Krugman Nails it

from the NY Times

So the reign of George W. Bush, the first true Southern Republican president since Reconstruction, was the culmination of a long process. And despite the claims of some on the right that Mr. Bush betrayed conservatism, the truth is that he faithfully carried out both his party’s divisive tactics — long before Sarah Palin, Mr. Bush declared that he visited his ranch to “stay in touch with real Americans” — and its governing philosophy.

That’s why the soon-to-be-gone administration’s failure is bigger than Mr. Bush himself: it represents the end of the line for a political strategy that dominated the scene for more than a generation.

The reality of this strategy’s collapse has not, I believe, fully sunk in with some observers. Thus, some commentators warning President-elect Barack Obama against bold action have held up Bill Clinton’s political failures in his first two years as a cautionary tale.

But America in 1993 was a very different country — not just a country that had yet to see what happens when conservatives control all three branches of government, but also a country in which Democratic control of Congress depended on the votes of Southern conservatives. Today, Republicans have taken away almost all those Southern votes — and lost the rest of the country. It was a grand ride for a while, but in the end the Southern strategy led the G.O.P. into a cul-de-sac.

Mr. Obama therefore has room to be bold. If Republicans try a 1993-style strategy of attacking him for promoting big government, they’ll learn two things: not only has the financial crisis discredited their economic theories, the racial subtext of anti-government rhetoric doesn’t play the way it used to.

Will the Republicans eventually stage a comeback? Yes, of course. But barring some huge missteps by Mr. Obama, that will not happen until they stop whining and look at what really went wrong. And when they do, they will discover that they need to get in touch with the real “real America,” a country that is more diverse, more tolerant, and more demanding of effective government than is dreamt of in their political philosophy.

Gilding the non-bailout lilly

Via Michael Moore, who knows a thing or two about Detriot and the auto industry

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.


Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.

But instead, the Senate said, we'll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That's right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.

cjallen over at dKos knocks it out of the park:

They voted against millions of jobs for Americans at a time when we desperately need them. They voted in favor of you having to move out of your house because you'll no longer be able to afford it. They voted for you selling one of your cars so you can pay the bills. They voted for you freezing over the winter because you'll not be able to afford to heat your home. They voted for you eating ramen noodles because you'll not have the money for real meals. They voted for our recession turning into a depression. They voted for at least another year of dropping stock markets. They voted for a reduction in your retirement savings of another 50%.

They voted to kill millions of jobs. They voted to kill the American economy. Why? So that foreign automakers who have plants in their states can compete better. Foreign automakers who pay their American employees less than the American automakers. They voted against it so that foreign companies could make more money by paying Americans less.

Bingo.

Lame Duck Senate Republicans Destroy the US Auto Industry

I guess destroying New Orleans, Iraq and Afghanistan just wasn't enough. They've just voted to let the US Auto industry die.

Now I loathe the Big 3 and have avoided American cars for a long time. But I hate union busting Southern politicians more.

Critters like Republican Corker are using this opportunity to kill off Northern competition and destroy a major union (the UAW). But they won't be just gutting the Unions. They'll be gutting 3 million Americans jobs ranging from management at the plants all the way down to the stores that sell the parts.

All the while they'll keep putting money into the pockets of the Japanese car firms manufacturing cars in the South.

You see it helps their constituency to ensure the continued decimation of unions across this country.

As beltane over at dKos noted, LBJ said that with the passage of the Civil Rights bill, the Democratic party would lose the South for a generation. Now it is the Republican's turn to lose the rest of the country for a generation.

The only region left that will think of Republicans without loathing is the poor South. What goes around comes around. The confederate flag in which they've decided to wrap themselves will be a fitting funeral shroud.