STATE REP SAYS AMERICANS SHOULD BE ANGRY ABOUT ANOTHER AUTO BAILOUT

One of South Carolina’s rising conservative stars has a message for taxpayers: You have a right to be angry with your government.

In an excellent guest editorial in Friday’s Greenville News, State Rep. Rex Rice (R-Pickens) said he can sympathize with the sadness and anger felt by many Americans at the possibility of yet another round of auto bailouts.

The “Big Three” automakers have a management model that’s badly broken. The contracts they negotiated with labor unions over the past 30 years have made it impossible for them to compete in the global economy. Sky high salaries and so-called legacy benefits are causing all three companies to bleed billions in debt every month.

With the hard times Americans are facing today, real leaders in Congress would enact emergency legislation requiring labor and management to renegotiate terms to make real competition possible. But that will not happen.

The truth is organized labor largely controls the National Democratic Party. So, President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress will never confront the labor bosses. Instead they will force taxpayers to pick up the tab for a bankrupt management model. And no matter how many billions of our precious tax dollars are tossed down the rat hole, it will never be enough.

And that’s why sadness is suddenly replaced by a growing anger. Taxpayers have paid enough. There should be no more bailouts.

Rice pointed out the startling figure that GM currently spends $79 per hour for labor costs compared to BMW, which pays $45-50 per hour. Which one of those compnaies is asking for bailouts?

That’s just one of the many solid points made by Rice in the column. I highly encourage everyone read every word of it.

You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll buy a Saturn.

Photo: AP