Are GM and Chrysler Facing a Bailout Backlash?

September sales for GM and Chrysler have plummeted far below other car manufacturers.

From NewsBusters:

* The awful performance at General Motors -- down 45% from September 2008.
* Chrysler's even worse performance -- down "only" 42% from September 2008, but a mind-boggling 61% from September 2007 (62,197 in 2009, 156,799 in 2007)
* Ford's tiny decline of only 6% from a year ago, despite the end of the Cash For Clunkers program in August.

The bailouts for GM and Chrysler were aimed at saving the UAW at the expense of taxpayers, bondholders and dealers. The GM bailout alone is calculated to cost taxpayers $710,000 per employee.

After the 7,500 take their “buyout” and leave, GM will have 54,900 remaining hourly workers. (62,400 – 7,500)

The cost of “Bailout” part 1 ($17.4 Billion) and “Bailout” part 2 ($21.6 Billion) is $39 Billion Dollars.

If you divide the cost of the “Bailouts” by the number of hourly GM employes ($39,000,000,000 / 54,900 =) you get the figure of $710,000 per employee. (Seven Hundred And Ten Thousand Dollars Per Employee).

Using the UAW's number of $53 per hour, the wage and benefit package of a unionized auto worker comes to an average yearly salary of $114,400. This doesn't include overtime or bonuses. Using taxpayer money to payback Democrat's political supporters may have left a bad taste in the mouths of taxpayers trying to get by on half the UAW's wages.