UAW President Ron Gettelfinger read an e-mail he claimed was from Senate GOP staffers indicating the Senate GOP was trying to deliver a blow to organized labor and the UAW. The alleged e-mail states:

"Republicans should stand firm and take their first blow against organized labor rather than from it...again, the hardest thing for the Democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans, we can beat this."

Later in the press conference, Gettelfinger claimed the Republican minority in the Senate voted against cloture on the Senate bill as an attack on the UAW due to their political effectiveness against their membership.

Alex Taylor on CNBC put this whole debate over UAW wages, whatever they may be, into perspective as he said labor cost per car are really only about $800 per car, so even if the UAW were to work for free, it wouldn't save GM from failing in the month of December.

Thank you Senate Republicans, for putting politics in front of staving off Carpocalypse Now. [via CNBC]

The S&P said a month ago that if the credit crunch wasn't taken care of, by 2009 the world would be facing global automaker liquidation. That's what we call the Carpocalypse and it's getting much closer to reality after Senate Republicans killed the House bailout bill without brokering a compromise, hung up on an attempt to strong-arm the UAW into a wage reduction for current workers that apparently isn't factually based.

Meanwhile, Toyota poised for its first U.S. sales decline in 13 years, canceled its 2009 annual dealer meeting in Las Vegas to trim expenses as consumer demand for new cars plummets. Additionally, the Japanese automaker released a statement saying a bankruptcy among the not-so-Big Three would "exacerbate an already difficult environment" for itself and the industry as a whole. On those comments, and thanks to the Senate Republicans, shares were off 10% in Nikkei trading today.

In response, the White House just moments ago claimed "all options are on the table" including, apparently, looking to breaking off a chunk of the $700 billion in TARP financing set aside for the financial industry. Toyota stock recovered after this news, down now just over 1.5%.

Fears of a bankruptcy of any of the not-so-Big Three also hit Honda today, who we just heard will now be cutting output in North America by 119,000 between now and the end of March at plants in Alliston, Ont., Ohio, Alabama and a new factory in Indiana that began producing cars just last month.. Run for the hills, folks!

[via MSN, Globe and Mail]