The Whipping Post

Yesterday in response to the Republican Senators rejection of the Auto Industry Emergency Bail Out Bill, General Motors Corp. said Friday it will temporarily close 20 factories across North America and make sweeping cuts to its vehicle production as it tries to adjust to dramatically weaker automobile demand.

GM said it will cut 250,000 vehicles from its production schedule for the first quarter of 2009, which includes a cut of 60,000 vehicles announced last week. Normal production would be around 750,000 cars and trucks for the quarter, spokesman Tony Sapienza said.

Many plants will be shut down for the whole month of January, he said, and all told, the factories will be closed for 30 percent of the quarter.

"We're adjusting pretty dramatically," spokesman Chris Lee said.

The move affects most of GM's plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. During the shutdowns, employees will be temporarily laid off and receive a portion of their normal pay from the company. They can also apply for state unemployment benefits, Lee said.

In effect, Detroit has been tied to the whipping post while the Republican Senators take their parting shot across the bow of the new administration. The reasons I have heard in the last few weeks for Republican opposition range from the alleged $70/hr the UAW workers recieve to the allegedly robust economy of the New Industrial South.

In effect is the old "us against them" strategy of the Republicans. The balkanization of America for pure political manipulative gains. They saw this as a "2 fer". A chance to shoot a parting shot over the bow of the new administration and to bust the Unions, one of the long time goals of the party.
The utter economic destruction and chaos which will ensue if the Auto Companies are allowed to go bust will deliver a crushing body blow to the economy. The purely political motives are made pretty clear in a memo the was circulated the night before the vote. It was leaked to the LA Times:

The Los Angeles Times reported that it was circulated among Senate Republicans. The brief memo outlines internal political strategy on the bailout, including the view that defeating the bailout represents a "first shot against organized labor." Senate Republicans blocked passage of the bailout late Thursday night, over its insistence on an immediate union pay cut.

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.

Well, the boys stuck together, like a gang of unruly jerks who have been thrown out of a party, they decide the best way to get revenge is to burn the damn house down....

The video is from Zappa and the Mothers playing in NYC at Pier 81 in 1980. They are covering the Allman Brothers Song "The Whipping Post". I was at this concert and it was the last time I saw Frank play live! The concert is available as a video entitled "Does Humor Belong In Music?" Sure........