Huffington Post has this story on their web site. I made the following comment on the story.

Sen Corker, Republican from Tennessee, was full of it when he said that the GM pensions were toast if GM went into bankruptcy. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (US Taxpayer) would be on the hook for it.

These Southern Republicans just want to protect the foreign auto companies that they lured to their states with huge tax giveaways. Where is the putting country first slogan when you need it? Do they expect us to believe that Japan and Korea are not going to bailout their own auto companies?

Did you notice that Senator Shelby, Republican from Alabama, seems to have inherited the Bush smirk as he twists the knife into the body of the auto companies?

Later I posted, the following additional comment:

Senator Bennett, Republican Utah, is concerned that any help to the Big 3 automakers is tantamount to the government having an industrial policy like the Japanese do.

The huge tax breaks, favorable labor laws, and other giveaways that the Southern states gave the transplant automakers to lure them to their states is not an industrial policy, I suppose.

Another commenter on Huffington Post remarked:

An ultimatum implies an “or else”. What are the Dems going to do if the White House refuses??? Seriously… what is the “or else”???

I came up with the following or else:

Or else we will seriously investigate the Bush administration war crimes and violations of the constitution?