Dick Armey with Freedom Works urges everyone to send a message against the auto bailout.
The plan to bail out the Detroit 3 auto makers is moving fast. It appears that the president and Congress might have reached an agreement to give $15 billion to the Detroit 3. According to them, its to prevent them from failing as companies. But their failure is still looming, due to decades of poor business models and union shakedowns for unreasonable benefits and pay.
TAKE ACTION!
The latest version of the bailout bill claims it will “create jobs, prevent large tax increases and cuts in state services, strengthen our nation’s manufacturing sector, and assist those struggling to find a job.” However, by artificially propping up an outdated business model, the bill creates further hardship down the road and prevents these companies from making the hard, but much needed reorganization required to remain competitive in a global economy.
The automobile manufacturers who would benefit from this legislation already received $25 billion in loans in a recent congressional resolution to allow them to build supposedly greener, more energy efficient cars and trucks.
Rather than additional market interventions and more mandates, Congress should let the Detroit 3 go down the necessary path of filing bankruptcy. This legal process would allow these corporations to reorganize and come out from under the crippling mandates of the unions, and emerge as streamlined, efficient businesses. Instead, many politicians in Washington would rather create a “car tsar” that unfortunately reminds of the old Soviet Union in more than one way. If the government can’t run the post office efficiently, I doubt it will be able to run car companies any better.
This legislation does nothing to address the fundamental problems that brought the car companies to the brink of financial crisis. It also ignores that car companies in states like Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina are doing just fine. Recent problems in Detroit have far less to do with the current economy than with long term mismanagement that ignored market trends and resulted in falling consumer ratings, inflated wages, and benefits far above industry averages.
Congress should not be choosing winners and losers, or robbing Alabama to pay Michigan. TAKE ACTION!
Speaking of Alabama, those of you in that great state should be proud of Senator Richard Shelby for standing up to the Detroit 3, the unions and his peers in Congress. Sen. Shelby has publicly stated that he will oppose the bailout, and is considering a filibuster to force an open debate on the matter.
In a global economy, American manufacturers have to compete with companies around the world. American businesses can and must find a way to do that, without seeking government handouts that distort the market and choose winners and losers. But even though Detroit has to compete with China, the real competition is in places like Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina, where car manufacturers are turning a profit the American way: with hard work, innovation and a friendly business climate. Companies located in the South have “right to work” laws that prevent union shakedowns of businesses and encourage market-based wage and benefits rates. But Detroit has fallen victim to burdensome government regulations and taxes, and a union force that demands pay and benefits even when its members are sitting at home watching TV.
Please help us deliver a powerful message to Congress today: NO DETROIT 3 BAILOUT!Sincerely,![]()
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