Jay Bookman

By Logical Dude

December 10, 2008 2:36 PM | Link to this

Are they at least filibustering with solutions? Or are they standing as obstacles just to be in the way of the agreement?

So much filibustering is pure politics that I just don’t know anymore…

By mm

December 10, 2008 2:41 PM | Link to this

If the wingnuts block this they are just throwing more dirt on the GOP grave.

By tcoach

December 10, 2008 2:43 PM | Link to this

Have we not heard this before.

Last time rep. were told how badly the bailout was needed. Then they were blasted by many in the media including our host.

Only in a copuple of weeks to be told that they were the ones who wanted to give away money and become socialist.

Sounds like the same mess again the dems are too affraid to put it through on their own so they are making an attempt to guilt the rep. into signing off on it.

If the first one obviously had no positive impact, why would this be any different?

By tcoach

December 10, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this

mm you said that last time then blamed rep. for giving that bailout.

Have some consistancy, or are you consistantly in favor of any dem. policy regardless of how wrong or wasteful?

By RW-(the original)

December 10, 2008 2:58 PM | Link to this

CNN polling data says that 61% of the American people are against this bailout. When 53% elected Obama President it was considered in this publication to be a mandate for his agenda.

It sounds more to me like the Republicans are doing the people’s business, but if you insist I’ll take it to mean that Obama only has the barest of support.

By AJC/DNC Management

December 10, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this

If the bailout legislation had made it to Bush’s desk and he had signed it, then this column would have been titled “Bush trades automakers to China” or some other such nonsense.

I’m just glad someone finally has the nads to put the brakes on the corporate welfare.

By "The Corporal"

December 10, 2008 3:04 PM | Link to this

Jay

90% of this debacle lies at the feet of the UAW.

All I know is if the government gets a piece of this, we’ll be driving Chevrolet Politicians, Ford Bureaucrats and Chrysler Demagogues !

By mm

December 10, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this

tcoach,

I certainly never blamed the Republicans. You are mistaken, Actually, I don’t think I have ever posted anything concerning the bailouts.

I blamed the Dems for passing the Wall St. bailout. They were in a no win situation. Pass it and get blamed. Don’t pass it and get blamed. No win situation.

I would rather bailout a corporation that manufactures something because you can quantify the results. Nobody will ever know where the Wall St. money went.

How stupid does one have to be to not understand that 1 in every 10 jobs in this country is tied to the automobile industry? If these jobs go away, today’s economy will look great compared to what will happen.

As I’ve said many times, I’m an Independant. I don’t blindly follow either party. But 8 years of the Bushbots pushed me a little to the left.

By AF

December 10, 2008 3:17 PM | Link to this

What would it take to get the Repubs in on this? Come on Repubs, what would it take? Put forth an alternative, a compromise.

Frankly, I liked the idea of a special structure for bankruptcy that would give some guarantees on financial support while the process was going on. I think there were Repubs who could buy into this.

If Congress doesn’t mandate changes in gas efficiency of auto makers “fleet” of cars, they are making a big mistake.

By sunshine and thunder

December 10, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this

JAY

There are hundreds of small businesses that employ thousands of people all over Atlanta. Many of those businesses are struggling.

Why are you worried about bailing out Detroit when we have needs right here on Peachtree?

Oh, yeah. You and Obama and Pelosi have to wash the unions’ dogs for them.

By getalife

December 10, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this

Well, the southern States that have foreign auto plants will block it.

Might want to tap their phones to see how much they get for their no votes.

They probably will say F Detroit.

Die MF’s.

By "The Corporal"

December 10, 2008 3:30 PM | Link to this

Everyone stand up and holler for the Union Let’s give the Brotherhood a cheer, Everyone stand up and holler for the Union We ain’t hit a lick all year.

By GodHatesTrash

December 10, 2008 3:35 PM | Link to this

If they let the Big Three go —-

WHAT ABOUT NASCAR??

By Class of '98

December 10, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this

Hey I’m a working man. Won’t they need to take more money out of my paycheck in order to “keep millions of blue-collar Americans working and collecting paychecks”.

Who is an enemy of whom?

By Tom

December 10, 2008 3:38 PM | Link to this

The car business is like most of our other industries, about 10 to 20 years behind in inovation because there’s not as much money in it initially. With this thinking they have destroyed their own market shares. Let them go bankrupt and see if Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Kia, Mazda, Subaru or Hyundai want any of their plants, or will build more of their own to produce good cars, and get the GM, Ford, and Chrysler junk off the road. They can combine the “Big 3” to build trucks, since it’s about the only thing they sell, and possibly the only thing they seem to build well. Then see if we can get a rebate on the Wall Street Bailout, which has done so much for the country. What’s happened to America and the people we let run it? Shame on us.

By AJC/DNC Management

December 10, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this

David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel (and Valerie Jarrett and Andy Stern, and especially Senate Candidate 5) will cringe with every BlackBerry vibration as Blagojevich and his chief of staff are pressed to name names by a no-BS prosecutor.

You hear that noise?

It’s the whole Pinkkko Nation vibrating.

They can hear the footsteps and the pitter patter of little felons.

ew

By ByteMe

December 10, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this

I’m definitely not on the fence about this. The bailout (except for Ford, which claims they don’t need it) is merely to get them thru until March. It buys time before they have to do the inevitable and either go bankrupt or convince their stakeholders (bondholders, UAW, suppliers, etc.) that they are about to go bankrupt without renegotiated contracts that let them resize the company to the size of their market (about a third smaller than they are now).

I understand their need for time, but they’ve had time. It’s not like this has been a surprise.

Let ‘em go bankrupt and figure out how to resize themselves to be a viable business using bankruptcy court as a disinterested mediator. That’s what I think.

HOWEVER, Republicans will cave, give them the money, and push the real resolution to next year and then try to hang it on Obama. No idea why the Democrats think this is a good plan….

By "The Corporal"

December 10, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this

GodHatesTrash

The real NASCAR died a long time ago.

By mike hussein smith

December 10, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this

So let’s stiff Detroit and see what happens. Thousands of people might no longer receive pensions or health care coverage, and would have to turn somewhere else for them. And where might that be? The federal government, of course. $25 billion would look like a bargain.

By Wyld Byll Hyltnyr

December 10, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this

By mm 3:16 PM

“I would rather bailout a corporation that manufactures something because you can quantify the results. Nobody will ever know where the Wall St. money went.”

mm, wow. Let’s explain when the Wall Street money went. Fed loans were made at the operative company level and are secured. TARP money went into preferred securities and the acompanying warrants.

Here’s what the Fed loans and TARP money yielded - an intact financial system and a currency that has not imploded. Without these monetary initiatives by the Fed and Treasury it would be “Beyond the Thunderdome” time.

If you don’t understand how dire the economic circumstances (and how far we have fallen under Pelosi and Reid leadership) have become, the most recent T-bill auction had a 0.0% yield on the 3 mo bill. That means that the purchasers were happy just to not lose money over the next 3 months. Imagine what it would be like had the Fed and Treasury not stepped in.

By sunshine and thunder

December 10, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this

To paraphrase Mark Faber:

“Let’s give the 25 billion to Toyota with the stipulation that they will have to buy GM and/or Ford.”

That makes a lot more sense than giving the money to Detroit whom we KNOW can’t do a good job.

By Wyld Byll Hyltnyr

December 10, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this

By sunshine and thunder 4:10 PM

Another alternative is only to bail out 1 or 2 of the 3. The suvivor(s) could buy the prrofitable portion of the company that is not bailed out. This should improve market share/viability for the survivor(s).

By joan

December 10, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this

To call UAW members “ordinary working men” is a travesty. These are workers who, through their Unions have had entitlements most workers have never, and will never see. The UAW should have to give up some benefits, and cut salaries to make the companies competitive with foreign manufacturers, or any bailout will simply prolong the inevitable end of the U.S. auto industry.

By Swami Dave

December 10, 2008 5:12 PM | Link to this

The “solution” is reorganization through bankruptcy where the hindering influences of past decisions, contractual agreements, and government intervention can be addressed and corrected.

A bailout providing funds or credit to the Detroit car manufacturers that prolongs their ability to continue along what is (and, for some time, has been) a failed course is simply sending good money after bad. It does nothing to address the problems and simply allows them to limp along under the failed model until that pile of money evaporates (at which time they will be coming back for more).

-Swami Dave

By AJC/DNC Management

December 10, 2008 5:42 PM | Link to this

Spokeswoman Kelley Quinn says Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee resigned Wednesday, a day after Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges. She didn’t give a reason for his resignation.

We can only imagine!

I don’t know, if I was one of these low level democrat toadies, I damn sure wouldn’t go anywhere near Fort Marcy Park right now.

They could wind up “blowing their brains out.”

There is a reason why Oblahmi surrounded hisself with all these KKKlinton hacks.

Clean up on aisle Chicago.

By getalife

December 10, 2008 5:56 PM | Link to this

Too bad the gop did not filibuster the bank bailout or they would have a legitimate argument.

I guess they want to remain in the minority.

By Ray

December 10, 2008 6:00 PM | Link to this

Apparently, Candidate #5 was Jessie Jackson, Jr. He seemingly expected the Senate seat to be his own, was told that it would happen and is apparently pretty upset that he might not get it. Said that he expected it to be his, not sure about the communication that he might have had with Blago but it can’t be too good. These entitlements just seem to move up the ladder as these politicians get more bold. Think we might look into what Jessie, Jr. knew, how he was privy to what was going on and what he expected to gain from it? Get’s more interesting by the minute.

By sunshine and thunder

December 10, 2008 6:06 PM | Link to this

Wyld Byll Hyltnyr

You wrote:

Another alternative is only to bail out 1 or 2 of the 3.

Which is the number one reason government should not be the arbiter here. If we let government pick the winners we might as well all hide.

The government does enough of that with the tax code and other congressional acts.

Equal protection under the law should be the bottom line in any legislation but I guess we threw that idea out when we ripped up the Constitution.

By Midori

December 10, 2008 6:27 PM | Link to this

We’ve seen this show before: specious attempts to connect Barack Obama with corrupt or controversial figures in Chicago, followed, then, by a Republican and establishment media outcry for the president-elect to denounce and reject them.

Nevertheless, as I write this, the president-elect has released a new statement calling for the governor to resign. This of course begs the establishment press topic for the rest of the day: Was Obama’s statement calling for the governor’s resignation strong enough? Should Obama release a third statement demanding that Blagojevich be launched into space in a creepy Phantom Zone square like the one from Superman II?

Really, is there anything the President-elect can do to satisfy these people?

Let’s check the recent historical record. When former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was accused of ethics violations and money laundering, and then was indicted on charges of conspiring to commit campaign finance fraud and consequently resigned from Congress in disgrace, President Bush publicly denounced and rejected DeLay — a fellow Texan.

Oh. Wait. President Bush didn’t denounce DeLay at all. In fact…

By Ray

December 10, 2008 6:42 PM | Link to this

Midori,

Just focus on the present. JFK probably scre* Marilyn Monroe in the White House swimming pool but that’s past history. Spiro Agnew took bribes from Maryland construction companies too…..What would you expect Buckwheat to do? He has to throw the Governor under the bus. His buddy Blago has to go. Campaigned for him, helped him raise money for is campaign…. then when it gets hot, throw him under the bus. Just so he doesn’t put me in a light that will hurt me and the “future of the country”. Change we can depend on.

By AJC/DNC Management

December 10, 2008 6:51 PM | Link to this

DeLay was fraudulently investigated by a partisan hack democrat district attorney and has provided more than enough evidence to refute the trumped up and sham charges brought against him, while Blago was caught on tape.

Hmmmmmmm.

By ddawn

December 11, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this

When I read the following, I was reminded of the old Eric Byrnes book — Games People Play.

“Sounds like the same mess again the dems are too afraid to put it through on their own so they are making an attempt to guilt the rep. into signing off on it.”

The above is a textbook example of “SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!!!”

Doesn’t fly.