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Senator Warns of 'Riots' if Automakers Are Bailed Out
Business&Media ^ | 12/11/08 | Jeff Poor

Posted on 12/11/2008 1:15:10 PM PST by Sammy67

Sen. Jim DeMint says unfair union influence and the bailout culture will anger many Americans.

By Jeff Poor Business & Media Institute 12/11/2008 1:28:37 PM

Time and again we’ve heard about the lost jobs and economic impact of failing to bail out the beleaguered American auto manufacturers. But little mention has been made of the consequences of going through with the bailout, and how such an action would be viewed by other Americans.

In an interview following a Dec. 10 press conference where he and four other senators aired their opposition to the proposed bailout deal struck by congressional leaders and the White House (and approved by the U.S. House of Representatives 237-170 that evening), Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., warned that the perception that some industries are being bailed out and some aren’t could lead to violence.

“We’re going to have riots. There are already people rioting because they’re losing their jobs when everybody else is being bailed out. The fairness of it becomes more and more evident as we go along. The auto companies may be hurting,” he said, but “there are very few companies that aren’t hurting and they’re going to hurt. We don’t have enough money to bail everyone out.”

DeMint blamed the unions for pushing this issue as far as it has gotten. The senator said the notion that reorganization under bankruptcy would not

(Excerpt) Read more at businessandmedia.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: americans; autobailout; banking; business; congress; democrats; detroit; economy; finance; house; jimdemint; of; politics; representatives; republican; riots; senate; uaw; unions; unitedstates; usgovernment; whitehouse
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1 posted on 12/11/2008 1:15:14 PM PST by Sammy67
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To: Sammy67

If we were going to riot, we should have rioted when the bankers were bailed out. Not gonna happen.


2 posted on 12/11/2008 1:17:47 PM PST by Liberty1970 (Democrats are not in control. God is. And Thank God for that!)
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To: Sammy67

Congress and the Obama administration will just raise the minimum wage to $73 an hour, the same as the UAW gets: Problem solved!!


3 posted on 12/11/2008 1:18:16 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (Barack Obama: In Error and arrogant -- he's errogant!)
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To: Sammy67

Everyone out here who has any kind of 401/savings whatever, has already taken a hit. If those Union people think they’re going to slide by untouched, they need to think again.


4 posted on 12/11/2008 1:21:18 PM PST by wolfcreek (I see miles and miles of Texas....let's keep it that way.)
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To: Sammy67; P-Marlowe; enat; jude24

Why not bail out DHL in Wilmington, OH? They’re terminating 7-8 thousand jobs. Bam. Instant unemployment.

Why not bail out all the small mortgage brokers who’ve gone under as a result of the mortgage fiasco? They employed thousands and were the origin of 70% of the housing loans in America. They are now GONE! And no one cared. The vast majority of those were honorable, inspected, licensed businesses.

DeMint is right. This is simple unfairness.

Say what you will about the market place, but it is balanced in its treatment. You make a profit under given circumstances or you bite the dust.

Finally, why not bail out the makers of buggy whips?


5 posted on 12/11/2008 1:21:47 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain, Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: Liberty1970

I agree there will be no riots! But my take on the whole issue is I suspect the Unions have somehow taken control and used the union member’s pension money and now they have a fear that all this will be bound out. Could be off base but then it is one scenario that makes sense to me.

I don’t often post because I usually am either completely ignored or flamed. So take your pick! lol


6 posted on 12/11/2008 1:21:55 PM PST by glm
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To: wolfcreek

Compared to what the bankers got, this is a tick turd and I don’t understand the outcry.


7 posted on 12/11/2008 1:23:13 PM PST by DonaldC
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To: wolfcreek

Compared to what the bankers got, this is a tick turd and I don’t understand the outcry.


8 posted on 12/11/2008 1:23:12 PM PST by DonaldC
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To: Sammy67

“The primary driver behind this is the unions, because bankruptcy allows the auto companies to basically restructure all their contracts in a way that a bankruptcy judge says will make them sustainable,” DeMint said. “And if they do that, then essentially the unions lose all their leverage. It’s the unions that have brought them to the brink. So definitely, I think the reason they want a political solution and a car czar is because a car czar can protect the unions through this whole process at the expense of the taxpayer.”

the gop should be pounding this home so everyone hears it. but of course they wont and will be blamed for this entire mess once it goes further south.


9 posted on 12/11/2008 1:23:22 PM PST by philsfan24
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To: Sammy67
There won't be riots, but...

There will be SIGNIFICANT backlash against the automakers in the form of protest when consumers choose to spend their money on “other” American-made autos. It doesn't make you a “bad American” to purchase something made here in the US by American workers...

Many smart consumers already know the “big 3” make crappy, over-priced cars... This bailout mania BS is going to push many more to protest the UAW bailout by buying other makes... just wait and see...

10 posted on 12/11/2008 1:23:22 PM PST by bfh333 ("Hope"... "Change"... You better HOPE you have some CHANGE after the next 4 years!)
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To: Sammy67

There may be riots if the automakers are NOT bailed out, but those who oppose the bailout do not have rioting as part of their equally valid alternate lifestyle.


11 posted on 12/11/2008 1:24:06 PM PST by walford (http://the-big-pic.org)
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To: Sammy67

Wait till the year end Wall Street bonuses are announced. If that doesn’t do it, nothing will.


12 posted on 12/11/2008 1:24:06 PM PST by Wolfie
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To: Sammy67
I think the union angle is being over-played to some extent. Our plant is non-union and Honda and Toyota are our biggest customers and the majority of our business, but there is a tremendous amount of fear throughout what remains of the auto industry.

Our CEO just put out a global email begging the workforce to contact a list of Republican senators to press for passage of the bailout. And they are circulating petitions on the floor as I write and have been making announcements about it over the PA. We certainly live in interesting times... I should mention we've had 4 rounds of white-collar layoffs and 2 rounds of voluntary severance packages, and let go all our contract staff, all since August.

13 posted on 12/11/2008 1:25:57 PM PST by Liberty1970 (Democrats are not in control. God is. And Thank God for that!)
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To: Sammy67

Unfortunately, the American sheeple will not riot simply because their government is trampling on their rights and confiscating their money. Taxpayers and conservatives don’t riot. Now if Hussein were to cancel welfare payments to the hood...


14 posted on 12/11/2008 1:27:18 PM PST by Oldpuppymax (AGENDA OF THE LEFT EXPOSED)
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To: glm
As far as the unions being in control, they are as far from control as they have been since the 1930's. Automaking is a capital-intensive business, and the auto industry in general has been starving for cash for some time. The sales crash starting in the summer is just the final straw. Even Toyota has been downgraded from their AAA status.

16 of 26 stocks in an auto index I follow are under $10/share, and several are penny stocks. I'm concerned that major suppliers are going to start going bankrupt, and if so it will have the same effect as an OEM bankruptcy, even with a bailout.

I'm opposed to the bailout, but this is gut-wrenching sticking to my principles at this point. Yes, things really are as bad, or worse, then what you are hearing in the MSM.

15 posted on 12/11/2008 1:31:21 PM PST by Liberty1970 (Democrats are not in control. God is. And Thank God for that!)
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To: All
DeMint: "I think the reason they want a political solution and a car czar is because a car czar can protect the unions through this whole process at the expense of the taxpayer.”

Yup.

DeMint's got at least part of the scam pegged. Of course creating more government cabinet posts (like 'Car Czar') also means easier one-stop-shopping opportunities for lobbyists as well.

16 posted on 12/11/2008 1:31:59 PM PST by F16Fighter (Kenyan-born/foreign-citizen "Presidents" are now sanctioned by nine black-robed chimpanzees?)
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To: Sammy67

Here’s some action I’m going to take regardless:

The most staunch supporters of “buy American” have always been conservatives.

Yet all “buying American” did was support the UAW, which used our money to buy the White House for a Socialist and consistently to elect Rats and oppose conservative initiatives.

They will not get another penny of my car dollar, ever. From now on I’ll buy-—and urge other conservatives to buy-—American-made Hondas and Toyotas. NO UAW.


17 posted on 12/11/2008 1:33:40 PM PST by fightinJAG (I love the Constitution.)
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To: glm
...I suspect the Unions have somehow taken control and used the union member’s pension money and now they have a fear that all this will be bound out.

And probably donated a substantial portion of it to RAT politicians in return for later favors. The economic downturn gives them the oportunity to blame the shrinking pension funds on the declining market and to hide their theft.

18 posted on 12/11/2008 1:33:54 PM PST by JimRed ("Hey, hey, Teddy K., how many girls did you drown today?" TERM LIMITS, NOW AND FOREVER!)
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To: Sammy67

Auto makers have a myriad of monkeys on their backs:

Unions who keep making more and more demands, and they have hundreds of them sitting in their “Job Banks”, sucking money out of the coffers.

Congress and the Environazis telling the auto companies what product they are going to produce.

There are other smaller problems, but, IMO, these are the 2 biggest.

Get out of the way of the Auto producers and let them do what they do best. Drop the cafe standards and the 127 different blends of gasolines across the nation.

Not every customer in the USA wants a little “Yugo” type tin can of a car. We want and need trucks, and have a reason for needing them. Get the HE&& out of the way of the customers who need what they know they need.

BTW- this AM one of the morning shows was talking about the fact that over 1 million cars already on the road with “ON STAR” technology have the capability of slowing the vehicle down to a trickle of 5 mph by starving the engine for fuel. Doesn’t that give all of you who are too lazy to read a map the warm and fuzzies?

I can see it now:
You are driving across Wyoming or Montana and doing nothing wrong. A signal gets transmitted that has an error in it, and instead of that stolen car on a LA freeway slowing down- you are now crawling along at 5 mph, and you think your car is a lemon!!!

That technology alone is one reason why I will NOT buy a new truck or car. I will find something pre-1980 and restore it instead.


19 posted on 12/11/2008 1:35:27 PM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: Liberty1970

This is America, not Greece. We do not riot.


20 posted on 12/11/2008 1:36:13 PM PST by FES0844 (FES0844)
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