Media advance GOP talking point that UAW killed the auto bailout bill
On December 12, both an Associated Press headline and MSNBC's Tamron Hall echoed the Republican accusation that the United Auto Workers (UAW) union prevented the passage of a $14 billion bailout for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The AP headlined an article "Union balks and $14B auto bailout dies in Senate," while Hall asserted on MSNBC Live: "The deal fell apart because the autoworkers union refused to give in to Republican demands to reduce workers' wages." In fact, a compromise bailout bill supported by the UAW and the White House passed the House by a 237-170 vote. Then, in the words of Edmund L. Andrews and David M. Herszenhorn of The New York Times: "After Senate Republicans balked at supporting a $14 billion auto rescue plan approved by the House on Wednesday, negotiators worked late into Thursday evening to broker a deal, but deadlocked over Republican demands for steep cuts in pay and benefits by the United Automobile Workers union in 2009."
