Who's gonna take you home tonight?

(The Cars-Drive)

Following up on the last post, I wanted to find what auto manufacturing plants were located in the south. After much googling, I came up with this list:

MFR/Location Employees
BMW
Spartanburg, NC 5,400

Ford
Louisville, KY (2 plants) 7,143

GM
Arlington, TX 3,000
Bowling Green, KY 1,020
Doraville, GA 1,036
Shreveport, LA 1,877
Springhill, TN 3,000

Honda
Lincoln, AL 4,500
Tallaposa, GA 440

Hyundai
Montgomery, AL 3,300

Kia
West Point, GA 2,500

Mercedes-Benz
Vance, AL 3,869

Nissan
Canton, MS 3,700
Decherd, TN 1,200
Franklin, TN 1,500
Smyrna, TN 5,700

Toyota
Blue Springs(Tupelo), MS 3,000
Buffalo, WV 1,107
Georgetown, KY 6,974
Huntsville, AL 891
Jackson, TN 220
San Antonio, TX 1,955

VW
Chatanooga, TN 2,000 Projected, 2011

Total employees 65,332

That's obviously not only the foreign-based makers, but US brands as well.

I found this interactive site, which gives much of this information with a simple mouse-over.

So we have the following states:

Alabama
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
West Virginia

And who are the Senators from those states? Listed in order of states, with party affiliations and how they voted:

Jeff Sessions (R-No)
Richard Shelby (R-No)

Saxby Chambliss (R-No)
Johnny Isakson (R-No)

Mitch McConnell (R-No)
Jim Bunning (R-No)

Mary Landrieu (D-Yes)
David Vitter (R-No)

Thad Cochran (R-No)
Roger Wicker (R-No)

Richard Burr (R-No)
Elizabeth Dole (R-Yes)

Bob Corker (R-No)
Lamar Alexander (R-Not voting)

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-No)
John Cornyn (R-Not voting)

Robert Byrd (D-Yes)
Jay Rockefeller (D-Yes)

Speculation abounds that this vote, clearly designed to try and break the UAW, and by extension all unions, is the first battle in the war against the Employee Free Choice Act, something the right-wing has been opposed to since the outset.

From Think Progress:

Last night, conservatives in the Senate blocked the proposed $14 billion loan to General Motors and Chrysler. As Ali Frick notes over at ThinkProgress, conservatives blamed the bill’s failure on the United Auto Workers (UAW) refusal to accept steep concessions — introduced in a pay-cut amendment by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) — that would have effectively neutered the union.

But various media outlets have reported that blocking the bill also had a wider purpose: sticking it to labor unions in advance of the anticipated debate over the Employee Free Choice Act. Often referred to as “card check,” the Free Choice Act would level the playing field for workers looking to form a union.

As the LA Times reported today, conservatives circulated “an action alert” calling for lawmakers to “stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor“:

In doing so, analysts said, Republicans were planting the seeds for a fundraising appeal to big business — other than the Big Three, of course — as they gear up for a major political fight next year over expected legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize.

The BBC noted this line from the conservative talking points:

This is the Democrats’ first opportunity to pay off organised labour after the election. This is a precursor to card-check and other items.

If the rescue loan was a “pay off” to the unions, it was a pretty awful one, considering the UAW made serious concessions — including delaying Big Three payments into a retiree health care fund — as a prerequisite to the rescue bill proceeding.

Furthermore, conservatives denied the automakers their loan — potentially causing further harm to an already dismal economy — for the sake of preemptively sending a message on legislation that can help the economy. As David Madland and Harley Shaiken point out, competitiveness is “linked to productivity, quality, and innovation — all of which can be enhanced with higher wages” derived from unionization.

Bastards. Fucking bastards.

Here's the complete vote list, if anyone's interested.