What do we have to do to be taken seriously?

Because I'm an auto industry retiree and still living in the Detroit area I hear a lot about the auto company's attempts at getting a government loan. The news sources say a lot about what will happen to Detroit, the state of Michigan, and the nation if the loans don't appear, what the companies have done to merit the loan, and how this downturn (unlike previous periods of losing money) is not their fault. Yet within days of congress refusing $25 billion to the car companies Paulson hands another $20 billion to AIG. It leaves a lot of commentators scratching their heads -- and worse. Columnist Mitch Albom would love to point out the hypocrisy in what congress did to their faces. This article is being passed around Detroit a lot. I'll let you read it for yourself.


Blogger Terrance Heath notes what might be behind the politics: If the Detroit companies fail, the foreign companies with plants in the USA will have to build more plants to make up the shortfall -- and those plants will likely be in the South, not Michigan. The new jobs in the South will also likely be non-union and the GOP, which controls the politics in much of the South, hates unions. And even though the new jobs won't make up for Detroit's disaster in number, pay, and benefits, at least the GOP can claim to bring some jobs to an eternally poor region, giving their constituents a bit more than culture wars and anti-gay marriage initiatives. The rest of Terrence's posting is something he's ranted about before: the GOP has no compassion for anyone but the rich. They have a "Drop Dead" conservatism -- you can drop dead for all we care. One would think they'd try not to be so blatant about it.