Late-night shenanigans on the Hill: UAW bailout watch; Update: Union negotiations fall apart. Good! Headed for cloture; Final vote: 52-35. FAIL!
Scroll for updates…10:15pm Eastern. Latest word from the Hill: Talks between UAW and Corker fall apart. Excellent news for bailout opponents…more below…McConnell and Reid on floor discussing timing of cloture vote…Reid wants vote at 10:40pm Eastern…Countrywide Chris Dodd whining…Corker: “We were three words away” from a deal…GOP wanted a “date certain” on reform…more below…roll call vote on cloture motion underway…waiting…11:07pm Eastern. 52-35. Falls short of the required 60 votes. FAIL!!!!
What’s going on behind closed doors tonight in Washington?
The headlines earlier today declared the UAW bailout “dead” or “stalled.” The stories were cause for (momentary) cheer.
But the fix is in, as I’ve said from the start. Now, we will see if the GOP mavericks are truly up to the task of carrying through the filibuster threat.
I linked to the Corker amendment endorsed by Mitch McConnell earlier this afternoon. Are these concessions enough? What exactly are labor leaders going to agree to? It’s the subject of heated negotiations going on through the night — while taxpayers are left in the dark.
Dingy Harry is buoyed by the revived chances:
Prospects for an auto industry bailout revived in the U.S. Senate on Thursday as surprise negotiations on a compromise moved forward and a vote was possible later in the day.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor that the deal, if struck, “would overwhelmingly pass” the chamber that just hours ago seemed resigned to sending the automakers back to Detroit empty-handed.
The scenario at the core of the possible compromise was proposed by Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, who would grant loans under stricter conditions than favored by Democrats and the White House.
“Good faith negotiations are going on as we speak,” Reid said.
“Good faith” and “Reid” and “unions?”
Ha.
A Beltway source e-mailed me:
There is growing support for Sen. Corker’s amendment, which forces the Big Three and the UAW specifically to make more concessions. While this amendment puts Congress in the role of playing bankruptcy judge, it does seem to improve the Democrat/White House bill. I expect the Corker amendment to pass. Every Republican will vote for it and the UAW will find it preferable to bankruptcy. Also, I won’t be surprised if the Democrats convince Corker to water down his amendment but that remains to be seen. The other factor in this equation is whether or not Democrats believe they can get the same money from the White House through TARP but without Corker’s restrictions. If they believe that’s the case, they might kill the Corker amendment and let the whole thing fail. But I believe the most likely outcome is that Corker will pass and the final bill will pass too. It will be another “bipartisan” accomplishment. Republicans join Democrats in passing a modified auto bailout.
Bailout Heavy or Bailout Lite, it’s still a massive bailout — and just the first installment at that.
What’s the rush? Why are we short-circuiting the deliberative process again? The buzz is that several Senators have congressional delegation trips planned for tomorrow and want to hurry up and get on with their travel.
Your tax dollars at work.
Staying tuned and will keep you updated.
***
Here is the text of a stronger amendment from Ensign and Shelby.
***
Update 9:20pm Eastern…Brace yourselves...
Officials say Republican and Democratic senators are struggling to resolve one last dispute standing in the way of an emergency bailout for U.S. automakers.
The top Senate Democrat says the compromise could see a vote tonight. Majority Leader Harry Reid says the lead Republican architect of the deal is briefing colleagues on its outlines, and Democrats were prepared to move forward on it quickly.
His announcement came after hours of marathon talks at the Capitol between labor, lawmakers and the auto industry to salvage the Big Three rescue. The talks centered on wage and benefit concessions from the United Auto Workers union as well as debt restructuring by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
It wasn’t immediately clear what was standing in the way of a final agreement.
10:15pm Eastern…Fresh word from the Hill…
Latest word is that UAW blew up the negotiations with Corker. Would not make key pay concessions, so likely the bill will go straight to cloture either tonight or tomorrow. If this stands, and we defeat the bill, Corker must be commended for walking away from a bad deal. Reid discussing on floor now.
10:20pm Eastern. Looks like cloture vote may occur in 20 minutes. Countrywide Chris Dodd is giving his Chicken Little sermon about the dangers of the auto industry collapsing. Dodd lavishes praise on Bush White House. Blech. God save us from bipartisanship.
10:30pm Eastern. Bob Corker takes the floor. Says he was “three words” away from deal with union. GOP wanted “date certain” on conditions/reform being met.
Richard Shelby speaks. “We all in America will benefit from competition. There’s no reason for Big 3 not to be competitive…Bailouts just don’t generally work. I fear this is just a down payment on more next year. I vote no.”
Stabenow whining about demands for union concessions. Babs Mikulski calls for order, bleats that Stabenow is not being heard. Get out the Kleenex. They both seem on the verge of tears. Stabenow concedes the “votes are not there.”
10:42pm Eastern. Here we go. Cloture motion underway.
Quick typing here, but here are some of the ayes and nays so far on record…
Nays so far: Allard Burr Bunning Barasso Chambliss Cochran Crapo Ensign Hatch Hutchison Isakson McCain McConnell Tester Thune Enzi Coleman Sessions Murkowski Corker Bennett Grassley Gregg Bond.
Some GOP Ayes on record: Brownback Warner Voinovich. Specter.
Democrat Sen. Blanche Lincoln: No.
11:05pm Eastern. Bond switches to Aye?!!!!
Reid votes no for procedural reasons.
Final tally: 52-35.
FAIL!
Reid says the issue won’t be taken up again until next session.
Can we kill it? Yes, conservatives did.
Thank you, GOP mavericks, for leading the way.
11:17pm Eastern. Democrats give their wound-licking speeches.
Barbara Boxer gives her Woman of the People sermon. She’s vowing to convince Paulson to intervene. Double crikey. Hope and change is on the way!
12:16am Eastern. Last update for the night…here’s the roll call vote.
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- Grand Theft Auto Bailout: Capitol Hill « JoHNBRoDiGaNDoTCoM
- Pinky Reid Trying to Sneak Bailout Negotiations. « Trust, But Verify
- Late-night shenanigans on the Hill: UAW bailout watch « Conservative Thoughts and Profundity
- BigMouthFrog
- Gov. Rod Blagojevich Really Does Auction Off The Senate Seat | BigMouthFrog
- Is Paul Ryan Irrelevant Yet? « The Forum
- What got into McConnell? (Update) | skewred.com
- Giving Up? | Constant Conservative
- Mind Scalpel
- Bailout Dies in the Senate | Ft. Hard Knox
- Auto Bailout Dies in the U.S. Senate « Green Country Values
- Thank You, Senator DeMint « The Forum
- Six Meat Buffet » UAW Bailout Deader than Princess Di
- The Other McCain: Detroit bailout dead!
- The Skepticrats » Can we please stop exaggerating UAW wages?
- Michelle Malkin » Final roll call vote on the UAW bailout
- President Bush Still A RINO on The Automakers Bailout « Jane Q. Republican
- PIÑATA-CAR (AKA Auto Bailout) « FactReal
- The Automotive Bailouts: The Other Side of the Story | Political Byline
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Sister Toldjah
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There’s nothing so sad as people who think that failing industries or bloated unions such as UAW should be “propped up” until their inevitable downfall.
Ever belong to a union? I grew up in a union household where the union my father belonged to got lots of goodies for the union bosses but when my father got hurt on the job and had to apply for disability, they pretended he didn’t exist.
Please reexamine yor attitude. No one on here, or across the country are “excited” about people losing their jobs. Why the fear mongering on your part or that of the auto industry? If it’s a self-supporting and competitive industry, why the need for the “loan?”
Economists have already told Congress that the “loan” will be a pittance to the likes of GM who has more debt than actual revenue. If Detroit and Washington would stop playing on people’s fears and be honest about what this bailout would actually do (or not do) perhaps we wouldn’t be where we are right now.
my biggest fear is the US goverment!!!!
They do not care about any thing execpt what the can steal from the people!
I pay my bills on time evereytime but if I have no money I don’t spend/buy anything, the US goverment is out for its self
When one is worried over the economy, one goes to the polls and votes in a “traditional spender”. Apparently, that’s what a lot of people did. They believed in, (what Goebbels once said, “Tell a lie enough times, and it becomes the truth”), the constant barrage of negativism by the MSM. Expect the early ’30s once again, as we go from a mild recession down into a major depression, because of politician interference, for their own self-interest. It didn’t work back then, and it won’t work today. Of course, once it becomes obvious that they “screwed up”, scapegoats will be found everywhere. Because of the ignorance and apathy of the American people, they will believe the politicians. I still read comments elsewhere that some people still think the Republicans control congress, and the President runs everything. Prediction: If Obama wins again in 2012, expect a movement by congress to repeal the 22nd amendment.
Thank God the Republicans, some of them anyway, finally got their spin back.
It is mind boggling that the union refuses to cut the employee’s wages to reasonable levels, but instead will cause them to lose their jobs. This is nuts. I wonder what the actual employees think of all this. Wouldn’t you be willing to take a pay cut if it meant staying employed??
GM and Chrysler executives will have to grow a pair and figure out a way to do away with the UAW Union for good. Unions were a necessary force in an era of small governement with little oversight, but we have enough oversight now to make certain that GM and Chrysler aren’t employing children and we have state and federal minimum wage requirements as well.
And bluesoc, why should I have to bail out greedy union workers who can’t see the forest for the trees? Their refusal to negotiate is going to cause all of them to LOSE THEIR OWN JOBS!
The US is in the perilous economic situation because of bad risk management practices, i.e. lending money to people who couldn’t pay.
If you had a neighbor who was constantly late on bills and mortgage payments because they mismanage their money, would you lend them money and expect it back? Even more, would you expect them to pay it back w/ a return?
The auto industry hasn’t put forth a satisfactory plan to fix their situation. That’s the main issue. I don’t think people are happy about the lay offs, but Bank of America annouced plans to lay off 35,000 people yesterday and that’s after the government promised $700 billion in funds to their industry! What is $15 billion going to fix in a mis-managed manufacturing company?
You can’t put out a fire by throwing money on it.
B o A’s reduction in workforce by 35000 has more to do with the merger with Merrill Lynch and eliminating redundant positions than it does the bailout. However, I take your point that the current restructuring and layoffs across many sectors is inevitable in a recessed economy.
From the We Are Here, We are Queer, Let’s Dance lobby–ie: Barney Frank
He did not state if the Car Czar would mandate all new cars be purple and pink. They will all have an AIDS awareness ribbon, the radio will be permanently set to NPR and there will be no Right Turn signal.
Studebaker.
Wow. Was he quoting Atlas Shrugged?
To MarcoPolo: I agree with you about not wanting riots. I’m much more for the peaceful protest in DC. However, as one Senator recently put it, people will start rioting when they lose their jobs while watching other, politically connected groups receive tax dollars to keep failing and sit on their ass.
We need a leader to arise from the mess and lead a peaceful revolution. The time just hasn’t come, yet. People won’t listen right now. A lot of us on here are still being derided as the “lunatic fringe” for thinking this bailout mess is going to ruin the country. Our economy and society will have to regress to a much greater state of breakdown and decay before someone can emerge on the kind of message we need: slashing government, eliminating entitlements, standing up for life and liberty…
Gird your loins. Gird your loins, indeed.
In all her years in the Senate, that’s all she can produce???
MD Senators = worthless
looks like cerburus will have to use it’s money for the next month to prop up chrysler, and gm should be bought by the uaw at close of business today so they can show us how to make the program work. 48 months of 72% unemployment for all laid off workers and then they go into a pool to get the next uaw job available. not even the government can print up money enough to cover that.