Auto Bailout Czar: We Did It All for the Unions.

Auto Bailout Czar: We Did It All for the Unions.(NLPCS).The Detroit Free Press reports that the House committee holding hearings on the auto bailout process wants clarification from former head of President Obama's Auto Task Force, Ron Bloom, regarding testimony he gave about a statement he allegedly made at a 2009 celebratory dinner. According to a news article written at the time and fellow ex-car czar, Steve Rattner, Bloom stated that he "did this all for the unions." Bloom denied making the statement while under oath. The congressional panel isn't buying it and has written a letter to Bloom requesting that he amend his testimony.
Given Bloom's union background and the UAW favoritism displayed throughout the General Motors and Chrysler bailout process, the admission that the bailouts were done to benefit the unions should not come as a surprise. For many of us, that has been obvious for quite some time. Bloom was once the special assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers Union where he negotiated on behalf of unions. The fact that Obama chose a car czar that had union loyalties is very telling. The so-called "sacrifices" made by the UAW during the auto bailout process pale in comparison to those made by other classes of creditors, including GM bondholders who were shut out of negotiations for the most part. Accident victims and asbestos victims had their claims subordinated to the politically powerful UAW as well, and taxpayers are footing the bill. I have yet to see where the UAW has sacrificed much. Reduced wages for new UAW members only apply after laid off senior members with full pay are rehired Part of Bloom's defense of comments like the one about him doing it all for the unions is that he made the statements jokingly. Bloom's strange sense of humor may get some laughs from those that have benefited from the unprecedented government actions. Maybe the UAW, bankruptcy attorneys and investment bankers are yucking it up, but taxpayers and other classes that were discriminated against are not laughing. The American people deserve to know the truth about how the bailouts benefited cronies of the Obama administration like the UAW as others paid the price.Read the full story here.