GOP To Bush: Just Say No

The handful of fiscally responsible Reps and Senators (all GOP, of course) left in Congress are taking a hard line with the White House on the auto bailout:

In letters sent from both House and Senate Republicans, President Bush has been warned not to give funds that Congress expressly appropriated for "financial institutions" to Detroit automakers.

The House letter also suggested such a move by Bush may be illegal and unconstitutional, noting that only Congress has the right to appropriate taxpayer funds.

Last week, Democrats suffered a major rebuke after their proposed bailout bill failed in the Senate. Senate Democrats could not muster enough voters to overcome a Republican filibuster of the bill.

Facing growing opposition from conservatives, President Bush may be backing away from a quick auto-industry bailout.

“I think you all led yourselves to believe that [the bailout] would be almost immediately,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told the White House press corps Tuesday. “We did not signal that it would be almost immediate.”

Bush faces a growing phalanx of conservative foes who staunchly oppose any use of federal bailout funds to help car manufacturers unless the United Auto Workers (UAW) union offers more concessions.

White House officials insist they remain committed to rescuing carmakers and are merely gathering more financial information to precisely gauge how much money the auto executives actually need.

On Monday, Bush received a letter signed by 26 House Republicans opposing the use of funds from the $700 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to bailout the “Big Three” automakers. The TARP legislation, the representatives said, specified that the money was for “financial institutions.”

The conservative congressmen opposing the presidential bailout are led by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and Rep. Thomas Price, R-Texas. Other signatories include GOP representatives Tom Feeney of Florida, Lamar Smith of Texas, and John Shadegg of Arizona.

American taxpayers, the congressmen insisted, “cannot afford to save every company facing financial peril.” Their letter urges Bush “not expand the use of TARP money to bailout American auto manufacturers” for the sake of “the long-term stability of our nation and our automotive manufacturers.”

The White House received more non-greeting card mail on Tuesday – this time a letter from seven Republican senators also urging President Bush not to use TARP funds to rescue carmakers.

Those GOP senators -- Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, John Ensign of Nevada, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, John Cornyn of Texas , Michael Enzi of Wyoming, and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia -- noted that Congress rejected the bailout after “the United Auto Workers (UAW) union refused to agree to changes necessary to help the Big Three automakers become competitive.”

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., tried to broker a last-minute agreement, but the deal fell through after the UAW balked at lowering compensation to levels “at parity” with the pay of autoworkers employed by Japanese companies in the United States.

Without such an agreement, the senators wrote, “we do not believe any amount of money will succeed in saving these companies.”

It's great to finally see some legitimate spine in the most wussified GOP Congress in recent memory! Now, the question is whether or not they'll be able to persuade Bush to back off. With the public sentiment strongly in their favor, one would hope that Bush can see the obvious truth: the only people who want this bailout are the Big 3 execs, the unions, and those who benefit directly from their donation largesse (i.e. Dems in Congress). Of course, Obama and the next Congress are likely to throw much more money at the UAW after January 20th regardless of what Bush does, but that's a fight for another day.

Something I simply cannot wrap my mind around is why the GOP insists on willingly supporting groups who actively oppose the things they stand for. Why would you give federal funding to Planned Parenthood or ACORN when you know they are against you essentially 100% of the time? Why the GOP even contemplated throwing billions at unions who always have been and always will be true-blue Democrat is just stupid. I mean, really, stop and think about it. If you were being mugged at knifepoint, would you give the mugger your handgun? Of course not...that would be ridiculous.

So, it's nice to see the GOP finally stop giving their political handguns to groups like the UAW. Now, will Bush hang onto his, too?

There's my two cents.