Ostrich In Chief
Mitt Romney is assuming the mantle of Ostrich in Chief for his party. In one those "let them eat cake" moments he strongly urged in today's New York Times that the big three automakers should be forced into bankruptcy. He believes that bankruptcy, rather than putting them permanently out of business, will result in a Walmart-style royal screwing of their workers.
Now in the first place, I don't believe there would continue to be an American auto industry if these companies are forced into bankruptcy. In an economy like this it doesn't matter how energy-efficient your cars are, or how cool they are, or how cheap they are. Nobody's buying anything, foreign manufacturers are just as screwed as the Americans. You know those foreign governments are going to keep their auto businesses afloat, they'd have to be idiots to let them fail.
But the real issue is whether the Walmart employee model is the one we want for this country's future. Mitt Romney and the Walton family obviously love it. The Waltons have gotten mega-rich by screwing manufacturing and sales employees. I'm sure they've pumped a lot of contributions to their "free market" Republican friends to keep the status quo in place. It's a very simple equation, the very rich get richer and every cent comes out of a working man or woman's sweat. There's no denying that's exactly what Mitt wants:
First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.
The question is, what can the Democrats in today's Congress do to stop him?