Citizen Power

The Republicans in Washington are up to their old dirty tricks already, and Obama hasn’t even taken office yet.

I can’t be surprised, but I can be disgusted. When the automakers started asking for their loans/bailouts, the Republicans were out in front saying they needed them or the entire system might collapse. Suddenly, almost overnight, they changed their tune. It seems that Karl Rove is leading the charge (complete with talking points) on directing where the new Republican-minority Congress will go. This is an ominous sign, because everyone knows how unscrupulous Karl Rove is, and how damaging he has been to this country in general over the last eight years. It also means that George Bush will be leaving office next year, but his “brains” (Rove) will remain very much involved in trying to destroy every good thing the Democrats try to do while Obama is president.

Last week, MSNBC’s show “Countdown” obtained a memo of Republican talking points that clearly directs the Republican members of Congress to not support the auto makers loan. The memo was titled, “Action Alert — Auto Bailout,” and sent to Senate Republicans. The name of the sender was crossed out of the copy that Countdown received, but most speculation on the sender pointed to Karl Rove. The memo clearly describes the strategy and approach the GOP Congress should take in dealing with legislation, thereby politicizing the process. (Remember that the next time you hear a Republican say they want to “change the tone” to bipartisanship in Washington! The truth is, they don’t want to do that at all. Republicans politicize everything and anything.)

The memo said the following:

” From:

Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:12 AM

To:

Subject: Action Alert — Auto Bailout

Today at noon, Senators Ensign, Shelby, Coburn and DeMint will hold a press conference in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery. They would appreciate our support through messaging and attending the press conference, if possible. The message they want us to deliver is:

1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.

2. This rush to judgment is the same thing that happened with the TARP. Members did not have an opportunity to read or digest the legislation and therefore could not understand the consequences of it. We should not rush to pass this because Detroit says the sky is falling.

The sooner you can have press releases and documents like this in the hands of members and the press, the better. Please contact me if you need additional information. Again, the hardest thing for the democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans, we can beat this. “

This means, if it came from Karl Rove, that it reflected what George W. Bush himself wanted. Why wouldn’t George Bush want an auto bailout? Because of the restrictions the Democrats wanted to put on the auto makers. The Democrats wanted to add restructuring, regulations and emissions standards for the auto makers, and other very sensible requirements that would have actually helped the auto industry in the long run.

The other thing Republicans hate is unions.  They feel that unions harm business so they want to spread all kinds of lies about unions and what they demand.  If it weren’t for unions, auto workers would probably make minimum wage.

Bush wants to step in himself and give auto makers the loan, or crunch the numbers to offer them an easy, friendly Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That would mean no tough regulations and no emissions standards, cheaper labor and no concessions to unions, and nothing that would help the auto makers adjust to changing times. Bush in fact is hurting the auto industry by going this route, and Karl Rove is again doing his dirty work for him. Bush has always been against environmental protections, and this is one of his last, damaging acts in that regard.

This also means that Karl Rove is going to be in our face, even if behind the scenes, for the next four years. He will continue to harm the country as long as he can, apparently.