Republicans against the auto industry bailout?

Yes. We want people to work. We also want people to be responsible for their decisions. Auto execs have raked in millions & millions in bonuses, while they kick out over-sized, inefficient vehicles that people have to mortgage their homes to buy. You would have thought they would have learned something from the old days of Detroit.

Meanwhile, Unions have done their part to enable the bad decisions of their bosses. They keep wanting more & more in the way of wages & salaries and benefits. They have a retirement package second to none. They all voted & approved of these job banks, where they could sit at the local bar, and make more money than if they actually worked. No one twisted their arms to pad their own pockets. They were only too happy to feed from the greed trough when it suited them.

They spend billions of dollars to get Liberals elected to office. How much better off would they have been, if they had taken that money and used it in a more responsible manner...like helping to pay for their own medical benefits. Unions helped create this mess. Even in the face of impending doom, their Union boss stands up and states they would not make any further concessions. Fine. Don't. Go bankrupt like the rest of normal society.

So please. Do not insult yourself by trying to blame this mess on Republicans. We want someone to step up, and be frigging responsible. Why are the auto execs just now sitting down and coming up with a plan to stay afloat? Considering they have been bleeding money for a while now, wouldn't you think they might have done that BEFORE they went to Washington?

If Union members want to be intransigent and refuse to help themselves, then let them eat cake. If the auto execs can't figure out how to compete and make cars people want to buy at a price they can afford, then they should go out of business.

But if they want our tax dollars to stay alive, then they should get their collective butts in gear, and start running things like it's a business, not a trip to the money candy store. Republicans want responsible management. We want to know that we are not peeing our tax dollars down a black hole. We want Union members to be fiscally responsible as well. Get to work, and quit sitting around hoisting your Bud Lights. And recognize, that while it may seem ok to them that they make more money after they retire than most people do while they are working... they came to US for help! If they want OUR money, they had damned well be able to justify it!

Maybe they should learn to do what most Americans do. We learn to do without.

Basically you're looking at a two edged sword. If there isn't some kinds of presidents set corporations will treat their employees crap and there wouldn't be any penalty to pay for it. Unions can be counterproductive because if the powers of that union want just be idiots and strike for something stupid and you don't agree, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. So I think a compromise would be the best thing but both sides are greedy and especially on the corporate side, and just look to screw the next person over as much as they can while making the most money possible. The thing I don't like about the bailout is the conditions. There isn't a single thing in it that say they'll have to create more and keep jobs here in America. They can take that money and run to St. Petersburgh Russia where GM has built a new plant and use it there. I also think this is the reason the didn't get all that they've asked for, and will have to deal with the Obama administration when they come crawling back with their tails between their legs begging.

Republicans in general don't want the bailout of companies period. 1. Republicans want less government involvement in people's lives and especially in the economy. The economy tends to do better when left on it's own alot of the Auto companies problems are the result of too much government and union invovlement. Republicans don't want government owning industries in the US because it's socialist and leads to horrendous corruption down the road. That's exactly what will happen with the bailout. It's not just the UAW they are angry about, remember they didn't want to bailout the mortgage companies either and neither did anyone else really.

2.Republicans are smart enough to know that these companies won't disappear. Not right away at least. They will file chapter 7. They will renegotiate these ridiculous UAW contracts that are causing Auto Companies to pay workers way more than those workers bring in and therefore more than those workers are worth, they will be forced to restructure management and pricing structure. If after that they find that they still can't become a viable player in the market then they should go under. The American taxpayers should not be forced to carry an inefficient, unprofitable company.

In other words, bailout is clearly not the answer. Restructure is the answer. The UAW isn't the only factor in the downfall of these companies, but like it or not, the facts are they are a major player in the downfall of these companies. Anyone with half a brain for business and economy can realize that.

In a way the Union did demand ridiculous request, but only because they knew they were up against weak management.

The union leaders were there for the long run. But the biggest change came starting in the 1970 when corporate America decided to keep new blood and fresh ideas flowing by constantly changing upper management and from promoting from outside.

Now the management team that makes a decision knew they would not be around when it came time to pay the piper for their dance.

Upper management used to be grown right in the company.

Today all HR want to know is if you have a college degree and no longer cares about experience.

So if you know you are worth $15 per hour but can get $25 for the same work, what would you do?

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I am a conservative/Republican and believe that the bailout for the big three would be a mistake. The more the government steps in to provide relief the more risky businesses will get with their money because they will assume that the government will back them up.

I also do not agree with unions as a whole because if people felt as if they were being treated unfairly by the company they work for, it is a free country and they have the right to quit and get a new job.

It is not that we don't wan't them to work, in fact we want a lot of workers in order to fulfill a successful capitalistic economy based on free trade principles. For example if all of GM's workers quit then they would go out of business unless they changed their treatment of their employees. Thus creating a successful economy where businesses will be forced by the indivuals (not the unions or the government) to treat employees fairly.

What part of Chapter 11 bankruptcy law do you not understand? We don't want them to collapse, we want them to have to go to court and renegotiate their existing contracts with all of their creditors before they drink from the taxpayer dollar trough. If they restructured their agreements like Iacocca did in 79-80, they wouldn't need a bailout at ALL. Chrysler was in much worse shape. Ford, for instance, is the best off (fiscally) of the three. The sum total of all common shares could be bought for @ $9billion, IF you were to pay the asking price on the open market. The company is asking for more than they are worth, an

i think what the reps are advocating is personal liability. those coe's should either quit or be fired. no point in giving those people care over taxpayer money when they obviuosly dropped the ball with what they had. toyota and ford both had about the same sales last year. touota has 1500 dealerships and ford has over 7000. average foreign car manufacturer employee makes 45 an hour, big three, 75 an hour. the three have already determined they will have to cut thopusands of jobs, no matter what. of the 18 billion wanted by one of the car companies, over 4 million is going to cover legacy cost. no way is a person who puts bumpers on a pickup worth 75 an hour. they have created their own mess, now they have to be the ones to fix it.

GM has always been willing to pay the UAW anything they asked for and just pass it on to the consumer, BUT, they said that the employees would have to come to work. The UAW said no. They actually asked for less money per hour. What they wanted was pay for time not worked. More holidays, more sick days, more vacation, more family leave and worst of all, PRODUCTION WAGES. What that means is, even if a car on the line was not selling, GM could not stop making it because the bargaining agreements were made according to model production so if they stopped making the car and re-tooled, they would still have to pay the workers to not make them. If they automated, they still had to pay laid off workers to train for a job that didn't exist for six months. They were paying workers who were not working. You can not survive that way. The entire state of Michigan crafted it's work rules on that model and they are in the tank.

In short, communism does not work, it never has.

Gregg, Here's the thing. If republicans thought that giving these companies 15 to 25 billion would get them going and keep them going that would be one thing. But that's not the case. The big three need to be able to sustain themselves. If their money is running out as a result of them not selling cars . How is giving them money going to change that ? It''s not. These companies need to be able to sustain themselves. The big three were having problems even before the economy started tanking. What makes you think they can make it now ? Your looking at the Republicans not giving them money as a matter of their Republican principles in not wanting to support unions. Although that is a small part of it. That's not all of it.

Its absurd, these are the same people who support our tax dollars to go to foreign business like car makers in our country while they enjoy not paying taxes here. It is greed, they are happy to have benefited yet want to begrudge capitalism in the sense that some one should actually get paid for their time. Last I knew charity work did not pay my bills, it is nice to do, when the money is coming in, but not while some hot dogs gets paid millions to literally steal and cheat people to get richer. Tehy keep saying they can get new jobs, or get educated, I guess they do not read or know what is going on unless it directly benefits them. I do not work or nor does my immediate family for auto industry, but I know hospital jobs, etc are and will be affected by those that lose insurance and hospitals are now cutting programs and research to keep up because of patient loss! That is the insured!