At least until next year...
Basically, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker came up with a fairly reasonable compromise bill that would have given the Big Three th emoney they needed..except it required major compromises from the UAW, which weren't exactly forthcoming:
A bailout-weary Congress killed a $14 billion package to aid struggling U.S. automakers Thursday night after a partisan dispute over union wage cuts derailed a last-ditch effort to revive the emergency aid before year's end.
Republicans, breaking sharply with President George W. Bush as his term draws to a close, refused to back federal aid for Detroit's beleaguered Big Three without a guarantee that the United Auto Workers would agree by the end of next year to wage cuts to bring their pay into line with U.S. plants of Japanese carmakers. The UAW refused to do so before its current contract with the automakers expires in 2011.
In other words, the UAW refuses to even take a sniff of the crap sandwich, but wants the American taxpayers to enjoy the entire banquet, at least for the next three years...after which they can stonewall again.
The White House may very well attempt to force this through using TARP funds,which means essentially that the UAW's tantrum pays off, and that US workers at profitable companies like Toyota and Honda are going to pay a penalty in higher taxes to bail out their non-profitable and poorly run competitors..and of course, the UAW, which has a lot of chips to call in with the Democrats in Congress.
Ever wonder what a UAW contract looks like? It is over 2200 pages and weighs 22 pounds. It no wonder the big three can not compete in the global market. Honda and Toyota don't have to deal with that kind of crap. It would take a team of lawyers just to understand this document. 2215 pages of inefficiency brought to you by the UAW
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