Driftglass nails it:
...It would be hard to understand why the same people bailing out Big Finance (with oversight and reform string attached) would freak out over bailing out Big Auto, until you remember the Republican's inbred, bone-deep contempt for working people, which reach a full-throated peak under the Reagan Administration and hasn’t abated one decibel since.
Which is why when Byron Dorgan replies to Kyl with:
It was no-holds-barred in shoving money at the fucking bankers, but how about a fraction of that money to help save American jobs. Take 3% of the 700 billion dollars. What about workers?
And
It’s about jobs; 350,000 directly and 3-5 million working on the industry indirectly.
He is making exactly the right points and asking exactly the right questions, but even he is undershooting the impact of manufacturing on the economy.
For your own future reference, these are the numbers Dorgan is referring to, compiled not by wild, Hippy anarchists but by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
“Directly and indirectly, the economic breadth and contribution of the U.S. automotive industry is deep and far reaching across the country. U.S. automakers directly employ approximately 355,000 American workers and indirectly employ nearly 5 million additional jobs through related industries that are dependent on auto manufacturing, sales, and related activities. Over the last two decades, the automotive industry has invested nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars in the U.S. and is among this country’s top industries for R&D spending. Automakers also are among the largest purchasers of U.S.-manufactured steel, aluminum, iron, copper, plastics, rubber, electronics, and computer chips.”
Bad enough, but pause for a moment to consider the secondary ripple-effect that all of those manufacturing jobs – from plant managers to suppliers to dealers – have, in turn, on their local economies:
Manufacturing directly employs 14 million America and supports 8 million more.
Each manufacturing job supports as many as four other jobs, providing a boost to local economies. For example, every 100 steel or every 100 auto jobs create between 400 and 500 new jobs in the rest of the economy. This contrasts with the retail sector, where every 100 jobs generate 94 new jobs elsewhere, and the personal and service sectors, where 100 jobs create 147 new jobs.
Yes, around 350,000 are directly affected, and 3-5 million people work supporting manufacturing indirectly, but you also have to factor in the effect on your local dry cleaner when the finishing plant shuts down. And what happens to the corner grocer or restaurant owner when their regulars -- the sixty people down the block who make gear-ratio widgets for windshield wiper assemblies -- are all out of a job?
You cannot build a healthy economy on hotel sheet folding and paper-hat gigs...
But really, even a lizard like Hank Paulson can't help but let the truth slip out past his forked tongue occasionally:
...“The primary purpose of the bill was to protect our financial system from collapse,” Mr. Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee. “The rescue package was not intended to be an economic stimulus or an economic recovery package.”
There you have it. The current economic situation is an implementation of a long-standing policy decision by your Betters. The bailout is to make sure they don't get consumed by the monstrosity they've unleashed on the world to ensure their rule in the post-industrial feudalism that's going to develop as the oil runs out.
Economic recovery? Don't let's be silly. Like McCain always said, their economy is fundamentally sound as long as they make the rules. They have their crumpets and fine brandy.
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