I’m not exactly president of Michael Moore’s fan club, but he certainly has a way of making a point and driving it home:
Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead
They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.
They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.
They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.
They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.
Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.
But instead, the Senate said, we’ll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That’s right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers — billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever — the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.
Tags: auto bailout, auto industry, Michael Moore
December 14, 2008 at 4:14 pm
The Senate is nothing if not consistent. Sigh.
December 14, 2008 at 7:34 pm
*Sigh… I am so disappointed, I haven’t kept up with things the last few days. (I caught a nasty bug of some kind.) What a total bummer. I do have to say there are an amazing amount of people who do believe that is what is wrong with the auto industry… I am not sure when or why but the average person seems to be so against the other average person making decent money… This year we went from a comfortable middle income to a much lower, and it sucks. I don’t mean just creature comforts, we are talking not as much healthy food and stuff too. Have you seen the prices of fresh fruits and veggies verses some good old potatoes and meat? Instead of good balanced meals, we have replaced with what we can afford and vitamins to hopefully see us through… Evidently most of America is supposed to be in the same boat we are, and the people who believe this is the right way to go (and the senate isn’t alone) are the ones that want them there…
Lets keep the rich, rich; keep the poor, poor; and lets make those middle class people in one or the other of those acceptable places…
December 14, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Just checking in to say “howdy!”
December 15, 2008 at 9:04 am
Obi-Mom: Ain’t that the truth?
Terra: Yep. We’ve had to cut back a lot too. It seems like every time I go to the grocery to store, prices are higher than they were the last time.
Selena: Howdy!
Always good to see you!
December 15, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Interesting letter…Perhaps the Senate should just give every American money and let us use it as we see fit. After all, it was our money to begin with…