Posted on 11/13/2008 11:03:49 AM PST by sickoflibs
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats are marshaling support for a rescue package to pump $25 billion in emergency loans to U.S. automakers in exchange for a government ownership stake in Detroit's car companies.
That may lead them into a showdown with Republicans ..
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., are developing legislation that would let the auto industry tap into the $700 billion Wall Street rescue money, approved by Congress last month, to fund their business operations.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC are lobbying Congress to approve the aid, citing an economic downturn that has choked off auto sales, frozen credit and made them vulnerable. GM, the nation's largest automaker, posted a $2.5 billion quarterly loss Friday and has predicted it could run out of cash by the end of the year without government help.
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said Thursday he would oppose an auto industry bailout. "Spending billions of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root causes crippling automakers' competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy," Boehner said.
Boehner noted that Congress had already approved a separate $25 billion loan program to help automakers develop fuel-efficient vehicles. He questioned "what assurances will Democrats give taxpayers about their chances of getting their auto bailout money back?"
legislation could set up a faceoff during the president's final days in office.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are hoping for quick passage of the auto bailout during a postelection session that begins Monday.
Bush is open to helping the industry, the White House says, but the administration has expressed reservations about using the bailout money beyond the financial sector.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Anyone watch O’Reilly last night? Dennis Miller was on and what he said almost made me spit soda all over the screen- Him and Billy were talking about AIG- Dennis said AIG should probably go to prison for corruption, and Billy said Yup- and probably Barney Frank should go to prison too- Dennis then said “Yeah, but I think maybe Barney might not mind going to prison”
I bout lost it on that one- Everyone in the studio including camera people were laughing
Anyone watch O’Reilly last night? Dennis Miller was on and what he said almost made me spit soda all over the screen- Him and Billy were talking about AIG- Dennis said AIG should probably go to prison for corruption, and Billy said Yup- and probably Barney Frank should go to prison too- Dennis then said “Yeah, but I think maybe Barney might not mind going to prison”
I bout lost it on that one- Everyone in the studio including camera people were laughing
Barney Fa-, er, Frank lied about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, why should anyone believe him now? It’s all about the United Auto Workers, not the companies. The UAW is one of the greediest unions in the US. If GM goes through bankruptcy, the trustee will have power to force changes in the union contracts the Democrats dare not let that happen.
I went through personal bankruptcy many years ago, the UAW and GM can KMA.
Barney Fa-, er, Frank lied about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, why should anyone believe him now? It’s all about the United Auto Workers, not the companies. The UAW is one of the greediest unions in the US. If GM goes through bankruptcy, the trustee will have power to force changes in the union contracts the Democrats dare not let that happen.
I went through personal bankruptcy many years ago, the UAW and GM can KMA.
Barney Fa-, er, Frank lied about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, why should anyone believe him now? It’s all about the United Auto Workers, not the companies. The UAW is one of the greediest unions in the US. If GM goes through bankruptcy, the trustee will have power to force changes in the union contracts the Democrats dare not let that happen.
I went through personal bankruptcy many years ago, the UAW and GM can KMA.
Pubs should make the Demons do this all with their own vote. First they screw up the industry by doing nothing to help drive the price of oil down. I don’t believe it was only speculation and demand that did this. By threating to increase supplies buy drilling domestically, this also influenced the price of oil and we should be continuing to bring more supplies to market to prevent the cartels and russians from using the supply card. If the price of fuel remained at a fair market value, the big three would still be selling cars at a reasonable rate to avoid the fix they are in. But the Demons had to jump on the Global warming bandwagon effectively destroying the market for larger vehicles because of increased fuel costs. The big three are going to need at least a decade to bring out a fleet of more fuel efficient vehicles that domestic buyers find as attractive as the imports. I’ll bet if you did a study you would find that Demons buy more imports and repubs buy more domestically produced vehicles. JMT. And the pubs should be hammering them on this.
Mmmm...I'm no fan of unions, but I didn't see any stipulations or restrictions being placed on all that tax payer money going to Wall Street.
Face it: That half-witted fraud in The Oval Office has really set this country on the path to ruin. To ignore the needs of mainstreet while worrying about Wall St. bankers not being able to afford the mortgages on their vacation home sets us that much further along on the road to revolution.
After the Pubbies happily went along with saving their friends on Wall Street, it's hard to credibly argue that throwing The Big 3 to the wolves of capitalism is the just thing to do, which is precisely the stick the dems are going to beat the Pubbies with if any of the three goes under.
Watch the next step be blackmail from the Detroit automakers. Bail us out or we will sellout to the Chicoms. Chicoms could buy the brands and make most of the cars in China. That would be a bitter blow.
I listened to talk radio and this website and amazed how republicans believed they could undo 8 years of damage (lets say 2003-2008 = 6 years) with William Ayers and Rev Wright. And what if McCain won by 51% on that basis alone? What type of fractured country would he be responsible for?
There is no need for Congress to bail out the car companies. Now is the time for BIG OIL to invest in car companies.
Exxon and the other oil companies should not wait for the next Congress to impose a windfall profits tax when they can invest capital today to save American jobs and ensure continued growth and profit for themselves !!!
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