MORNING READ

by Walter Alarkon - 12/12/08 9:16 AM ET

Now that the Senate has killed the $14 billion auto bailout, opponents and supporters of the measure take down names. Conservatives deserve the credit for blocking the bill while the Republicans who voted for it should be targeted, according to bloggers on the right. The Republican Party is to blame for putting the car companies and possibly the U.S. economy on the brink of collapse, according to liberal bloggers. Blogging economists fret that the bailout’s failure will cause problems that will go beyond the U.S. auto industry.

The bailout bill needed 60 votes to move forward in the Senate, but it got just 52 votes. “GOP mavericks” such as Sens. Richard Shelby (Ala.), Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Jim DeMint (S.C.) led the way, notes Michelle Malkin. But there were 10 GOP senators, including Arlen Specter (Pa.), Kit Bond (Mo.) and Sam Brownback (Kan.), who backed the bailout, she notes. The Club for Growth should now find a challenger for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), someone considered a conservative rising star but who went back on his principles in backing the rescue package, writes Robert Stacy McCain. Now that the conservatives in Congress held firm, President Bush needs to do the same when the Big 3 car companies ask for loans out of the Wall Street bailout fund, writes Stephen Spruiell at The Corner.

It’s “madness” that Republicans weren’t willing to go along with the deal even after Democrats and the United Auto Workers caved in to demands, writes Political Animal’s Steve Benen, who calls the bailout opponents “neo-Hooverites.” The country can’t afford to see millions out of work, which is what will happen if the Big 3 indeed collapse, writes Taylor Marsh. The only hope for General Motors, Chrysler and perhaps 3 million middle-class workers is for Bush to use his executive power to tap into the bailout fund for Wall Street banks, writes D-Day.

Washington is about to take over the top villain spot from Wall Street bankers now that they’ve killed the bailout without having a Plan B, writes Portfolio’s Felix Salmon. The failure of the car companies would also hurt the already-suffering auto parts companies and the foreign automakers who rely on them, writes Yves Smith at naked capitalism.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Final Vote: 52-35. Fail! – Michelle Malkin
Detroit Bailout Is Dead! – R.S. McCain, The Other McCain
Bailout Goes Down – Stephen Spruiell, The Corner
The Party of Herbert Hoover – Steve Benen, Political Animal
Republicans Kill Big 3 Bailout – Taylor Marsh
Be A Good Little Unitary Executive – D-Day
Politics and Economics of Auto Bailout – Robert Reich’s Blog
This Is Not Good – Felix Salmon, Market Movers
Many Auto Suppliers Now On Brink – Y. Smith, naked capitalism