Prolonging the inevitable just leads to more waste of taxpayer $$. Whodathunkit.

I will relish watching the UAW pissing down their leg at the stream of concessions coming their way. And, I’ll buy a Chevy pickup next time when they get their act together.

Over the last twenty years the majority of states have passed statutes the prohibit unions from using union dues to fund political efforts. While a union can help organize a political fundraiser, it must be done on a volunteer basis and the union cannot compel its members to participate.

Now add in that the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill outlaws many third-party ads from airing on television. So unions cannot raise volunteer money to fund any type of negative campaign ads close to an election. This has reduced their impact on elections.

Consider that UAW membership has dropped for some time now and is less than 500,000 members for the first time since World War II.

Now finally, while UAW leadership is strongly Democrat, a large percentage of union members do not vote Democrat even if their unions encourages them to. Also the union does not always support Democrats any more. A good example is the clash between the UAW and Democrats over targeting Republican Thad McCotter for one of the seats they want to take in 2010. McCotter is a strong supporter of the auto companies and the UAW endorses him.

All of this has resulted in a much reduced ability for the UAW to impact a national election. I feel that you are beginning to see the signs that the Democrats feel they no longer need the UAW.

UAW members are well aware of who supported raises in CAFE standards and requirements to produce hybrid and alternate fuel vehicles in the auto company bailout proposals. This places a heavy burden on the auto companies to invest heavily into new engineering at a time when they are cash strapped. It will cost jobs to balance the books for that, and engineers are not UAW. Only the hourly workers are.

On top of this, California is proposing a new law that will require a lower carbon emission level for all cars sold in California. By itself that might be possible. But when you couple it with required increases in CAFE standards it can very well mean that GM and Chrysler will not be able to meet both at the same time. They may soon find that they cannot legally sell an automobile in California.

UAW members are well aware of the positions of Obama on the amount of concessions that they are required to give in order to qualify for bailout money. While Obama is probably right about this being a critical factor in the health of American auto companies, it is a bitter pill for the UAW rank and file to swallow. They are already disenchanted and are complaining that Obama is treating the rich bankers better than he does the blue collar folk.

I think many people here do not realize that we are entering a new era. If the Democrats do not get smarter about this it can have far reaching implications. If GM and Chrysler file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it will start moving Michigan to a red state. Many blue collar UAW workers are already feeling betrayed by the Democrats and the anger over it is beginning to become palpable. They are not blaming the Republicans for this, they are blaming Obama and the Democrats.

The 2010 election in Michigan is going to be very interesting.

{^_^}

And rob more from us via Chapter 11 protection.

Obama, Fresh Prince of Thieves.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/motorsports/obama_orders_chevrolet_and_dodge_out_of_nascar_car_news

I then went to Car and Driver separately and the article is there.

What happens to the pension funds? this does worry me. I can see us having to bail out thousands of GM retirees.

jeanie on March 31, 2009 at 11:11 PM

Social security!
ha ha ha ha ha
That’s what they’ll get.
hah ah ha ha

Whether we will do that or not at this point is still unknown. The people who are REALLY getting screwed however are the small producers and parts makers that gave GM parts on credit. Why they did this is beyond me as it seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do under any circumstances considering GM’s problems. But the fact remains that they DID do it and now it turns out that they’re not ever going to get paid.

Karmashock on March 31, 2009 at 9:59 PM

They were going to be damaged even worse under Obama.

Obama said bankruptcy would be a way for either GM or Chrysler to “quickly clear away old debts that are weighing them down so they can get back on their feet,” and stressed that either firm would remain open.

Obama’s intending to use the bankruptcy, if it happens, to separate assets from debts and seize the assets.

Nobody will be paid except the Government if Obama has his way. If I were these small guys going out of business, I’d sue now and get my position on the list, because that position is going to be important in a week or so

Whether we will do that or not at this point is still unknown. The people who are REALLY getting screwed however are the small producers and parts makers that gave GM parts on credit. Why they did this is beyond me as it seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do under any circumstances considering GM’s problems. But the fact remains that they DID do it and now it turns out that they’re not ever going to get paid.

This means that while we may save GM many parts makers are probably dead after this… though on the bright side those that survive are unlikely to be stupid enough to keep such lengthy tabs and instead will demand payment in full per contract… or we can hope.

Anyway, the bright side of all this is that the dems are royally crapping all over the rust belt which MIGHT mean a rosier election cycle in two years. While that might sound extremely cynical, the underlying assumption I’m working with here is that Obama and his cohorts want socialism… and socialism is bad for america in the same way Cancer is bad for people. So these actions very well may let us hold off CANCER for a bit longer at the cost of our hair falling out and skin turning green.

The tentative agreement, reached at 3:05 a.m. Sept. 26, delivers solid economic gains for active and retired members, despite repeated attempts by GM to impose harsh takeaways

The agreement will deliver more than $13,000 in economic gains for a typical UAW member, including a $3,000 signing bonus, two 3 percent lump sums and a 4 percent lump sum.

Active workers will see their comprehensive health care coverage continue, with dental, hearing and other benefits improved. Retired workers will have their health benefits secured by a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA), prefunded by GM with $29.9 billion in cash and other assets. The fund can only be used to pay retiree health benefits, and will remain solvent for decades regardless of the financial condition of GM.

The proposed contract will also deliver benefits to current and future retirees, with four lump-sum payments for current retirees, and a raise in basic benefit rates, the 30-and-out supplement, temporary and interim benefits for future retirees.

Does this look like sacrifice to you?

(via redstate.com)

Who get’s how much

BTW, Ed Or AP, why is any link with “cnn” in it sent to the cornfield?

No, I bought myself an Oldsmobile.

It’s quite the car and proof that the UAW does make reliably performing cars.

sethstorm on March 31, 2009 at 1:29 PM

And I bought myself a 1986 Ford Taurus MT5 Station Wagon, factory order. While waiting, the UAW went on strike for three months. Turned out my car was idled on the line, and they completed the build when they returned — sort of.

The car spent 90 days of its first year in the shop, having stuff put on it that should have been put on at the factory. The grand finale was when the entire power steering system went ($1800), because the UAW failed to install the specified heat shield between the exhaust manifold and the power steering hoses.

Yah, it was an OK car, but my three-year old Hiroshima-built Mazda 3 hatch has yet to spend a day getting anything other than routine maintenance.

And don’t get me going about the Vega.