Does it seem like the Republicans are blaming their failed economy on "greedy" union workers?

[NNN0LHI]

And a lot of people claiming to be Democrats seem more than willing to help the Republicans pull this scam off? I don't understand why either? Is it because we had a real retirement program compared to a 401k program that so many people have watched dwindle? It isn't UAW members fault that the the Stock Market crashed and wrecked your 401k's. It is Republicans who did this. And yet people want to let some laid off auto worker or his widow collecting a retirement lose that to pay for the Republicans screw ups? Something doesn't seem right here.

Don

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/7822/

Auto Bailout: "We're Gonna Own Your Ass"

By PA Staff Writers

As the Big Three executives return to Congress to plead for new loans to bail out the auto industry, political debates erupted again this week over whether or not the federal government has managed the economic crisis adequately. Should taxpayer dollars should have been used to prop up the profits of Wall Street banks, while allowing the US economy to collapse further by refusing to prevent the failure of any one of the major auto companies?

The newest reports suggest that there is little congressional support for passing a bailout package for auto using funds from the massive $700 billion boondoggle passed in October. For their part, however, Democratic leaders have asserted that bankruptcy for the automakers is not an option.

Republicans have blamed workers and unions for the crisis in auto, ignoring the fact that the credit crunch has led to a decline by 37 percent in new auto purchases by consumers over last year. The credit crunch, of course was not caused by union workers, but rather a systematic deregulation of the housing market that allowed big Wall Street banks to push ill-advised loans and repackage them as securities.

Earlier this month, for example, former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney argued in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the industry, which employs 250,000 workers directly and indirectly as many as 3 million people across several industries in several states, should be allowed to go bankrupt regardless of the consequences to those workers and their families. He specifically blamed the United Autoworkers (UAW) and the efforts of the workers over the decades to boost their wages and benefits and to provide retirement security for retirees.

In the rush to blame the workers first, some anti-union pundits have floated an erroneous notion that autoworkers earn more than $70 per hour, and that has caused the financial ruin of the companies.

Union advocates have debunked this point repeatedly. The highest paid union workers in auto earn less than $28 per hour in wages, or about $57,000 annually. That is only a few thousand higher than the national median wage for all Americans.

[glowing]

1. Yes, they always do. They hate Unions. Spreading the Wealth is something

they aren't in favor of. They would much rather have a fuedal system or slavery system I suspect.

[Enthusiast]

12. Exactly. And some of them want this

to allow the South to gain an advantage over the hated North.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. They are joyous that this is their chance to break the UAW.

[Kalyke]

3. In a word, "Yes." eom

[demnan]

4. This has been the trend since Reagan

He screwed the air traffic controllers who had good salaries and benefits and had high stress jobs. The whole thing has gone down hill from then because the American people did not stand up and defind the air traffic controllers.

[NNN0LHI]

11. Air traffic controllers union didn't do themselves any favor when they backed Reagan

I recall it was the only union to do so.

Don

[Vincardog]

5. Not just "a systematic deregulation of the housing market " but also

a systematic deregulation of the Banking industry
as well as
a systematic deregulation of the securities industries.

The invisible hand of the market is that of a thief without regulation and meaningfully oversight.

They bail out Goldman without any oversight.
They bailout Wall Street and don't even know where the money was spent.

They can't help out the big three without busting the union.

Bullshit. Bail out the big three and give the union majority ownership.

[Taverner]

6. Yes they are

And the unions have been bending over BACKWARDS since the 1980's

See American Dream

And you will get the picture

It's not about the UAW, but about the wholesale de-toothing of unions in the Reagan years

[Romulox]

7. Lots of Democrats are as well. nt

[DrDan]

8. how dare these greedy workers want healthcare for their families . . .

why can't they just settle for stock options, golden parachutes, and club benefits . . .

[tridim]

9. They're still trying to destroy the middle class even after they've lost power.

They just don't understand why we're not happy making $8.00/hr with no benefits.

[unpossibles]

10. yep. they hate unions and they hate the workers in this country

despite pretending to be for the 'common man' and all that populist BS.

[Warpy]

13. Of course they are, never mind unions have been giving back

since the 80s so that union jobs are barely better than non union jobs, and never mind that union wages have stagnated along with everybody else's.

No GOP will ever have the guts or the integrity to admit the whole financial cockup and cascade failure of large corporations was due to their muzzy headed idealism, failed ideology, and sheer bungling, or that it's all happened before when the same crap was tried on earlier generations.

They will never be able to admit that corporate failure can be due to incompetent management, lofty positions that have become entitlements to a certain privileged class and which are ridiculously overpaid, succeed or fail. They'll never be able to admit their favored class can be downright incompetent or that they've turned into thieves, changing the rules so that embezzlement has been barely legalized.

They will never be able to deny their infallibility. They will never be able to admit their capacity for being wrong. They will never give up their sense of entitlement to the very best the country has to offer while assuming absolutely no responsibility for creating that best for others.

It's why we have to keep convincing people, one at a time, why they need to keep these men out of power for as long as we possibly can.

Telling the truth about unions in 2008 is a good place to start.

[randr]

14. Republicans will never, ever, take any responsibility for anything.

When things go wrong they use the drama to lash out against their imaginary foes.
Embracing "Joe six shooter" while denigrating the hard work of union members is just one example of how their imaginary world trumps reality.

[bluecollarcharlie]

15. Take a look around this board.....

.....the republican disease is spreading. There is a lot of people on this site who absolutely hate unions and are more than willing to side with republicans to get us out of the way. But every 4 years these people slime their way around to collect our votes.
Come around in 2 years however, and you'll get a shock. It'll be cold day in hell before i vote for another democrat. And i'm sure i won't be alone.

[spinbaby]

16. Yes, some workers are still making a living wage

That could ruin the economy.

:sarcasm: