Posted on 12/12/2008 2:27:28 AM PST by Man50D
The House-passed $14-billion bailout bill for U.S. automakers would give a presidential "designee" the potential power to tell the automakers what cars they could make and the price at which they could sell them.
The bill--formally titled the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act--passed the House Wednesday, but appeared stalled in the Senate yesterday. The act would grant sweeping powers to a federal "Car Czar" -- an individual the bill merely refers to as "the President’s Designee."
The designee would be solely responsible for carrying out the provisions of the auto bailout, including overseeing the negotiations for and approving the restructuring plans the automakers must produce under the proposal by a March 31 deadline.
The bill directs the automakers to negotiate restructuring plans and submit them to the designee by that date. If the automakers successfully negotiate a restructuring plan, the designee will evaluate whether the plans meet each of six conditions required by Congress.
Meeting the ‘requirements.’
Section 6 of the bill--titled “Submission of Plans”--states:
“The president’s designee shall approve the restructuring plan if the president’s designee determines that the plan will result in,” meeting a set of requirements.
Among those requirements: a provision that automakers have “a product mix and cost structure that is competitive in the United States market.”
This requirement would mean that the federal Car Czar could determine which cars and trucks the automaker could produce, according to a Senate Banking Committee staffer, because the “designee” would determine what would and what would not be competitive.
If the designee deemed that the company’s proposed product line and pricing structure would not be competitive, the company would have to change its plan--or have its federal financial assistance revoked.
“If an evaluation by the president’s designee demonstrates that . . . the eligible automobile manufacturer . . . fails to submit an acceptable restructuring plan,” the bill says, “[t]he repayment of any loan may be accelerated . . . and any other financial assistance may be cancelled by the president’s designee.”
If the Car Czar believes that the automakers are not making sufficient progress toward negotiating restructuring plans to his liking, he is specifically called upon to ask Congress for additional powers to give him the authority to make them do so.
“At any such time as the president’s designee determines that action is necessary to avoid disruption to the economy or to achieve a negotiated plan,” the bill says, “the president’s designee shall submit to Congress a report outlining any additional powers and authorities necessary to facilitate the completion of a negotiated plan.”
There is no definition in the bill outlining what these powers might be, but the bill further authorizes the Car Czar to substitute his own plan for restructuring the auto industry if he believes the automakers have failed to come up with an adequate plan of their own.
Under the bill, the Car Czar's plan could take the form of extended negotiations between the automakers and other interested parties, forcing the automakers into Chapter 11, or presenting his own plan to Congress in the form of new legislation that would--by federal law--tell the car companies what models they could make and what they could charge for them.
“The president’s designee shall provide to Congress a plan that represents the judgment of the president’s designee as to the steps necessary to achieve long-term viability…including through a negotiated plan, a plan to be implemented by legislation, or a (bankruptcy) reorganization,” the bill says.
Another condition the restructuring plans must meet is a mandate to produce “advanced technology vehicles”--including hybrids and other fuel efficient vehicles.
Hitler would be proud.
I've got a better idea. Just set aside $10 billion a year or so to buy off the unions directly. It'll be much cheaper in the long run.
And loving it!
Back in the US
Back in the USSA.......
Q. What happens when we take over the Sahara Desert?
A. For fifty years, nothing...
...then, there's a sand shortage.
Here lies America’s home-owned automobile industry
1893- 2009
May you Rest In Peace
You know, Czars usually had bad endings. Nicholas II comes to mind. Maybe the government needs to come up with another pat phrase for a bureaucratic position.
Beat me to it. My first thought was “National Pimp My Ride Entitlement”.
But the bottomline is that we're trying to follow in Russia's footsteps, which is a bizarre notion. When was Russia ever a success?
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/11/lemon.html
All new for 2012, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the mandatory American car so advanced it took $100 billion and an entire Congress to design it. We started with same reliable 7-way hybrid ethanol-biodeisel-electric-clean coal-wind-solar-pedal power plant behind the base model Pelosi, but packed it with extra oomph and the sassy styling pizazz that tells the world that 1974 Detroit is back again — with a vengeance.
We’ve subsidized the features you want and taxed away the rest. With its advanced Al Gore-designed V-3 under the hood pumping out 22.5 thumping, carbon-neutral ponies of Detroit muscle, you’ll never be late for the Disco or the Day Labor Shelter. Engage the pedal drive or strap on the optional jumbo mizzenmast, and the GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition easily exceeds 2016 CAFE mileage standards. At an estimated 268 MPG, that’s a savings of nearly $1800 per week in fuel cost over the 2011 Pelosi.
Even with increased performance we didn’t skimp on safety. With 11-point passenger racing harnesses, 15-way airbags, and mandatory hockey helmet, you’ll have the security knowing that you could survive a 45 MPH collision even if the GTxi SS/Rt were capable of that kind of illegal speed.
Replaces the Obama 2008, which when you open the hood, it has nothing under it ( except a sticker that says Made in the USA, but when peeled off reveals “Built in Kenya “ )
My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about.
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law.
...
Pretty much. I shudder to think what kind of vehicle Barney Frank will have named after him.
Kinda nice that the US is not so slowly becoming socialist while the Russians are growing more capitalist. Makes life interesting. Strange times indeed.
The deal died in the Senate. That’s a blessing in disguise for the auto industry. The new Fords and Chevys have been improving in quality in the last few years and are very nice cars.
Allowing the government to bail them out would be a recipe for a long, slow death. I would buy a Chevy Camaro from a bankrupt GM. There is no way I would buy anything from a government-owned and operated GM.
with the car czar
the drug czar
the war czar
education czar
who is the czar czar?
who is the czar czar?
Obama! He is the Czar of all Czars!
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