The front of today's NYT business section conclusively demonstrates that, while "reaching across the aisle" may sound great in theory, it doesn't work nearly as well in practice. As the article notes:
As the public hearings and intense behind-the-scenes negotiations appeared to come to naught, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, went to the floor seeking to bring up the Democrats’ plan to provide $25 billion in aid from the $700 billion financial bailout program. The Republicans objected, effectively killing the plan.
The reason why this issue became a legislative one was b/c of the continuing lack of cooperation from Henry Paulson:
The auto industry’s immediate future may now lie with the Bush administration, which has staunchly opposed using the Treasury Department’s $700 billion financial bailout program to aid Detroit. Democrats continued to insist Wednesday that the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., has legal authority to tap the fund and should do so.
"I talked to Secretary Paulson twice today; he knows he has authority," Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor. "He doesn’t want to do it."
While Sen. Bond, the GOP's Senate point man on this issue, suggested an alternative plan, his "plan" was, at best, half-baked:
Mr. Bond, whose state houses factories for all of the Big Three, pressed Mr. Reid to consider an alternative plan that he and Senator George V. Voinovich of Ohio had been developing in consultation with Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan.
"This is a critical time to move to prevent perhaps the bankruptcy or disappearance of a major auto company, which would cause chaos in our country," Mr. Bond said. "Over three million jobs are related to the auto industry, from the auto assembly plants to the auto dealerships, parts suppliers."
But Mr. Reid said it was too soon to put it to a vote. "We’ve had no hearings. We have no text," he said. "I know that my friend Senator Bond is a man of faith. I think I am, too. But this is carrying it a little too far. We don’t know anything about this. I look forward to a piece of legislation that we can look at. Hopefully, it can be done tonight or tomorrow and we’ll look at it."
Since the House adjourns today, this GOP gambit appears to kill the prospects for any bailout legislation this year:
But with the House set to adjourn at the end of Thursday, the automakers were left with only the dimmest of hopes that Congress would provide any assistance this year.
And though Mr. Reid did not completely close the door to a deal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly expressed strong opposition to the core of Mr. Bond’s proposal.
In a sign of the pessimism among Congressional Democrats, the majority leader, Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, told lawmakers on Wednesday evening that no House votes were expected Thursday, meaning the Senate was not expected to send over any legislation for approval
My views on this issue are mixed at best. The merits of the bailout, however, are secondary to the larger political picture here. A proposal that is desired by Reid, by Pelosi, and, presumably, by most of their respective caucuses appears to have died yesterday b/c of GOP obstruction. To make matters worse, the only reason why legislation is required is b/c of inflexibility by the lame duck GOP WH.
Personally, I don't understand why extending $150bn to AIG is a wise move, but extending $25bn to the (formerly) Big 3 is not. I don't understand why Bond thinks that Dems should table legislation already written in favor of legislation that was not written as of yesterday when the House is adjourning today. Most of all, I don't understand why anyone should expect the GOP to act differently when Congress reconvenes in January.
The GOP spent 1993-94 impeding the Dems. It spent 1995-2000 largely dictating the terms of the political agenda to the Clinton WH. It spent 2001-06 largely rolling over the Dems. It spent the past 2 years impeding the Dems. What rational basis is there to expect that it will start working cooperatively w/ the Dems in 2009?
Bond and his colleagues approached the proposed Detroit bailout the same way that they have approached every other issue for far too many years. They really don't care what the voters said on 11/4, they will not change their ways. The likes of Mitt Romney, furthermore, make the Senate Goopers seem like the soul of reason and flexibility by comparison.
According to the early front-runner for the 2012 GOP nomination, Detroit's main problem is that the workers live too well:
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.
You can bet your next car payment that a determined GOP filibuster will be mounted when EFCA finally reaches the Senate floor. The GOP will also fight us tooth and nail on health care, on taxes, on Iraq, and on just about everything else that matters. There are far too many old dogs in that party, and yesterday's events conclusively demonstrate that they have no interest in learning new tricks.