down the American economy.

Senate Republicans rejected Democratic proposals on a compromise auto bailout Thursday night, leaving little hope that the Senate would approve a rescue package General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC say are vital to their survival.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., had been leading GOP negotiations on the $14 billion rescue. After hours of talks, the negotiators broke while Corker took what had been agreed to so far to his Republican colleagues, who apparently rejected the deal as failing to extract enough concessions from the United Auto Workers union.


Take the vote, Harry. We want the names of the ones responsible. They might come in handy. Or would you like to accept responsibility for this failure?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., could still seek votes Friday on Democratic proposals. But with any legislation requiring 60 votes to pass, significant Republican support would be needed, and there was little optimism for passage.

With GM and Chrysler each in apparent danger of collapse within weeks, their only chance of survival may be the Bush administration, which could tap the remains of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, something the White House has rejected for weeks. About $15 billion remains in the fund.


Say what? I thought there was still $350B. Did I miss something?

The wingnuts are already spinning this as being the fault of the UAW - congratulations Democrats. Not only have you seriously pissed off a major voting bloc, you gave the Republicans the cover to justify their actions. We didn't hand you guys sweeping victories in November to have Bob Corker call the shots.

This is not "change", it's more of the same - and that is unacceptable.