From the AP:

Less than two years after entering bankruptcy, General Motors will extend millions of dollars in bonuses to most of its 48,000 hourly workers as a reward for the company’s rapid turnaround after it was rescued by the government.

The payments, disclosed Monday in company documents, are similar to bonuses announced last week for white-collar employees. The bonuses to 76,000 American workers will probably total more than $400 million — an amount that suggests executives have increasing confidence in the automaker’s comeback.

It’s easy to be generous when the American tax payer is footing the bill.

(hat tip Gateway Pundit via Conurls)

If you were pissed about the coming auto bailout already, then you’re really going to be livid after you hear what Michelle has to say. It turns out the fat cat auto workers union owns a championship golf course. The union hired one of golf’s most acclaimed course architects to build it. The course is the latest addition to the 1,000+ acre country club owned and operated by the UAW.

Black Lake Golf Course

“Owned and operated by the United Auto Workers union, Black Lake is a public course that provides UAW members and retirees substantial discounts from the regular greens fees. But even at regular rates of up to $95 per round, Black Lake is worth the price. Tee time reservations are accepted up to 14 days in advance for UAW members, and three days in advance for public play.”

This is the same union that just days ago refused to negotiate salary cuts that would have brought worker pay in line with their japanese counterparts at Toyota and the other foreign auto companies.

That golf course isn’t the only thing that sits on that fat 1,000 acres either:

Black Lake Golf Club complements the Center’s recreational facilities, which now include a beautiful gym with two full-sized basketball courts, an Olympic-size indoor pool, and exercise and weight room, table-tennis and pool tables, a sauna, beaches, walking and bike trails, softball and soccer fields and a boat launch ramp.

Congress rightly criticized the big 3 CEO’s for showing up hat in hand on their private jets, but when is someone going to tell the UAW to sell their stupid country club if they really need money?

I don’t like unions. I think there was a legitimate need for them a couple of decades ago, but now they’ve gotten out of control. They really only operate as extensions of the democratic party anyway. Unions love to say that they exist to ensure that workers are payed a fair wage. However, when critics say U.S. auto workers need to take a pay cut to bring their compensation in line with Japanese auto makers, the union says their workers are already on par with Toyota and the rest and in some cases make less than them.

Which raises the question, why have a union? If the Japanese auto workers are making the same and sometimes more than U.S. workers and they’re not even unionized then why have a union?

President Bush should not give the big 3 a single dime. This is a golden opportunity to “pierce the heart of organized labor” as UAW president Ron Gettlefinger put it the other day. We can finally bust the UAW and get the American auto industry back on its feet and profitable again.

The auto industry bailout looked like all but a sure thing this morning, but growing Republican opposition to the measure has put the $14 billion dollar aide package in jeopardy.

Emergency aid for the nation’s imperiled auto industry was thrown into
jeopardy Wednesday, opposed by Republicans who were revolting against a
hard-fought deal between Democrats and the Bush White House to speed
$14 billion to ailing carmakers.

Democrats detailed the compromise
measure and laid the groundwork for quick votes on it, holding out hope
the bailout could be enacted by week’s end. But a growing number of GOP
senators declared they would not go along.

The White House,
though not formally endorsing an agreement with congressional
Democrats, dispatched administration officials to Capitol Hill to make
a case for the rescue package. During a contentious, closed-door
luncheon with Senate Republicans, they got an earful of criticism from
the rank-and-file, some of whom have already announced plans to block
the measure.

“They got a good dose,” said opponent Tom Coburn, R-Okla., as he emerged from the session.

Even auto state Republicans who have pushed hard for a bailout said the
measure needed work. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said he wanted to see
changes. And Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the measure didn’t
have the necessary Republican votes to pass Congress.

I can remember when a billion dollars was a lot of money — or at least it seemed like it was. Now, the Congress hands out billions like it’s loose change. This financial crisis is an outrage. We bailed out the financial sector which may or not have been necessary, but what’s done is done. However, allowing this culture of bailouts and handouts to continue is completely unacceptable. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry in this country now has their hand out begging for their multi-billion dollar Christmas present.

The U.S. auto industry is a relic. Decades of bad management, out of control unions, and foreign competition has rendered the domestic auto industry a dinosaur. This romantic notion that we should just keep the car companies in business simply because they employ a lot of people is ridiculous. Why should a company that doesn’t turn a profit be artificially kept alive through government intervention?

A $15 billion dollar loan to the auto companies is like giving a homeless man $20. It will be gone in a day or two but the man will still be homeless. We should not even consider giving the ailing auto industry a single crying dime until they fix the root causes of their predicament.