Okay, let’s talk about the auto bailout / bridge loan- or lack of one or wherever we are right now, as the situation changes minute to minute. 

While countries around the world are helping their ailing auto manufacturers, it seems that as of the morning of Friday December 12th, the Senate Republicans here in the U.S. thought America’s best interests are served by blocking the bridge loan to auto companies.  Many of these same Republicans, however, supported the bail out of Wall Street banks by giving authorization for them to receive over 2 trillion dollars in emergency loans from the Federal Reserve…who, by the way is now refusing to disclose who is getting the money.  All courtesy of the American taxpayer, of course. 

Now, after enormous amounts of pressure and outcry from the public and press, Senate Republicans are considering asking the Fed to give some of that Wall Street money to GM, Ford & Chrysler.  God forbid the Republicans do the right thing without being pressured into it!

But I digress from what I really want to talk about… how the Republicans are using the auto bailout as a platform to air their hatred for unions, which to me equates to their hatred of all American workers.  After all, if UAW employees lose their jobs, they’re not the only ones who go under… so do countless supporting businesses, both related and non. From parts suppliers here and abroad to the local coffee shop owner or independent hotelier, everyone gets screwed when 3 million decently paid workers hit the unemployment line. 

Can these ignorant fuckers do basic math? Do assholes like Senator Jim DeMint (SC) – who issued a press release on Friday saying “the unwillingness of the union to accept common-sense reforms to help the American automakers restructure and to save thousands of jobs demonstrates an arrogance that is outrageous” – have a clue about the financial devastation that will ensue should the “Big 3″ auto manufacturers fail?  Trust me, the American taxpayer will end up spending a lot more than the bail out would have cost, should that happen – not just in unemployment benefits, but on lost tax revenue, healthcare for now uninsured workers and loan defaults via failed small businesses and home foreclosures. We’re talking about a snowball effect from which some communities will never recover.

I guess the Republicans figure they don’t have anything to gain by saving the jobs of union auto workers. What’s in it for them?  Big Wall Street firms will employee these Republican wankers or put them on their boards once their political careers have dried up. Saving auto workers only serves working people…you know, the ones they give lip service to but really don’t give a flying fuck about.  Self serving pricks.