Meet The GOP's Wrecking Crew
By Susie Madrak Saturday Dec 13, 2008 9:00amA little more background on the Senate Republicans who sandbagged the auto industry bailout - and why:
The fiercest opposition to the loan proposal -- and nearly a third of the 35 votes against ending debate on the deal -- came from Southern Republicans, and the ringleaders of the opposition all come from states with a major foreign auto presence. Not coincidentally, nearly all of those states -- except Kentucky -- are also "right-to-work" states, which means no union contracts for most of the employees at the foreign plants. The Detroit bailout fell victim to a nasty confluence of home-state economic interests and anti-union sentiment among Republicans.
This week Southern Republicans had a chance to go to bat for foreign automakers while simultaneously busting a union. At a hearing last week, Corker explained that his constituents "have a tough time thinking about us loaning money to companies that are paying way, way above industry standard to workers." Which may explain why his proposed alternative to the loan agreement between Congress and the White House would have required the United Auto Workers to agree to significant wage cuts next year, based on a spurious claim that union workers earn significantly more than non-union workers.
Even George W. Bush's White House didn't push to crush the UAW the way Corker and his buddies did, say Democrats involved in the negotiations with the administration. "It was all about the unions," one senior Democratic aide said. "This is political payback for lots of things, and probably even more to come." Labor officials expect Republicans to keep taking shots at unions whenever they can. "This cynical stance they took last night -- they're willing to jeopardize 3 million jobs so they could gain some advantage in their war against unions -- is appalling," said Bill Samuel, the chief lobbyist for the AFL-CIO.
As the Republican Party consolidates in the South, the fight this week could turn out to be a preview of many battles to come over Barack Obama's economic plans. If those plans involve the domestic auto industry, the GOP pushback will come from somewhere down I-65, the new auto corridor that runs from Kentucky south to Alabama. Expect to hear more not just from the very vocal Bob Corker, but from the rest of a core group of Southern senators whose bread is buttered by the Japanese, Germans and Koreans.
Go read the rest. You'll want to know the players in the years ahead.
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Frist!
http://www.boycottalabamanow.com/
Boycott Confederate Senator Shelby's home state.
Stick it to these BuyBull thumpin' rednecks!
I don't get this mentality running so rampant. Big 3 American, others not. That is a pure lie. It's been proven. So these southern senators are pure evil for what exactly? If the reason they voted no is because of their industries, isn't that what they are supposed to do? Represent their citizens? Don't the other auto manufacturers with factories in the US provide jobs to Americans? Why are they evil? They are actually doing their jobs, just as any other elected rep is supposed to do. Look after their constituents.
Is it because the evil GOP senators are paid/bribed by those evil foreign automakers? Are the Dems from Michigan not paid/bribed by the Big 3?
is expected.
Working to put others out of a job is BS.
Union busting is the deal here.
are virtually bankrupt. Perhaps the union should go to the southern states and try to get them to join. 3 bankrupt companies employ no unionized workers. Throwing billions at bankrupt companies doesn't make a difference in the world.
Most foreign auto workers make union scale - some make more with incentives - hard to get people to buy a cow, when they're getting the milk for free.
The Big Three have millions of retirees, with pensions and health benefits. After bankruptcy, the US taxpayers will be paying that bill.
Throwing billions at bankrupt companies does make a difference - more money down the drain.
I stand with the republicans on this one. The big three deserve to fail. If the can present plans to transform themselves into environmentally and economically pertinent industries, they should get some help. But having lost hundreds of billions between them in the last decade they don't deserve to be propped up.
How many people know that the big 3 already got $25b the week before TARP?
Look at Bloomberg today: Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion
because you probably are one. They have gotten nothing that 25 billion was never allocated, get your facts straight. The 14 billion was suppose to come from that 25 billion, but the assholes you approve of blocked it.
health care, it is subsidized by Japan, so is their Research and Development. GM and the American industry pay their own, that is why Toyota has more money, because Japan supports their industry, something this country does not. If we have many people like you soon the only thing we will produce are Burger King Hamburgers. If we have another war maybe we can throw Hamburgers.
american taxpayers have given a'plenty to southern states auto industries...
"Foreign Auto Plants Have Received $3.6 Billion in Subsidies, Mostly From Southern States"
"As elected officials debate aid for the Big 3, taxpayers have the right to know the full extent of government involvement in America's auto industry," said Greg LeRoy, GJF's executive director. "And while proposed federal aid to the Big 3 would take the form of a loan, the vast majority of subsidies to foreign auto plants were taxpayer gifts such as property and sales tax exemptions, income tax credits, infrastructure aid, land discounts, and training grants," he said.
Honda, Marysville OH, 1980, $27 million*
Nissan, Smyrna, TN, 1980, $233 million
Toyota, Georgetown, KY, 1985, $147 million
Honda, Anna, OH, 1985, $27 million
Subaru, Lafayette, IN, 1986, $94 million
Honda, East Liberty, OH, 1987, $27 million
BMW, Spartanburg, SC, 1992, $150 million
Mercedes-Benz, Vance, AL, 1993, $258 million
Toyota, Princeton, IN, 1995, $30 million
Nissan, Decherd, TN, 1995, $200 million
Toyota, Buffalo, WV, 1996, more than $15 million
Honda, Lincoln, AL, 1999, $248 million
Nissan, Canton, MS, 2000, $295 million
Toyota, Huntsville, AL, 2001, $30 million
Hyundai, Montgomery, AL, 2002, $252 million
Toyota, San Antonio, TX, 2003, $133 million
Kia, West Point, GA, 2006, $400 million
Honda, Greensburg, IN, 2006, $141 million
Toyota, Blue Springs, MS, 2007, $300 million
Volkswagen, Chattanooga, TN, 2008, $577 million
Total: more than $3.58 billion
These data, drawn primarily from contemporary media accounts, are very conservative. They do not account for inflation; some would be worth far more in today's dollars. They do not include any estimate of subsidies granted to hundreds of foreign-owned auto supply companies that have located in the same areas, virtually all of which were also heavily subsidized. Finally, they do not reflect later news accounts, which often place higher subsidy values.
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=951236...
Where's my American Flag pin?
The flag pin production line is backed up in China. Hopefully you'll get it sometime this month.
that would be fine if we lived in the United States of Alabama,
but these tools will be first in line the next time a hurricane
destroys their homes or casinos seeking government assistance. Such
hypocrisy, we should all jump in and bail them out because they
build their homes on beaches, but they can't help fellow Americans
retain their jobs?
By the way, are you just a concern troll? I'm mystified at your
outrage that we Americans, who will experience the brunt of this, are seeking to save good jobs for fellow citizens. Why do you care? Do you work for Hyundai or Toyota or are you just being jerky? Your
concern rings hollow and hypocritical. Oh, yeah, you're the guy that's going to "hold our feet to the fire," for voting for Obama.
He's a what you that belong to unions would call a scab.
I've heard scuttlebutt that Richard Shelby comes from an area where the main employer is Toyota.
The thing is if the US auto industry collapses, it will negatively influence us all, even Alabamians. These republicans are too idiotic to understand any cause-effect relationship that is beyond first order.
you are being a horses rear, go back to your Republican hole. I think you know exactly what is happening and nodding in approval.
sen corker is an ideological chicken. a pastry puff. marshmallow fluff.
corker says his constituents "have a tough time thinking about us loaning money to companies that are paying way, way above industry standard to workers."
would the real corker stand up please? when it came to the wall street blackmail bill corker supported it. and he said: "What I saw happening – certainly we had excesses on Wall Street, and certainly we had people borrow money who should have never borrowed money. But what I saw happening was the seizing, just the stopping of the functioning of our credit markets. So at the end of the day, I supported the bill."
so excesses for the rich are ok. but, god forbid paying people a living wage.
today's GOP: the working man must take a pay cut to support the failed system skewed to favor the rich
Maybe if we had a better health care system in place in this country, union workers wouldn't need so many trifles like health benefits.
Surprise...surprise...surprise Congress...
Even the wealthiest corporations can't afford or manage health care costs
Or at least it cuts into their CEO's pay.
Although healthcare costs are a major issue, why is it a car manufactured in Canada at a GM plant is and always has been, cheaper to buy in the US? Even when the Canadian dollar was worth more. And why are all these auto manufacturers worldwide having the same problems, even in nations that have socialized healthcare?
There is an economic collapse, with millions unemployed - and financing has disappeared.
MFN statuts, economic regionalism like NAFTA, excessive tariffs and protectionism on others.
And more efficiently delivered health actually cheapens the cost of the benefit, so it doesn't add up to so much on the final cost of manufacturing.
canuck you really do NOT understand the difference. wow......
This piece needs to be discussed on EVERY network...even the propaganda network. THIS needs to be our mantra..."a core group of Southern senators whose bread is buttered by the Japanese, Germans and Koreans...they're willing to jeopardize 3 million jobs so they could gain some advantage in their war against unions..."
This simple message needs to be echoing across this country, loud and clear. Whether it makes a difference today or not is questionable, but it WILL make a difference when 2010 rolls around and more of these political thugs are up for re-election.
They certainly have played their bull shit cards of "unpatriotic", "support the troops" bullshit over and over again. Now it's time to use truth to make our points.
They need to be called out of the shadows and we need to shine light on these thugs.
How do corporate execs earning millions/annum & Congressmen earning $170K/annum (more if you count those invisible paycheck benefits, like pensions and healthcare privileges, using the same calculus critics of UAW workers use when they say the workers earn $70/hour) ethically justify telling a person earning $50K/annum that he makes too much money?
Where is our outrage? These people make pornographic amounts of money. Meanwhile, we sit idle while they increasingly enlarge the number of poor and struggling people in this country, siphoning off those people's wages and taxes to the already-super rich. Do we do nothing because we think that high-compensation execs & politicians deserve their riches because they have great talent or great minds? Because we don't want to rock the boat in case we ever earn huge wages?
Wake up, America. There is an invisible caste system in this country that belies the myth that every American will make it big if he just works hard enough and sets his mind to it.
if this "loan" doesn't happen the unemployment numbers could soar. in addition to that, the number of retired automaker employees living on pensions/healthcare could also put a real burden on regional/federal
government agencies. during the presidential campaign there was so much chatter that it would make NO
sense to "raise" taxes on the top 5% because of ther current economic climate. well, does it make sense to
NOT help a potential large number of people become unemployed. this move by the southern republicans
could put us in a deeper "L" shape recession.
Do you people suppose a company is going to last that admits it can't even make it's payroll? That's GM. Gonna borrow the money to pay it's workers. Nice. So, what about next month's payroll? Sales in January are that huge? If this was Walmart begging for a bailout, would you be screaming this loud and calling those that disagree "scabs"? Why not, evil Walmart provides thousands of jobs? GM, Chrysler and Ford all had very profitable years, just like Walmart.
Paying poverty wages and little or no health benefits?
It's worse. As of a few years ago, Walmart had special classes for employees on how to apply for state run health programs that are paid for on taxpayer's expense.
Sort of a backdoor subsidy, eh?
Oh, hell; I said "backdoor" in the presence of ysbad!
Your safe unless Mick is a nickname for Michelle and you gotta a strap-on.
Let 'em die and take all the support manufacturers with them: Delco, Autolite etc etc.
Lets put a couple million support workers out of a job, while Honda, Toyota and VW get subsidized out the wazoo; see Samson's excellent comment above.
Great idea.
so seriously full of crap. You really don't know where you
stand, do you?
If you hate the U.S. and all of us that live here so much,
why the fuck do you come here????
You obviously know how to do everything better than fucking
everyone. Why not run for office and show your stuff. You offer
nothing except criticism and bitterness. What is your problem?
I forgot to add:
/snark
I thought that my comment was stupid enough to be unmistakably snarky.
I'm actually saying that it's a really bad idea.
Mick Piobr IAFF Retired
Wal Mart is scared to death of Obama because of the unions. Wal Mart doesn't want unions. They keep wages low, they blackmail the companies that stock products in their stores to keep them low and lower. Their health care insurance is high and really bad. I hope that Wal Mart will get a union sooner rather than later. They are scared shitless.
I think Union busting, although desirable by these traitors in Congress, may be the unspoken purpose, I think it's also a blind. They just don't want a return of a proper regulatory regime, or insistance from Congress that a bailed out Big Three start building cars that can compete internationally. That would be micromanaging business, which is "bad."
These idiot republicans have no sense of history. Do they realize where labor would be in this country if unions had never formed? Unions are perhaps one of the greatest formers of a middle class. I'm sure they credit it all to capitalists though. So short sighted. I can't stand these people. The most horrible thing is that when you talk to these types, you can destroy there point of view logically here to Sunday and they'll just smile at you like you're nuts.
is another man's ideologue.
no doubt it is shortsighted, as the rise of the middle class is the only thing that has spared the ruling class from a swift kick in the teeth.
but logic doesn't appeal to the ruling class. they make their own reality.
they DO realize where labor would be: under their boots. and that is exactly where they want them. but, like unfettered capitalism, the movement to destroy collective bargaining will prove to be its own worst enemy if successful.
Great points. The US, I believe, has done well in spite of its leadership, not because of it. If it wasn't for the countless people trying to do their best within an illogical system set up by these people, the whole thing would fall like a house of cards.
The basic idea of these folks is that labor is worth the bare minimum you can get away paying them (ideally subsistence wage). This is logical according to the market and profit-maximization but is idiotic based upon most other ways of looking at the world.
Speaking as a Texan, I suspect the average Southerner is smarter than many think. The problem is, intelligence is looked down upon, learned discourse is "chatter," and the bottom line counts for more than "Ivory-towered" thinking, which however, keeps the profits coming when the market place changes.
Can't say I care much for NASCAR or Good Ol' Opry.
I edited my post that the above responded to because I became ashamed of writing what I did.
I'm sure the average intelligence is the same across the US. What you do with it is quite different. Also, the expectations people have of their children have a large effect in terms of how far they excel. Honestly, the public high school I went to in WV was so bad it was borderline child abuse having to go there!
If it's anything like Texas it's paid for by property taxes. The better pay you receive, the better home you buy, and the better education your chillen's get. But that creates a semi-permanent under-class, in a society that's supposed to be classless.
I know I scratch my ass in public.
Case in point, a good friend described to me his public school in the suburbs of Boston. I was amazed and jealous. There it was actually cool to be smart.
Another big problem is that communities tend to equate the quality of education with how nice the buildings on campus look. My alma mater is made out of solid granite and has stood for over 50 years. When they try to reform the system it is usually an attempt to pass a bond to build another school, one probably made out of cheap sheet metal. The real capital in schools are the teachers, students, parents, education resources, and the interplay among all these factors. The building, as long as it is safe, is inconsequential.
Alot of schools are paid for by state taxes as well as the bonds you spoke of. But that only works in areas that are still economically viable, unlike the South of the 1930's where agriculture was collapsing, or the Rust Belt of today.
That's where we're touching on the subject of the thread again. Maintaining CEO and corporate profits at the expense of workers ripple out and touch other areas like education and crime. Crime increasing the state's police costs as well as incarceration. And in incarceration huge amounts of tax dollars are spent on people who might be lost causes, and will never contribute a dime to society.
But then the fat cats will sit back in their over-stuffed chairs, cluck their tongues, shake their jowels, and light expensive cigars thinking that all we need is religion to make us do right.
Meanwhile the janitor or cleaning lady is sweeping up the cigar ashes, and actually does more work per hour for far less pay than the CEO or the bulk of the executives.
While I can buy part of your "arguement", if "intelligence is looked down on," people can't be too intelligent to begin with. Or else they are blinded by their own pride. Both scenarios-- not good.
Uneducated people can be blinded by pride as well.
And it's generally considered that Democracy can only flourish with a well-educated middle class, and we're losing both.
Uneducated people can be blinded by pride as well.
Yes, I know: that was my point. Pride is one of the deadly sins. Look at Blago. Look at some of those Xians: the ones from "real America." Look at all of them.
I had a common-law (gay thing) mother-in-law that nursed her ignorance along. She thought I was high falutin for using fancy words like "pasta". (It's macaroni stupid!!) I didn't bother to tell her it was actually linguine. Just had a glass of wine and hoped she would go home soon.
(She used to visit for 6 weeks at a strecth and play the "I am your mother" card on my partner. Oh joy.)
As far as unions, I see how they also are given to their own excesses sometimes. The excesses of capitalists go with out saying. I suppose if these two forces were in balance, we would be okay. It seems though that the demands of each side often 'look past each other' so that some sort of near optimal solution isn't found. If both sides saw the actual worth of the other: laborers in actually doing the work and capitalists in organizing things, supplying the seed money, etc. we would be better off. The antagonism is so deep though.
During the 1970's some Union bosses tried to get members to sign off on wage/costs escalaters which would mean automatic increases in pay by a certain percentage when times are good (which CEO's hated), and automatic decreases in pay by a certain percentage when times are bad (which was hated by the Union members). The Union members never signed off on the deal.
According to NYT article linked here, the average UAW member and employee of the big 3 makes 83,200 dollars a year before taxes. That's what 40 dollars an hour adds up to. And that doesn't include benefits?
So, the inflated claims of $73 an hour are false, but a union worker still makes a lot of money. A lot more than I make and I have a masters degree. And I can tell you, I can't afford to buy a new car, even a shitty American one.
Before I got laid off 2 weeks ago, I made 65k a year. More money than I ever thought I'd make, and I feel like I'm still not in the middle class. I don't own a home, I'm bogged down with student loans and I pretty much break even on every paycheck. Now I don't have a job and have no idea how I'm going to meet my obligations.
I don't begrudge anyone a living wage, but I think there's something fundamentally wrong with a society that requires 82 grand just to be middle class. That's the real issue. Are UAW workers overpaid for their education level? Hell yes. But how much does the CEO of GM make? That's the real crime.
I just don't know, but I can understand the average persons frustration in today's day and age when a person with a high school education makes 82 grand a year while the rest of us are suffering layoffs and possible financial ruin.
I say, bail the effers out, but put a cap on union ages for the time being and make sure the CEOs pay is in line with reality. The rest of us need a bailout too.
What about a rapper, athlete or actor who makes waaaay more than the US president?
but, if you are correct and it is true that the average person is frustrated "when a person with a high school education makes 82 grand a year," that frustration is misplaced, shortsighted and insulting.
the problem is NOT that average workers are making--as some claim--too much money. the problem is that, as a whole, everyone is underpaid. hence our reliance on credit. we have sat idly by as wealth has flowed to the upper echelon of society, and it looks like we are fighting over the scraps, instead of directing out frustration at those that make us live on scraps
as a side note, educational attainment is also a dubious way to assess what one should make. consider: bush graduated from yale.
I agree with you about credit in general. But one could effectually use the argument that people should live within their means. The only problem is if we all did so, the corporations wouldn't get their record setting profits, and their CEO's their record-setting pay, the GDP would suffer as a result, and our currency is based on the GDP, not hard metal or anything of tangible worth.
Here is exactly why we are in the boat we are in. Even someone who claims to be sympathetic to the workers cause is crying "Are UAW workers overpaid for their education level? Hell yes."
How about this for a solution. Band together with others in your industry, and demand better wages. I'm sick and fucking tired of "I'm better than they are, They should make less than me".
Let me tell you something, my wife and I are both college educated and pretty much in the same boat as you. EXCEPT that neither one of us even dreamed of making 65k a year. But I won't hold it against you. Like you hold it against the UAW.
I'm opting out of the West's measuring everything by money. Perhaps it's a by-product of living in Asia for 12 years. (We look so bloody stupid, once you step outside.) I am not my job, or the size of my house, or the number of baubles I own.
I have often thought, if only I'd have taken a Government of Ontario job when I was 18, I'd have retired at age 43 with a fully indexed pension-for-life (25 yerars of service.) Now I'm 48 and haven't a pot to piss in. But, I will say, my life has been 1,000X more interesting than any government zombie I've met. Yes, I have my degree too. Yes, I've worked for corporate America. Yes, I opted out. My next step is to move to Europe this summer.
You know, whatever. Quality of life means way more to me. Of course, I am single and childless, and debt free too. Not all of you can say that, I know. But try not to measure everything by money. I know that's how we judge people. I was home in Canada this summer, and all I heard was "blah, blah, blah, new house, blah, new car, blah blah, great job, blah, blah, blah." Nothing real. Dead boring.
Everyone was talkling, but no one said a thing.
afford a "shitty" American car is because of your "SHITTY" attitude. Maybe if you would adjust your attitude you would get a better job.
the large/rapid unemployment#'s could/will have far reaching effects. there will be even more foreclosure(s).
which has many negative implications one being LESS property tax collection for public services. which are getting stretched by unemployed/under- employed. property tax is also used for public schools. this is a tough decision but it seems to me pay me now or pay me later.
That's right, it's already happening. Meanwhile we're sending money out to business run charter schools or to home schoolers like jonas goldbooger, thus siphoning off what's left.
It's a loan, not a bailout. The Republicans (and Dems) 700B bailout of the FS industry was a bailout. We (the taxpayer) ain't getting that money back in any shape, form or fashion. Just like we ain't getting one dime of the Republican's half trillion dollar and counting "investment" in Iraq. The morally compromised, crooked, hypocritical, fiscally reckless Rethuglicans just can't run America off the cliff fast enough while claiming how much they love God and country as they waive a flag and beat a bible.
What do you mean, 'meet them'? We've been living with this gang since Reagan fired the air traffic controllers.
Maybe this is their new immigration stategy? Republican Senators bringing American workers wages down so Mexican workers don't want to come here?
poor and ignorant, that way they can control them.
It's always been the plan.
OK, if Bush spent $5 trillion, how many of you saw any piece of that? Where did it go? Not in your wages. From what I gather, education sucks, infrastructure sucks, no health care, SS bankrupt, etc., so not on government services. So where did it go?
The $700 billion, annually, going out for oil, you and industry paid at the pumps.
There has always been an unspoken "war on wages". Only maximum profits matter, and tons of money for the few.
Once the big three go under, poof there go the stock cars.
What are millions of rednecks gonna do over the weekend?
Best post yet!!!
Cock fighting.
Not me though, I have better uses for mine.
chained by the leg to small v-shaped wood tents in these states, you would realize they already do this plus dog fighting.
Yep you are a redneck. You only think with that little brain between your legs.
You wanna see these DixieRepubs go ballistics? Just wait till the "Union Cardcheck" legislation surfaces again. And woe to any Democratic Senator who breaks ranks on it. Because you better bet this is gonna be the mother of all labor related battles.
Can you please tell me what the "Union Cardcheck" legislation is? I heard of it but didn't know what it is about.
Doesn't this make Shelby and his ilk traitors? Are they not supporting the folks that brought us Pearl Harbor? Shouldn't they be investigated? Maybe Fox will produce a documentary....
traitors, and they are the sleaziest kind.
Saw in the news today that workers in a large meat-packing plant in North Carolina voted to join the United Food Workers Union. The biggest union victory of this sort in years., And in North Carolina too!
The workers at the plant are 40% Black, double what they were two years ago when the union lost. Why the increase? The effects of crackdowns on illegal immigrants.
"Corker explained that his constituents 'have a tough time thinking about us loaning money to companies that are paying way, way above industry standard to workers.'"
Has it occurred to Sen. Corker that the companies in his state may be paying way, way BELOW industry standard to their workers? He should be trying to get more for his own people, not trying to see that people in other states get less.
You don't make yourself taller by cutting off another person's legs.
cracker redneck and he needs some slaves.
He barely beat Harold Ford Jr. after a super-sleazy ad campaign that suggested Harold liked to bang slutty white women. Plus, there was some weird hushed-up problem with the voting machines in Nashville... probably the only reason Ford did not contest the election was that half of Ford's family was facing indictment for various corruption scandals.
(Tennesse is as corrupt as Illinois when it comes to politics... especially Memphis's Mayer)
anyhow, when he was the Mayor of Chattanooga, Corker was all about PAY TO PLAY and sucking off the taxpayer teat, now he's trying to grind the UAW into dust like the rest of us poor saps down South. There's nothing like slave wages and a 6-day week to put you in the christmas spirit.
Merry Christmas to Bob and all the other inbreds.
Corker refused to release his tax records during the campaign. I remember a spokesman from his campaign saying that there was the possibility of his various business dealings being "misinterpreted."
The idiots in my state of TN elected this fool, who actually produced a TV ad for his campaign showing his family and ended with him saying "I'm Bob Corker and I approved this ad because I wanted you to meet my daughters."
Republican Senators up for re-election in 2010.
* Richard Shelby of Alabama
* Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
* John McCain of Arizona
* Mel Martinez of Florida - will not run in 2010 (announced 12-02-08)
* Johnny Isakson of Georgia
* Mike Crapo of Idaho
* Chuck Grassley of Iowa
* Jim Bunning of Kentucky
* David Vitter of Louisiana
* Kit Bond of Missouri
* Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
* Richard Burr of North Carolina
* George Voinovich of Ohio
* Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
* Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania
* Jim DeMint of South Carolina
* John Thune of South Dakota
* Bob Bennett of Utah
That's 18 of them. Almost half of the 41 or 42 Republicans in the Senate.
LA Times says 19 R seats & 15 D seats up for election; perhaps this list omits one Republican.
let's see these big tough senators take on the unions and the most mismanaged company in the US.The US Government itself.
the US government is the biggest union.
le't's see them cut the government pensions which are unfunded to the tune of about 5 trillion dollars.
Not a chance in hell of that ever happening.
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