Beware Politicians With Hidden Agendas

TW: Sen. Richard Shelby (Republican AL) has become the poster boy for the anti-bailout Congressional leaders. Shelby is not a neutral observer, his state is an aggressive solicitor of foreign car manufacturers willing to invest in greenfield production sites. Our Big Three are a disaster but a significant contributor to their problems has been the ability of foreign manufacturers to produce without the legacy costs (e.g. retiree expenses and existing infrastructure) burdening the Big Three. The Shelby's of the world would like to blame incompetent management and especially greedy unions but the story is more complex.

From Salon:
"When Michigan Sen. Carl Levin makes statements supporting a bailout for U.S. automakers, he is generally dismissed as a spokesperson for his constituents -- Michigan, of course, is ground zero for the Big Three. No state in the union employs more autoworkers.
So how come Richard Shelby, R-Ala., doesn't get the same treatment? In Congress, Shelby is the most outspoken opponent of a bailout, routinely declaring that the Big Three are "dinosaurs." But if there was truth in advertising, every time he opens his mouth there should be a disclaimer: Sen. Shelby represents the interests of his constituents -- non-union employees of foreign-owned automobile manufacturers...

Hyundai, Honda and Mercedes-Benz all have state-of-the-art plants in Alabama, producing, among other things, the kind of low-gas-mileage luxury sport utility vehicles that most U.S. consumers are currently reluctant to buy....

So who do you think would benefit most from a collapse of Ford, GM and Chrysler? How about states such as Alabama and the rest of the South, which have long been busy turning the industrial Midwest into the Rust Belt, well before outsourcing and offshoring and globalization became working-class swear words.

'In other words, Shelby isn't opposed to car companies that are stupidly committing and recommitting to SUVs. Rather, he's just opposed to car companies that make SUVs with union labor.' "
http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/11/19/shelby_and_the_bailout/index.html