Re: Republicans subsidize foreign auto makers, but leave Detroit hanging

On Dec 15, 2:53 am, El Castor <No_...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:20:02 -0800 (PST), Millwright Ron



<mw...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Dec 14, 5:47 pm, Rita <R...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
NyDailyNews.com

Errol Louis

Republicans subsidize foreign auto makers, but leave Detroit hanging

Sunday, December 14th 2008, 4:00 AM

The group of Republican senators whose procedural votes doomed the
auto industry bailout bill perfectly illustrates the narrow, "America
Last" politics that is crippling efforts to revive the U.S. economy.

The proposed $14 billion in short-term loans for General Motors and
Chrysler were supported by a truckload of industry leaders and
economists, along with President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama
and majorities in the House and Senate.

All agreed that a loan would be better than bankruptcy, which could
put as many as 3 million people (and 40,000 of them in New York alone)
out of work.

But a clique of Republican senators blocked the bailout, which
required 60 votes rather than a simple majority. And they did it for
the worst possible reasons.

Exhibit A is Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, an outspoken opponent of
the bailout who told Detroit CEOs point-blank - before hearings even
began - that he would vote no on a loan.

Shelby, it turns out, is a bought-and-paid-for advocate for
non-American carmakers.

Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz all operate in Alabama, a
so-called right-to-work state where unions are scarce - but taxpayer
help for corporations is not. At a recent press conference, Ron
Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers union, ticked off
the staggering sums of subsidy money Alabama has given to these
foreign companies.

"We have Hyundai Motor Co. that got $252 million in incentives. Toyota
there got $29 million in incentives. Honda, $158 million,"
Gettelfinger said.

Alabama gave Mercedes-Benz the sweetest deal of all: job training,
incentives, an agreement to buy 2,500 cars and a parcel of land valued
at more than $250 million - the price to Mercedes of building a plant.

"That incentive package totaled somewhere around $175,000 per employee
to create those jobs there," Gettelfinger said. "We can offer
incentives to our competitors to come here and compete against us, but
at the same time we are willing to walk away from an industry that is
the backbone of our economy."

That, in a nutshell, is the problem. Nationwide, right-to-work states
have poured $3 billion in subsidies into foreign-owned carmakers since
1992, according to the union. And yet Republican senators from states
like Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee and both Carolinas
suddenly turned into born-again opponents of giving government dollars
to private companies.

The UAW actually gave in last week, agreeing to bring the salaries and
benefits of Detroit autoworkers down to the lower level paid by
foreign car companies in union-hostile states.

But even that concession wasn't enough for Shelby and the anti-labor
senators, who insisted that UAW salaries drop to foreign car company
levels within a year.

When the union declined to gut its members' paychecks so quickly - at
a time when the economy is in turmoil and people are hurting - the
bailout deal collapsed.

Keep all this in mind the next time you hear conservatives carping
about how "greedy" unions hindered Detroit's profitability.

A similar blind spot in the debate obscures the free trade pacts that
give advantages to foreign carmakers. Current trade rules limit U.S.
auto companies to selling 5,000 cars in South Korea - while allowing
South Korean giants like Hyundai to sell 600,000 cars here.

Though it looks likely now, we don't know if the White House will
order the Treasury Department to lend bank bailout funds to GM and
Chrysler until the new Congress convenes next month.

And if the administration does, we don't know if the money will be too
little, too late to head off major job losses.

What we do know for sure is that the economy won't recover anytime
soon if pols keep subsidizing foreign companies at the expense of
American industry.

Republicans

Even the Republicans' sense of political self-interest seems dimmed
by
their
anti-union zealotry. Senate Republicans may think they gain political
points
by standing against assistance to a major industry, but they will
suffer
political damage lasting generations if they permit the U.S. auto
industry to
collapse. - Ralph Nader

Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com

When are you going to tell us where you stand on denying workers
the
right to a secret ballot in union organizing elections?

Perhaps when you tell us why you think it's a good idea to try to
wreck a discussion about rescuing a major part of this nation's
economy. .

.

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