PREFACE:

On FOX News Sunday this morning, Senator Byron Doran said that the proposed bailout of the automotive companies was all about saving jobs. He said that the Senate Dems will not throw Joe Lieberman out of their caucus. Republican Senator Jon Kyl suggested that the bailout was unnecessary, as the automobile industry could reorganize under Chapter 11 like so many companies have done successfully in the past.

Explaining what a “Sam’s Club voter” is, on FNS, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty insisted that Americans shop at Sam’s Club, Costco, Target, and K-Mart because they have no money and must look for bargains. The federal government, he said, must be the same way. Michael Steele explained that he should be considered for RNC chairman because he brings a “different experience” to the table, that of a “grassroots guy” and a user of the internet.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, on ABC’s This Week, proclaimed that marriage was between a man and a woman but he should not force his opinion on those who want to alter the definition of marriage. He hopes Proposition 8 is overturned by the courts, and he will be consulting with “my lawyer,” Attorney General Moonbeam, about this.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Michigan Senator Carl Levin said we should bail out the auto industry to save his constituents’ jobs and because Europe is doing it for their auto industry. Senator Richard Shelby said that he understands this will be tough on some people, but the bailout will be the beginning of out-of-control corporate welfare. “Money wasted,” he called it.

On CBS’ Face the Nation, Barney Frank said that his bailout package for the auto industry called for the industry to draft plans on how to improve themselves and to become more energy efficient. Senator Richard Shelby does not like the bailout at all: “Companies fail every day, and others take their place.”

Next on FTN, Newt Gingrich listed Republican governors who had done great things. He mentioned Sarah Palin only when asked, and he applauded her for energizing the party. Both Newt and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal avoided discussing social issues when prompted. (Do they think social conservatism is a loser with the broader electorate?)

On LE, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez stressed that the viability of the auto companies was crucial in helping them. Governor Sarah Palin then deftly crossed Wolf Blitzer’s verbal mine field.

KYL AND DORGAN ON FNS. The first guests for FOX News Sunday host Mike Wallace were Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona and Dem Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. Dorgan admitted that he does not know if this lame duck Congress will vote to bailout the auto industry, but the banks have steered the country into a ditch and people will lose their jobs. He said that the bailout must take place, because America needs its manufacturing base. Kyl countered that this lame duck move was a “political setup,” as the Dems know it will not pass. Why, then, didn’t they wait until the next Congress? Kyl said that the auto companies have been “sick for a long time,” using a “bad business model,” and that the best thing for them, instead of a bailout, would be to reorganize under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy code. Dorgan insisted that the auto industry “has been turning a quarter,” and we cannot just “sit around and do nothing” because of all the jobs which will be lost if the auto manufacturers go out of business.

Senator Kyl said that the federal government would get the money for the proposed bailout by borrowing it or printing it. Dorgan continued with his plea for those out of work: “What do you do about the unemployed and the people about to lose their jobs?” He wants to “put people back on The Payroll,” doing such as building bridges and roads.

Wallace asked about Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Kyl offered that she was a “good choice, at least superficially.” Dorgan said that she’d be an “excellent choice” and bring “instant global credibility.”

On Joe Lieberman, Dorgan said that the Senate Dem caucus will decide on Tuesday and he won’t “discuss the caucus on a television program.” “Joe” is his good friend, he insists, but supporting Republicans is unacceptable. Kyl said that if Lieberman caucuses with the Republicans, he would not change the way he votes. He would welcome Lieberman to the caucus. Dorgan interjected that the Dems would not throw Lieberman out of their caucus.

PAWLENTY AND STEELE ON FNS. Next up on FNS were Governor Tim Pawlenty and Michael Steele. Steele suggested that the Republicans fared poorly in the last election because they did not communicate an agenda, there was no voice of the party. Pawlenty, who had coined the term “Sam’s Club Voters,” assured that he thinks the GOP is a “conservative party” and will remain a conservative party. He said that the Republicans need to talk about education reform and accountability, renewable energy, market-based health care reform, etc. Wallace asked him if he were trying to pull the party away from social issues, and Pawlenty talked about the “Culture of Debt” in which we live requiring us to balance the budget. (I do not know if that we a play on “Culture of Death.”)

Steele told Wallace that his line, “drill, baby, drill,” was not an energy policy unto itself; rather, it is an “all on the table, everything included” idea. Pawlenty agreed with Steele, that “drill, baby, drill” is not, by itself, an energy policy.

Pawlenty explained that he coined the expression “Sam’s Club Voters” because Americans, when they have no money, are forced to shop at Sam’s Club, Costco, Target, and K-Mart. The federal government must be the same way.

Pawlenty wondered who the federal government would bail out next, and then asked who would bail out the federal government. He answered himself with a question: “The Chinese?”

Wallace asked if the Dems were trying to “steal the election” for Al Franken in Pawlenty’s home State of Minnesota. Pawlenty assured him that the five-member canvassing board would come to a fair conclusion with no fraud involved: “I can guarantee that.” (The fiercely partisan Dem Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, picks the board, Pawlenty admitted, and the governor has no part in it.)

Wallace asked Steele to suggest why he should be selected to head the RNC. Steele answered that he brings a “different experience to the table.” He is a “grassroots guy,” mentioning his leadership of GOPAC as well as his history in the grassroots. He mentioned also that he’s a “big tech wonk,” admitting that he is often online until 2 AM, blogging and whatnot.

ARNOLD ON TW. On ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos talked to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor demanded another stimulus package from the federal government. He also demanded bailout money for California, complaining that “Washington is collecting from California so much money.” (Throw the cow over the fence some hay, he did not say but perhaps should have.) California gets back 80-cents of every dollar they send to DC, the governor let fly.

Arnold said that Americans need to be put back to work, rebuilding roads and bridges. America needs to restore its “global relations,” he said. He hopes the Court overturns Proposition 8, even though he agrees that a marriage is between a man and a woman; he just doesn’t feel he should force the definition of marriage on those who wish to alter it. That said, Schwarzenegger said that he does not think protesting and boycotting, like the gay marriage activists are doing, is the way to go about it. He will discuss his own next move with California Attorney General Jerry Brown, calling the erstwhile Governor Moonbeam, “my lawyer.”

SHELBY AND LEVIN ON MTP Tom Brokaw is still moderating NBC’s Meet the Press, and this morning he talked to Carl Levin and Richard Shelby about the auto industry and whether to bail it out with taxpayers’ money. Brokaw asked Senator Shelby if there were any conditions which would allow him to vote for the bailout. Shelby answered, “I haven’t seen ‘em yet, Tom.” He blamed the management of the companies for the lack of innovation and allowing the industry to become “a dinosaur, in a sense.” He said that the $25-billion proposed for the bailout would only “postpone the inevitable.” Brokaw then pedantically led Shelby through the job losses in the auto industry, the auto dealers, etc. Brokaw said that this was proof that it was a national problem. Shelby responded that it was a “national concern,” but it could become a national problem if we continued to throw money at industries that get themselves into trouble.

Levin declared that this was a national problem “without any question.” He discussed the impact of the auto industry on our economy, and he added that there was bipartisan support for the bailout, consisting of George Voinovich. He cited the example of the “European Community” (continental socialists) bailing out their industries, suggesting that the United States should emulate this example from the bureaucracies. Levin said that people are not buying cars because they are afraid. He did call for the government not to intrude so much into the operations of the auto industry as to require General Motors CEO Richard Wagner, who had nothing to do with the Ring Cycle, to resign. (Wagner has said that GM would not accept the bailout funds if he had to resign to do so.)

Levin insisted that the White House and Mitch McConnell wanted to bailout the auto industry and every European country with an industry was bailing out theirs. Brokaw asked Shelby if he had heard anything which would prevent him from mounting a filibuster, and Richard Shelby did not blink. He called the bailout, “money wasted.” They bailout the auto now, they’ll need more in the future, and more industries will become involved. It will be the beginning of corporate welfare.

BARNEY AND SHELBY ON FTN. On CBS’ Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer talked “bailing out the Big Three, or not,” with Barney Frank and Richard Shelby. Barney said that the House Dems are ready to bailout the auto industry and pass a “broad stimulus package,” and he blamed Republicans for getting in the way. He said that there were three different bailout proposals. Barney doesn’t want to take the $25-billion for energy efficiency because he wants to use that for energy efficiency; he doesn’t want to take from the $700-billion as that’s for something else. He wants to give them more money. Period.

Shelby countered that the auto industry was lagging, and now the feds want to bail out a dinosaur. They need to refurbish themselves or start all over, not be propped up: “Companies fail every day, and others take their place.”

Barney said we might be able to tolerate a bankruptcy if there were more jobs in the economy. He said that his plan for the bailout would require the auto industry to draw up plans to improve themselves and to become more energy efficient. He said that there would be no dividend paid, no bonuses for people making over $250,000/year, and an “oversight board” would consist of leading officials in the Obama Administration.

Shelby said he would not support the bailout even if management stepped aside, but they had to go anyway. “They need to go.” They need to get competitive.

JINDAL AND NEWT ON FTN. Bob Schieffer next spoke with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Newt Gingrich.

Governor Jindal said that Republicans need to do three things to get back on track. They must control their spending; they must stop defending corruption; they must be the party which offers real solutions on such things as health care, the economy, and international issues.

Newt said that after the economic crisis, with President Bush on TV for 18 straight days, it was difficult for John McCain. He mentioned talented Republican governors: Jindal, Jon Huntsman, and Mark Sanford. Schieffer asked Jindal if it were a good thing for the Republican Party that such as Sarah Palin “stole the show” at the Republican governors’ conference. Palin talked about the success of the Republican governors but suggested that the GOP should be gracious and work across party lines when they can. Schieffer laughed again about Palin, and Jindal said that it was great that she was speaking out. Newt said that Palin was a real asset to the party, brings in new energy. He said we have to talk to Huntsman and Sanford and Barbour, etc., about what they are doing right. He said that Palin will be a big story in the short run, but as she goes back to Alaska, there will be a group of Republican emerges. He does not see Sarah Palin as, in Schieffer’s words, “the de facto leader of the Republican Party.”

Schieffer compared Ronald Reagan in 1984 with John McCain in 2008, the percentages of the women’s vote and the youth vote, the two got. Schieffer suggested that the GOP was dwelling too much on social issues. Newt said that you couldn’t compare Reagan’s largest victory with a Republican defeat. On the social issues, Newt came out against the bailout. Jindal talked about building majority coalitions to govern. People voted, in Schieffer’s paraphrase, against incompetence, not ideology.

They, especially Gingrich, were almost cavalier in avoiding the discussion of social issues, so perhaps the conventional wisdom among these people is that social issues are losers with the broader electorate.

GUTIERREZ ON LE. Wolf Blitzer’s first guest on CNN’s Late Edition was Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. Gutierrez said that the “important step forward” taken at the G 20 meeting that they agreed to continue to work to strengthen the “free market, capitalist system.” Blitzer pointed out that Sarkozy and friends wanted more regulation, and Gutierrez said that there was a danger in “going to the extreme” and over-regulate.

Gutierrez said that the President does not propose taking from the $700-bilion to give to the automobile industry. He said that they should reword the section of the bill giving $25-billion for energy efficiency and grant the money as a bailout. He pointed out that if we don’t save the industry now, “there will be no green future.”

Gutierrez stressed that the companies must show a plan to become viable. Viability is critically important, he said.

Gutierrez said that “credit as at the heart of what we want to do” in creating jobs.

PALIN ON LE.Blitzer’s next guest on LE was Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The questions were, in large part, seemingly written to solicit controversial responses. When she offered none, CNN and others had to make stuff up.

Blitzer pointed out that “this was a very historic moment” in our country. Governor Palin agreed, adding that Republicans had to reach out to Obama with their ideas. She is especially ready to work with him on energy independence.

Wolf asked her if she would sit on a commission if Obama asked her to do so, and she said that it would be her honor to do so.

Wolf brought it up, and she said that she was still concerned with Obama’s association with the terrorist Bill Ayers, and it is okay to talk about it, but the election is over and we have to move on. Blitzer asked her if she regretted saying that, and she does not. Wolf asked if it were her idea to mention Ayers or did someone write it for her, and she said it was a “collaborative effort.” She wanted to move on.

She said that while it is important for the federal government to secure companies whose failure would adversely affect our economy, it is time to start talking about “personal responsibility or management responsibility.” She wouldn’t commit on bailing out the auto industry or not, as she needed more information. (This, t was said, is how she should have answered the Gibson/Couric cabal on several points.)

Wolf asked what Governor Palin would like to see President Bush do in his last days in office. She answered that he’s already reached out to Obama. She said she was “going to give a shout-out to our President and thank him for” keeping our country safe from additional terrorist attacks. Wolf asked if she thanked him even though Bush cost her and McCain the election. Governor Palin wasn’t pointing fingers.

Wolf asked her if it were time to get rid of affirmative action, now that Obama was President. She suggested that there are some things to reexamine and move on and then discussed the positive nature of America having elected an African American President, with whom she’s ready to work.

= = = = = =

That’s what I heard this week.