Bailout Fail

I don't really want to get into the specifics of the bailout proposal that failed in the Senate due to a Republican filibuster. I'm much more interested in the politics the Republicans in the Senate are playing.

There were a number of concessions that the UAW and Senate Democrats were willing to make in order to get something done. Apparently, that wasn't enough and the bill didn't get enough votes to override the filibuster. It now looks as if the Bush administration will use funds from TARP to keep the Big Three afloat....for now. If TARP is used there will likely be few if any conditions attached to a bailout.

What I find interesting is that when the new Congress is set-up the Democrats are looking at 58-59 seats (depending on the Franken race outcome) in the Senate. All the Democrats will then need to do is poach one or two votes from the Republican side to get around a filibuster. The Democrats won't need to make as many concessions in the new Congress, meaning that most of the things the Senate Republicans wanted amended or weakened in the bill probably won't get in. They have much more bargaining power now and will have very little later. They have to realize this which leads one to believe they don't care or don't think the Big Three will fail or are just grandstanding.