Driving in my car, smoking my cigar

I haven't done this in a while, but I'd like to give our Golden Douchebag award to Sen. Bob Corker:

What makes the situation so dire for GM and Chrysler is that they're currently in the midst of major restructuring, and they are the only auto producers in the world that have massive built-in legacy costs. It's cheaper to produce cars in Canada, despite comparable labor costs and higher taxes, because the auto companies don't have to pay for health care for current and retired workers, both unionized and non-unionized. Take away the massive health care and pension costs borne by the Big Three—costs which foreign producers in the US don't have to the same degree, because they have almost no retirees—and the Big Three would be hurting like the rest of the global auto industry, but GM and Chrysler probably wouldn't be on the verge of a catastrophe.

So, it's possible that the GOP Senators like Corker and McConnell are stupid, and just don't understand some of the basics of the global auto industry. But we shouldn't dismiss the possibility that the ultras who've taken over the GOP, the people for whom ideology is more important than consequences and reality, would rather risk destroying one of our most important industries in an attempt to destroy a labor union.

The spreading meme that the UAW refuses to make any concessions is really pernicious. To counter it, read this from far left-wing ultra-conservative Forbes:

Unionized autoworkers are a favorite scapegoat for the problems facing U.S. automakers. Their job security guarantees and gold-plated benefits have surely cost General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler a bundle over the past few decades. Indeed, the domestics' historically high labor costs are among the reasons they haven't been able to compete with Japanese rivals, and why Detroit CEOs were back on Capitol Hill again Thursday asking for $34 billion in taxpayer loans to survive.

But the U.S. automakers probably would have collapsed by now if not for the concessions made by the United Auto Workers union over the past three years.

Once bitter enemies, the Detroit Three and the UAW have long since buried the hatchet and are now working together to close the wage gap with Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people ), Nissan (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ) and Honda (nyse: HMC - news - people ) through various productivity improvements and more flexible work rules, for instance.

The union has made some major concessions. Two biggies last year: The UAW agreed to cap the cost of retiree health care through creation of an independent trust fund and agreed to cut wages in half, to $14 an hour, for new hires in non-assembly jobs (20% of the workforce). More concessions came this week when the union agreed to end a controversial "jobs bank" program, which pays workers even when there are no vehicles to build. The union also said it would allow car makers to extend their scheduled payments to the health care trust fund. Importantly, UAW President Ronald Gettelfinger also said the union is ready to renegotiate additional contract terms.

Now, the playing field is just about level--or will be once the economy recovers.

. . . What do autoworkers really make? Detroit's hourly workers earn $28 an hour, or $57,000 a year. (Toyota workers make $25.) Benefits and payroll taxes bring the total cost per worker up to $54 an hour, versus $47 at Toyota. Under a breakthrough labor contract in 2007, new hires in non-assembly jobs will be paid only $14 an hour and will receive less generous benefits, which will narrow that remaining gap considerably.

. . .Not everyone believes the union has given its pound of flesh yet, however. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., home to non-union Nissan factories, said at Thursday's Senate Banking Committee hearing that the UAW must also forgo company-paid supplemental unemployment benefits (worth $450 per week for laid-off workers) and be willing to accept company stock as a partial payment for the car-makers' retiree health care obligation. It's the only way GM can get bondholders to agree to a recapitalization, he said.

GM chief executive G. Richard Wagoner defended the UAW, saying, "Ron Gettelfinger has done more to address the competitive issues in our industry in the last three years than anybody has in the last 30 or 40 years."

Which means GM can't use labor as an excuse any more.

Catch that 2nd to last graf? The odious Wagoner of GM doesn't blame the union? But Corker still does?

So just what actual difference in the price of cars would UAW concessions make?

Union leaders, not surprisingly, reject the notion that concessions are needed. “Talk of more givebacks by our union ignores the cuts we made just one year ago, when our union agreed to a 50 percent wage cut, down from $28 an hour to $14 an hour, and no pensions for new hires,” said Hammer. “Reducing our quality of life would have a ripple effect on our entire economy, and would just make things worse. The reality is that our labor constitutes just 8 percent of the price of a new car. We could work for free, and it wouldn’t solve the crisis.”

If you don't understand what good unions have done in this country, I probably won't persuade you. If you're a working stiff who despises unions because Hannity and Rush tell you to, then you're woefully undereducated. And maybe a little stupid. Are you just jealous that another blue-collar laborer like you can make $28/hr, and actually have a pension at the end of their career?

Yes, the Teamsters and the UAW have had bad times, and have been corrupt. That doesn't make them all bad. Does Blagojevich's corruption in Chicago mean we should destroy the city? No, just ditch the bad actors and move on.

Labor has lost so much ground in this country since the '50s, and too many people today don't seem to understand that one of the only ways for the working person to stand up against management is by joining a union.

Sad.

And do Corker and McConnell say anything about CEO compensation? I think they should:

Toyota's 32 top executives and auditors received 1.5 billion yen ($16.4mil) in salaries in the 12 months ended March. Nissan paid its top nine executives, including Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn, 2.52 billion yen ($27.6mil) in salaries.

In comparison, General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner's total compensation for last year was $10.2 million, the company said in a U.S. regulatory filing in April.

I don't like to categorize people, paint with too broad a brush. But what the hell.

Republicans are bastards.

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.

Although nothing seems right in cars

(Gary Numan-Cars. I worked on his '83 US tour, was, um, interesting.)

Via email from Sen. Reid (D-NV):

"Given the unhappy choice between a bridge loan and bankruptcy, Democrats have always believed that we must give the Big Three and the millions of Americans they employ every possible chance to succeed.

"By rejecting every good-faith bipartisan compromise – including those from the White House and Senator Bob Corker – it is now abundantly clear that Republicans have no interest in keeping the Big Three from collapsing.

"Because Republicans failed to act, three million Americans are more likely than ever to lose their jobs and our economy is at risk of suffering even greater damage. Our hearts go out to those families who will now have to deal with this burden as the holidays near.

"Republicans may think that rejecting this legislation sent a message to the auto industry. Instead, they sent a message to every single American that they are more interested in settling scores than solving problems."

Look, this same congress gave a bazillion $$ to Wall St. with, by contrast, almost no oversight and discussion. Was there any talk of reducing fund managers' wages? Hell no!

But now the UAW has been painted like the BIG BAD GREEDY union totally repsonsible for the Big Three making crappy decisions and, for a time, inferior cars.

Lies about union wages appear in the traditional media every day, and the silly, vacuous public buys it. Unions are largely reviled these days, never mind that in the 20th century, unions helped in large measure improve working conditions and wages so a guy or woman installing rivets on an assembly line could buy a house. That's all they did, raise the standard of living for millions of working class people.

And they did help out the executives' bottom line, making the Big Three profitable for many years. But now the companies are having trouble, the right-sing bastards in the Senate want to use this as an excuse to bust the unions.

Any wonder that foreign auto makers have plants in Shelby's Alabama:

The United Auto Workers Union boss also hit out at those US States that have welcomed foreign-owned, non-unionised, transplant car factories with generous incentives. "Since 1992, states with transplants have spent over $3 billion in incentives," he said. "In Alabama, Hyundai has received $252.8 million, Toyota has received $29 million, Honda $158 million and Mercedes-Benz $258 million." He also said that Alabama's further incentives, such as training Mercedes workers, agreeing to buy Mercedes vehicles and clearing the proposed factory, amounted to a further subsidy of about $175,000 per worker.

I agree with Jane at FDL:

Funny, none of these bastards demanded wage and benefit cuts for Wall Street workers in the $700 billion bank bailout.

Before the vote, Reid said "I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow" — with a smile.

When I suggested that Reid call their bluff and make the Republicans filibuster and watch as the stock market tanked in their wake, I never thought he'd do it. Gotta hand it to him -- for the time being any way, he's not letting the red state culture warriors railroad the unions.

Indeed. Oh, and what's the answer?

Single-payer health care. Like the home countries of VW, Mercedes, Honda, Volvo, Nissan, Toyota, et al have.

Here's Chris Dodd:

Want to win the oil endgame? Want to stop the oil wars?

Give yourself 20 minutes and listen to Amory Lovins!

Amory Lovins was worried (and writing) about energy long before global warming was making the front -- or even back -- page of newspapers. Since studying at Harvard and Oxford in the 1960s, he's written dozens of books, and initiated ambitious projects -- cofounding the influential, environment-focused Rocky Mountain Institute; prototyping the ultra-efficient Hypercar -- to focus the world's attention on alternative approaches to energy and transportation.

His critical thinking has driven people around the globe -- from world leaders to the average Joe -- to think differently about energy and its role in some of our biggest problems: climate change, oil dependency, national security, economic health, and depletion of natural resources.

Lovins offers solutions as well. His book and site Winning the Oil Endgame shows how all US oil use can be eliminated by 2040. Lovins has always focused on solutions that conserve natural resources while also promoting economic growth; Texas Instruments and Wal-Mart are just two of the mega-corporations he has advised on improving energy efficiency.

crossposted at Rants from the Rookery

Following Dick Cheney's lead

The EPA declares executive privilege and refuses to explain why it said no for the first time in 32 years to California's greenhouse gas regulations:

Invoking executive privilege, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency refused to provide lawmakers Friday with a full explanation of why it rejected California's greenhouse gas regulations.

The EPA informed Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., that many of the documents she had requested contained internal deliberations or attorney-client communications that would not be shared with Congress.

"EPA is concerned about the chilling effect that would occur if agency employees believed their frank and honest opinions and analysis expressed as part of assessing California's waiver request were to be disclosed in a broad setting," EPA Associate Administrator Christopher Bliley wrote.

More than a week after a deadline set by Boxer, the agency gave the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which she chairs, a box of papers with large portions of the relevant documents deleted, Boxer said. The documents omitted key details, including a presentation that, according to Senate aides, predicted EPA would lose a lawsuit if it was taken to court for denying California's waiver.

The refusal to provide a full explanation is the latest twist in a congressional investigation into why the EPA denied California permission to impose what would have been the country's toughest greenhouse gas standards on cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Via Nicole Belle of Crooks and Liars, Think Progress points out that Vice President Dick Cheney met with automakers before the EPA denied California's waver. Gee... doesn't this sound familiar?

Anything to keep us guzzling that 100 dollar a barrel crude, huh, Dick?
(crossposted at Rants from the Rookery)