Courting Ritual
You won't be surprised to learn that the Obama administration withheld critical facts and details from the judge who oversaw the GM bailout and sale. That much was obvious simply going on experience of Democrats, especially those of the Chicago variety. What's of more immediate interest is the fact the judge has learned this (he's a bit slow, apparently) and he ain't a happy little magistrate. In fact, he may void the whole deal and haul GM back into court.
This could potentially force GM to repay $27B in taxpayer money, which would in turn force them into bankruptcy court -- where they should have been four years ago. Even better, it will allow them to restructure and kick the UAW to the curb. Democrats take note: that does not mean thousands of autoworkers will lose their jobs; it simply means they will be working for GM rather than the UAW. Most of those workers will still have jobs, (provided GM reforms under a new charter), but they will no longer be paid six figures for screwing nut 'A' onto bolt 'B'. Which potentially means that, wonder of wonders, GM's automobiles might actually be able to compete at the price points of Jap and Korean imports. Well, provided they can manage to manufacture a vehicle which doesn't start shedding parts and pieces ten minutes after it rolls off the assembly line... but that's another discussion entirely.
Of course, there will almost certainly be a brief lapse in their employment while the filing and restructuring are occurring, which means all those workers will temporarily show up on the unemployment rolls. Wouldn't it be a real shame if that happened just before the election? And wouldn't it be sad that the approximate 40% reduction in the UAW's power base would effectively cripple their ability to continue manipulating elections?
You reap what you sow. Eventually. This harvest is long overdue.
This could potentially force GM to repay $27B in taxpayer money, which would in turn force them into bankruptcy court -- where they should have been four years ago. Even better, it will allow them to restructure and kick the UAW to the curb. Democrats take note: that does not mean thousands of autoworkers will lose their jobs; it simply means they will be working for GM rather than the UAW. Most of those workers will still have jobs, (provided GM reforms under a new charter), but they will no longer be paid six figures for screwing nut 'A' onto bolt 'B'. Which potentially means that, wonder of wonders, GM's automobiles might actually be able to compete at the price points of Jap and Korean imports. Well, provided they can manage to manufacture a vehicle which doesn't start shedding parts and pieces ten minutes after it rolls off the assembly line... but that's another discussion entirely.
Of course, there will almost certainly be a brief lapse in their employment while the filing and restructuring are occurring, which means all those workers will temporarily show up on the unemployment rolls. Wouldn't it be a real shame if that happened just before the election? And wouldn't it be sad that the approximate 40% reduction in the UAW's power base would effectively cripple their ability to continue manipulating elections?
You reap what you sow. Eventually. This harvest is long overdue.
posted by Jar(egg)head at 13:01
2 Comments:
Not in the least. Expect most every UAW worker to continue to pull the Democrat lever, regardless of who is responsible for the loss of their jobs. It's a Union thing: vote Democrat, period.
The votes don't concern me, only the dues -- or more to the point, the lack thereof. In the end, it's the lobbying end of the unions that cause the problems, not the wrench-crankers and their D-levers. And lobbying takes money. A great deal of money.
The unions in this country are a collapsing Ponzi scheme. The field employees for the company I work for are all union, and I've seen the union financials. Without a lot (and I mean a LOT) of new blood coming in the bottom, the pension fund will be dead in the water within ten years at the outside. But that new blood isn't coming in at all, let alone in the tidal wave needed to support he retirees.
That's because non-union employers are increasingly offering similar compensation, they just aren't lying to their employees and telling them they're going to retire as millionaires after performing chimpanzee-level manual labor for thirty years. They're instead offering 401K matching and other such incentives to encourage the employees to save for their own retirements.
The days of big unions are numbered, and it's not because of political fallout. It's due to the fact that they've eaten themselves so fat, they can no longer walk out of the tar pit.
Oh, there'll be pain and probably riots when the unions start collapsing, but collapse they will. As Governor Christie said to the fireman's union reps, "the difference between me and my predecessors is that I'm not going to stand up here and lie to you. I'm going to tell you the truth, no matter how much you may dislike it."
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