The Republicans, especially those in the South, have shown their true colors and — finally — the media is beginning to note them.
They are trying to bust a union and even more egregious, they have put the bottom line of foreign carmakers ahead of the health of this country and the middle class that supports the economy. For the congressional members in the states of Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee, it’s all about the taxpayer subsidized foreign auto factories in their states. And in 2009, taxpayers will be subsidizing 12 new foreign auto plants in those states.
Everyone — other than the Republicans in those states — admits that labor costs make up no more than 10% of the cost of American autos, so the problem isn’t labor costs. Every economist will tell you the problem is the lack of credit and the poor economy; people can’t get loans to buy new cars — or used ones for that matter.
But the Southern Republicans won’t let the facts get in the way of making money for themselves, especially when it comes to putting money in their campaign coffers. They use the lie that the employees of the Big 3 make over $70.00 an hour when the reality is, the wages of the union and non-union workers are fairly comparable.
What is it the Republicans don’t like about the Middle Class making a decent wage, having decent health care and a pension? That’s what the Republicans were demanding the union workers give up before they would agree to the $15 billion bailout.
Which isn’t exactly a bailout, these are “bridge loans” the automakers will be required to repay or be forced into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, which, everyone agrees, will turn into a Chapter 7 Liquidation — the end of the U.S. auto industry, the backbone of American industry.
The lie the anti-Middle Class forces trot out to counter that is comparing the auto industry to the airline industry: “When the airlines declared bankruptcy, people still flew on their planes,” as if buying a plane ticket is the same as buying $30,000.00 automobile.
The Southern Republicans, especially those in the Senate, won’t give 15 billion dollars to the Detroit Big 3 automakers, but they’ll subsidize foreign carmakers in their states for billions of dollars. Isn’t that just a little un-American?
TheForkesReport