GOP to America: Drop Dead, or "What's in it for Me?"

My friend swears this story about Donald Trump is absolutely true, and I believe him.

In a Park Avenue office building, Trump gets into an empty elevator alone. Five stories later, the doors open and a woman enters. The doors close and the elevator continues carrying both of them upward.

The woman, a gorgeous 24-year old statuesque blonde, turns to him. "Excuse me," she says. "Are you Donald Trump?"

"Yes."

The woman pushes a button to stop the elevator between floors. "Oh Mr. Trump," she says. "I've been in love with you since I was 13. I want to get down on my knees and give you a blow job right now."

"Yeah," said Trump, "What's in it for me?"

Now here's the absolutely true part. My friend repeated the joke to someone in real estate management who, over the years, had business dealings with Trump. The real estate guy didn't laugh. "Oh," he said, stone faced. "So you know Donald."

Or, as they say today in Kentucky, "So you know Mitch."

By "they" one would mean the workers at the Cadillac plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, or the Ford plant in Louisville, or the Georgetown Toyota plant which uses parts from suppliers shared with the Detroit Three, or anyone else whose livelihood was related to the 50,000 people in Kentucky who, up till now, worked for the auto industry. By "Mitch" one would mean of course, Senate Minority Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, where, aside from Michigan and Ohio, more automobiles are produced than in any other state.

Last September in California, they said, "Oh, so you know Darrell." By Darrell, one would mean Rep. Darrell Issa, whose California district, encompassing Riverside and northern San Diego, has suffered the very worst of the real estate meltdown. After he and his colleagues successfully sabotaged the initial bipartisan negotiations to craft a bailout bill, Issa ran on to Hardball to tell his constituents, underneath all his doubletalk about eliminating mark-to-market accounting standards, f______ you. "You know, in fairness to Hank Paulson, I don't know him well," said Issa, "but I know enough he's not a banker, he's comparatively a day trader."

McConnell, who won't face reelection for six years, and Issa, whose reelection last September was assured, share the same attitudes held by most Republicans on Capitol Hill. They view the economic crisis in terms of, "What's in it for them?" For them it is an opportunity to create failure that can be blamed on the Democrats, and to destabilize a traditional Democratic constituency. And if the collateral damage causes permanent harm to the nation, so be it.

Looking forward to November 2010 or later, voters may not remember how Republicans sabotaged a compromise to facilitate an orderly restructuring of America's auto industry. Nor will they remember that Republicans stalled the Democrats' good faith efforts to negotiate terms of the bailout, or that McConnell's colleague, (almost certainly Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning), delayed efforts to implement oversight on the bailout after its delayed approval. Since they only think about what's in it for them, the suffering of ordinary Americans and collateral damage to the country gets lost on the shuffle. Look at how McConnell and his colleagues dealt with the Iraq war for the past six years. Do you really think they acted out of empathy for the families of American soldiers who were sent out on their third and fourth rotations?

Let's be clear, the Republican senators' moves against the Detroit bailout is not about $15 billion, which is a rounding error in the context of the Iraq surge or the financial bailout. The distinguishing Republican characteristic, which we saw during the initial financial bailout negotiations, is the last-minute monkey wrench designed to stymie negotiations that lead to compromise.

Put another way, their reaction to major problems is lifted from the Bush/Cheney playbook. Give lip service to the media, then stall, stall, stall. This was Bush's consistent approach to Katrina from the days before the hurricane made land fall, right up until today. Before Katrina, Louisiana was a purple state. After 300,000 African Americans were displaced elsewhere, it moved into the solid red column. If you look at the administration's actions, and inactions, instead of its words, the intentions are unmistakable.

But then, what else do Republicans have going for them?

Comments

[mdlw]

The Bush administration has deceived the American people. In the last hour, Paulson asked for a $700B bailout and wanted Congress to vote quickly...but, some in Congress hesitated after receiving tons of calls, letters and emails to vote no. During the press conferences held by Pelosi and other Democrats, you could almost see the fear in their faces, Well, the bailout was vote in...to buy up the toxic assets. Instead, Paulson took the money and gave it to the banks...banks froze and lending stopped. No lending....no sales....companies folding, jobs lost. To understand the motives of the religious right, please check out the articles about Palin at the site Talk2Action org which could explain what this country is facing at this time. It mentions taking the wealth from the wealthy, calling it "wealth transfer" and so much more I could not explain it all. I heard one say they would stop banking. I know that sounds far fetched...and unAmerican....but it is all there.

[Clavis]

I don't want my tax dollars to go to subsidize the pay of union workers in American auto plants!

I want my tax dollars to go to subsidize the corporate-welfare-enabled non-union workers in Japanese auto plants!

[enochsmoky]

The negotiations failed because a Republican administration let it be known that $15 billion of the $700 billion bank bailout money will be made available to the automakers as a bridge loan. This took the pressure off the UAW to make any meaningful concessions. The pension and health benefit packages of the retirees is the big stumbling block. The UAW has not even given up the absurd Jobs Bank for sure yet. As a taxpayer I am glad that someone is trying to broker a deal that can work for everyone. Remember, the UAW just spent $400 million trying to defeat the Republicans. We are not going to be able to bailout everyone even though the Democrats will tell you so.

[research]

You are Wrong. High wages are good for the economy.

Wages TWICE the going wage MADE the American auto industry.

There WOULD BE NO AUTO INDUSTRY WITHOUT HIGH WORKER WAGES.

Look it up.

Ford paid twice the going rate, to the anger of all his robber barons friends.

Ford did this, so they could afford the cars they were making.

[Clavis]

You're right, unions are the problem.

After all, look at all the Wall Street firms that needed a TRILLION dollars in bailout money -- everybody knows that the biggest union in the country is the United Stockbrokers Union, right?

Will you Republicans please shut up with your "every problem can be blamed on the UN, unions and brown/poor people"?!?

[Donegal]

Great column! As Karl Rove recently said (and this, by the way, is the first time I've ever quoted him), "It's Herbert Hoover time" for the GOP. They have "what's in it for me"-ed their way to oblivion, at least for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, they want to drag the rest of us there with them.

[getouttheINFORMEDvote]

Has anyone calculated how much it will cost the government to pay unemployment benefits and then welfare (because millions of new jobs won't have magically appeared by the time unemployment benefits run out) to the one out of seven workers who will lose their jobs if the auto industry goes down?

To get closer to the actual cost to the government (ultimately the taxpayers) if the auto industry goes down we need to add in the billions in health care costs that up to now the auto companies have been providing. Good jobs in the U.S. with living wages, health insurance, and retirement plans save our government billions in social services that they would otherwise need to provide. Oh, and that tax revenue that funds the government, that's based on income (i.e. it rises and falls based on the amount of income Americans have), but that's probably just a minor accounting detail.

Let's not forget that these "high-paying" union jobs provide workers with the money to become homeowners, send their kids to college, and participate in the consumerism that will be the only thing left to drive our economy if we lose the rest of our manufacturing sector.

[JayDDrew]

This is exactly what we are talking about and what Republican politicians are choosing to ignore. The direct loss of jobs is just the tip of the economic iceberg. This country cannot afford not to bail out the Big Three. Letting even one of the Big Three fail would be like taking a baseball bat to the head of the US economy that already has a severe concussion. But Hank "Lurch" Paulson was more than ready to bail out his Wall Street buddies. He basically gave America a three page ransom note asking for three-quarters of a trillion dollars, no questions asked. It was to be the last great transfer of wealth upwards to the well-off as trickle-down economics finally bites the dust.

[Troubleshooter47421]

It's time for common sense to be had by all parties in whatever bailout bill gets passed. Everybody takes a pay cut from the biggest dog on down. No hidden bonuses, no additional perks. UAW workers don't need to make the kind of money they make.... and I'm a guy who was a union worker for the last 30 years until I lost my job saying this. By the same token CEOs with failing companies sure don't need private jets or the salaries and bonuses they get, either. Someone needs to start doing the bean counting from one end of the budget to the other and find cuts for all, but fair cuts that don't pander to the white collar side of the street. It's no shock the blue collar side is balking; they know that its going to be a case of them losing income while the other side doesn't... or maybe start making more money as a result of successfully getting the union workers wages down.

No, this stuff ain't gonna happen, I know.

[aofh]

Sounds to me like the real reason we invaded Iraq. The invasion--given the sanctions and Iraq's military weakness success was assumed--was supposed to ensure Republican political dominance for 100 years.

[Ron1951]

The article sums things up well. The republican party is bankrupt in the Vision department. All they can do is polarize, be partisan, and be negative.

The sad thing is that these people do not recognize that this is what the RNC and his handlers did with John McCain, and it did not come close. If it hadn't been the economy, it would have been something else. Like our roads and bridges in America, our country is falling apart and all the republicans have is negativity.

But David Fiderer is saying it better than I can.

[LiberalBuzz]

The worst part about all of this?

The dems are letting them get away with it.

The Dems could just as easily vote to get rid of the filibuster JUST LIKE the thugs threatened to do and as a result the dems caved even further than they already had.

Get rid of the filibuster and make the Thug party irrelevant as quickly as possible.

[research]

It's bad, but not the worst. The Dems are half weak. The GOP are evil.

Ending the filibuster is absolutely necessary, but will do no good until Obama is sworn in.

Bush and the GOP are working together.

The same 60 votes are need to overcome a veto as to overcome a filibuster.

[andyg]

So why aren't people talking about the $80 million the union gave to dems.

[LiberalBuzz]

Who cares?

It has NOTHING to do with what is going on.

Just more attempts at diversion.

The GOP is working overtime to destroy the unions and the middle class of America and if that means taking down the country to do it....? They could care less.

And you tro lls are worried about a measly 80 million which by the way you have no link to?

L O S E R

[research]

because of the 5 trillion we gave the bankers?????

[JayDDrew]

One correction: Louisiana was not a purple state. The people of Louisiana would vote Democrat as long as it was an established Louisiana family. The vote for Blanco over Jindal 5 years ago had to do with Jindal's skin color, not that he was a Republican. But enogh blacks did leave to let Jindal get elected this time around.
No, Louisiana votes ignorance and skin color. They are ignorant in that they believe, like Joe the plumber, Obama is going to increase their taxes. And, no, the vast majority of Louisianans do not make over 250 grand.
Secondly, many just could not be convinced Obama was not Muslim and/or was not a US citizen. Those were convenient, though ridiculous, arguments to not vote for him based on political party and/or skin color.
Overall, your argument is absolutely right. The Republican politicians would rather sink the ship than give Democrats credit for righting the ship. The current situation we're end is because of Republican ule and Democratic spinelessness. Maybe two more years under water will swing a few more independents and Republicans to the left to make things easier in Washington for the Dems to do what needs to be done.

[luziannagirl]

"as if collateral damage causes permanent harm to the nation, so be it".

That pretty much sums it how Republicans feel about this country and its people.

You all thought Kanye West was talking about someone else when he said "George Bush hates black people", didn't you? He wasn't.

Join the 9th Ward, America.

George Bush does not care about YOU.

And neither do the Republicans..

[BethStuart]

It's surprising to see republicans not only playing politics on this but actually working against their own best interests. They have only to look at the lessons of the Hoover administration to know how the voters treat politicians who turn recessions into depressions.

[research]

BOW BEFORE ME WORKER!

Acknowledge my POWER!

We, the GOP Bankers, Have Trillions given to us!

We have it ALL.

Beg for you pay, Worker!

[KitChandler]

Because of the fragility and volatility of the markets at this time, letting the automobile industry fail "AT THIS TIME" would be like screaming 'FIRE" in a theater.

Yes, hold their feet to the "FIRE" but not at this very moment. And yes, remember the sanctimonious Republicans who desereve to be trampled when we break for the door.

[JayDDrew]

Did you, by any chance, catch the Republican memo the head of the UAW read aloud yesterday? Clearly, the Republicans want the companies to fail (1) so they can break the largest union and (2) because many of them have foreign auto companies in their states. They've given land and tax breaks to the tune of nearly a billion dollars to Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc. to build plants down south. I really thought Senator Shelby was being reasonably hesitant to go with the bailout. Turns out, he's got Japanese factories in his state and would LOVE to see the competition up north go away.
Sure the Big Three still have some catching up to do in quality, but it's not the guy on the line who designs the car, he just puts the pieces together. Upper level management gave us Hummers while Toyota was building Priuses. We can't punish the 95% of the little guys. Like the Congress says, give us a plan and change the top management.