Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Republican presidential candidate, is openly calling for General Motors to declare bankruptcy:

“I think the best thing that could probably happen to General Motors, in my view, is they go into Chapter 11, they reorganize, they renegotiate … the union-management contracts and come out of it a stronger, better, leaner, more competitive automotive industry,” McCain told “FOX News Sunday.”

 
But Michigan Congressman Thad McCotter says the government has to help the automakers avoid bankruptcy:

But Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., told FOX News on Sunday that he disagrees with sending the auto companies into bankruptcy, calling it a “shallow approach” to dealing with a failure that would affect hundreds of thousands of workers.

“If GM and Chrysler are allowed to go in bankruptcy they will not come out,” McCotter said. “This will exacerbate the foreclosure crisis, it will continue to hurt the credit crisis.”

Both men seem to be contradicting themselves. During the presidential campaign, McCain said the government could not allow the automakers to go into bankruptcy. McCotter, meanwhile, has unleashed his rhetorical big guns on every other industry bailout proposed or undertaken over the last year, calling such bailouts “socialism.” But principle be damned, he knows two things: That his district in the Livonia area is made up of a great many autoworkers, and that he only won reelection by a slim margin in 2008.