Democrats Don’t Want to Assume Leadership
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for “emergency and limited financial assistance” for the battered auto industry on Tuesday and urged the outgoing Bush administration to join lawmakers in reaching a quick compromise.
Four days after dismal financial reports from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., Pelosi backed legislation to make the automakers eligible for help under the $700 billion bailout measure that cleared Congress in October.
In a written statement, the California Democrat said the aid was needed “in order to prevent the failure of one or more of the major American automobile manufacturers, which would have a devastating impact on our economy, particularly on the men and women who work in that industry.”
“Congress and the Bush administration must take immediate action,” she added. Administration officials have concluded that the bailout bill that passed earlier does not permit loans to the auto industry, but lawmakers are expected to return to the Capitol for a brief postelection session beginning next week.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also supports help for the industry, and he issued a statement saying Democrats were “determined to pass legislation that will save the jobs of millions” as part of a postelection session.
“This will only get done if President Bush and Senate Republicans work with us in a bipartisan fashion, and I am confident they will do what is right for our economy,” he said.
How much are they talking about? $25 billion isn’t a small amount of money and we’re told it’s not enough. The question is who knew that the $25 billion was just the opening demand of the auto industry. It’s pretty obvious that once they tap into the treasury they’ll never make the changes needed to produce cars that people want profitably in the 21st century.
The bigger issue of course is the lack of conviction shown by Nancy Pants and Dingy Harry. After all, they’ve got the majority they can advance this all by themselves. I’m sure Obama will sign this legislation first thing in January.
By and large the Republicans did what they thought was right on controversial issues. Specifically I think there was a thing called the regime change in Iraq and homeland security that were somewhat controversial.
But these Democrats are more interested in being able to assign blame for their own agenda than in doing what they think is right.
This looks to be the last chance for a while that they’ll be able to do that. I would hope that President Bush and the Republicans say that we aren’t going to be their whipping boy anymore. With the $25 billion in loans already approved there’s no reason why this can’t wait for Obama.
