Bailout Fatigue

President Bush has acted to rescue the American auto industry but some troubling questions remain. First why did Congress refuse to act with the prospect of an economic disaster that is laying waste to states like Michigan and Ohio?One reason is that Americans and members of Congress are suffering from bailout or rescue fatigue. A CNN national survey from the first week of December indicated that three out of every five Americans opposed the rescue plan for the auto industry. In an ABC News/Washington poll in September after the bank bailout passed, almost the same number of people said that the bank rescue had done too little to help ordinary people. The similarity in the numbers is not a coincidence.And despite spending millions of dollars on DC lobbyists this year, the Big Three lobbying campaign was a disaster.In November the Big Three showed up in Washington (on corporate jets no less) and without any kind of plan ask Congress for 25 billion dollars. Congress sends them packing. Then John Dingell, the industry’s champion in Congress loses his chairmanship of the House Commerce Committee in a palace coup that seemed to have the tacit support of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi’s hostility towards Dingell was partly due to the Michigan Congressman’s failure to support environmental initiatives to require Detroit to make more fuel efficient cars.So what does the auto industry decide to do in the light of their declining congressional prospects? They came to DC again (at least this time in hybrid cars) and asked for even more money. This time 34 billion dollars. Duh, as Homer Simpson would say.The other question is why did Republicans in the Senate kill the rescue by pushing the United Auto Workers so hard for pay and pension concessions?  Some members of Congress blame UAW members for the financial crisis even though salaries constitute only 10% of the industry’s costs. Several Republican members of Congress have criticized union employees for making too much money and having too many benefits. Since when has it been a crime for workers to make a good enough to salary support a middle class family comfortably? The American dream is to work hard enough to get a quality job with a good salary and solid benefits. The Washington Post quoted David Montgomery, emeritus professor of labor history at Yale as saying, “The auto workers were for many years were the model for the American standard of living.”Well Congress and President Bush just destroyed the model for the American standard of living. The country would be a lot better off if more people had jobs like the Big Three workers with good salaries and benefits. Instead of beating up on the Big Three auto workers, Congress should take action that would bring more people up to that level. The United States should strive for upward mobility for its citizens and not send Americans into a downward economic death spiral.Brad Bannon is a Democratic political consultant and pollster