House Democrats Vote to Nail Taxpayers for the Benefit of the Union Bosses

Mark Noonan

And the question now is whether or not the GOP will muster the strength in the Senate to kill this horrific bill:

The House passed a stopgap $14 billion bailout to U.S. automakers Wednesday evening, but Republican opposition cast doubts about its fate as it moves on to the Senate.

The House vote came in the wake of an agreement on the measure earlier in the day between Democratic Congressional leaders and the Bush administration…

…The measure passed by a count of 237 to 170 thanks to overwhelming Democratic support. But only 32 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill.

Eight of those Republicans are from Michigan, joining the six Democrats in the state’s delegation in voting for the measure.

A ninth Michigan Republican, Timothy Walberg, did not vote. Seven other Republicans that voted for the bill are from nearby Midwestern states that are also home to auto plants. But outside of the auto belt, the bailout had little Republican support.

Senate rules would allow the Republican minority to block or even kill the legislation. And even with the support from the White House, Republican anger seemed to grow throughout the day.

This is the GOP’s first test of the Obama era – our willingness to get down into the fight on principle and make a clear stand against using taxpayer money to benefit major Democrat donors. Standing tall, we still may lose but we’ll also free ourselves from the morass of corruption and spending which is Washington, DC. We’ll become, once again, the outsiders battling for the people against the entrenched special interests. As an aside, this now joins CFR and the prescription drug benefit as legislative efforts of President Bush which I oppose. For a Republican to be signed on to this dog of a bill is not just wrong, its a serious political blunder. Democrats are desperate for GOP cover on this and want nothing more than to lay this nauseating pile of political feces on the Republican party in the public mind. All Republicans should have nothing to do with it.

Our watchwords have to be honesty, restraint, solutions – if what someone wants to do can’t be classified as one of those three things, then we shouldn’t get within a country mile of it.