Senate Auto Bailout Fail for Dummies.

Fourth Grade Social Studies paints a beautiful picture of legislative process. It teaches us that the federal government is a simple, law making machine.  Is it safe to assume that everyone remembers the cartoon video about how a bill becomes a law, you know, from the same people who brought you “Three, The Magic Number?” You remember that?  The bill is born, vote in the House, vote in the Senate, President signs it, and BAM, law!  Forget it.

It probably took less than an hour after waking up this morning to find out that “The Auto Bailout Bill” failed in the Senate, but actually it was never even officially discussed on the floor. Instead, a vote to limit the amount of time for debate, to no more than 30 hours, on “HR7005 - To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide alternative minimum tax relief for individuals for 2008″ failed, 52-35, to achieve the necessary 60 votes. That was the end of the “Auto Bailout Bill.”

Confused yet? The actual “Auto Bailout Bill”, created by Barney Frank in the House of Representatives, is HR7321. It was passed in the House and received in the Senate on December 11, 2008. Senate rules require that in order for a Bill to be brought onto the floor for consideration it must be read aloud on two separate occasions. This bill was never even read once. Instead, through a complex labyrinth of procedure, the Senators were able to tank it without ever considering it.

Here’s how it went down:

HR7005 has absolutely nothing to do with cars. It was designed to provide relief from the alternative minimum tax and subsequently passed…

AK Yams WTF Moments of the Week: Have you driven a private jet lately?

WTF?

In a fit of what New York Congressman Gary Ackerman called “delicious irony,” the CEOs of Ford, Chrysler and GM flew their private jets to Washington DC to plead for a bailout for the struggling auto makers.

This is like panhandling on the street with Waterford Crystal. Seriously, are these guys that clueless? The following are statements from company spokespeople:

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson: “Making a big to-do about this when issues vital to the jobs of millions of Americans are being discussed in Washington is diverting attention away from a critical debate that will determine the future health of the auto industry and the American economy.”

Chrysler spokeswoman Lori McTavish: “While always being mindful of company costs, all business travel requires the highest standard of safety for all employees.”

You can have your trained monkeys make pre-written excuses all you want, but it’s clear that you have absolutely no regard for anyone whatsoever. A private jet is the only way to secure high standard of safety? Really? You’re CEOs of car companies, not sports stars or musicians; no one will recognize you or care that you’re on the plane, unless you deliberately call attention to yourself. There’s absolutely no justification for not taking a commercial flight like a normal person. Case and point, these are not normal people. They probably don’t even see how this is even an issue. They’ve lost all of their human attributes except for greed and self-interest which are the sole things that drive them.

AK Yams

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