Against the Bailout Part 2

Yesterday's article Oppose the Auto Bailout was not intended to be anti-union or anti-auto company, it's simply the opinion of an old fashion cheapskate. If the government is going to spend taxpayer dollars they need to ensure that those funds are not being wasted. There has been little effort to explain why pumping money into failed businesses will fix that failed business model. Voters should contact their lawmakers and let them know they will hold them responsible if they give automakers billions of taxpayer dollars only to see those business collapse in the future.

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Contact Your Congressman

Similar sentiments we're expressed by Senator Mitch McConnell (R - KY).

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding proposed auto legislation:

“The auto industry is vitally important to our nation’s economy and it is vitally important to my home state of Kentucky. This is not in dispute. The question before us is how to reverse the decline of some of these auto manufacturers after decades of complicity between management and labor.

“I understand congressional Democrats sent a revised proposal to the White House late last night. We will reserve our judgment until we see the latest text. But the proposal we saw yesterday afternoon fails to achieve our goal of securing the long-term viability of ailing auto companies.

“I want to support a bill that revives this industry. But I will not support a bill that revives the patient with taxpayer dollars yet doesn’t secure a commitment that the patient will change its ways so future help isn’t needed.

“To do so would be a betrayal of the millions of hardworking taxpayers who are not at fault for the troubles in the auto industry. And it would be unfair to the millions of Americans who depend on these companies.

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No Auto Bailout Part 2

Contact Reps - Protest Auto Bailout

RedState.com has posted a couple pieces on opposing the government bailout of the auto industry. The first by Representative Michele Bachmann opposes not just the auto bailout, but the concept that Washington should be spending tax payer money to prop up failed businesses. The second article by Francis Cianfrocca discusses how contract renegotiations with the United Auto Workers union need to be included any proposed bailout as failure to so will result in the eventual failure of those companies with or without a bailout. Excerpts below.

One main reason the auto bailout is facing such opposition is that there has been no attempt to explain why pumping money into a failed business will fix that business. If these company continue on their current path this bailout will simply prolong the time before before failure, and will result in simply wasting a huge sum of tax payer dollars.

For those who oppose bailing out the auto industry, folllow the links below to contact your Senators and Congressmen to let them know that you do not support this bill, and that you will hold them responsible for wasting your money.

Contact Your Senator

Contact Your Congressman

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No More Bailouts by Rep. Michele Bachmann

Washington needs to stop handing out your money like its Monopoly money. Each dollar is hard-earned and the men and woman who worked so hard for it deserve more respect from their government than to be treated like an ATM. Our economy grew strong on the backs of Main Street; from the ideas and sheer sweat of innovators and entrepreneurs flush with the American spirit. Risk-taking is part of that adventure. But when government guarantees against failure, risk and reward becomes meaningless. Eventually, that will crush our economy- and that eventually may not be that far down the road.

The Critical Missing Piece in the Automaker Bailout by Francis Cianfrocca

There will be no significant cost-cutting or pain imposed on the UAW in the restructuring of the domestic auto industry, unless it happens right now, this week.

The UAW must agree to a labor-cost structure that, in Sen. Corker’s words, is no higher than that faced by foreign (“transplant”) automakers who assemble vehicles in the United States. The union must agree to very painful concessions on wages, healthcare, work rules, and retiree benefits.

Gettelfinger, playing to the galleries, has assured lawmakers that he will indeed be open to doing whatever he can to seal the deal. Among other things, he’s signaled willingness to end the so-called “job bank.” You know, that’s where an automaker closes a production facility that no longer makes sense, but continues to pay the workers full wages and benefits to play video games all day, for years into the future.

But what Gettelfinger has pointedly not said, is that he’s willing to re-negotiate the contract that the UAW currently has with the automakers. In short, he’s not preparing to compromise at all, or to ask his people to take any real pain.

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Oppose the Auto Bailout