A Democratic Congress, unwilling or unable to approve a $25 billion bailout for Detroit’s Big Three, appears ready to punt the automakers’ fate to a lame-duck Republican president. Caught in the middle of a who-blinks-first standoff are legions of manufacturing firms and auto dealers””and millions of Americans’ jobs””after Senate Democrats canceled a showdown vote that had been expected Thursday. President George W. Bush has “no appetite” to act on his own.
U.S. auto companies employ nearly a quarter-million workers, and more than 730,000 other people have jobs producing the materials and parts that go into cars. About 1 million on top of that work in dealerships nationwide. If just one of the auto giants were to go belly up, some estimates put U.S. job losses next year as high as 2.5 million.
“If GM is telling us the truth, they go into bankruptcy and you see a cascade like you have never seen,” said Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, who was working on one rescue plan Wednesday. “If people want to go home and not do anything, I think that they’re going to have that on their hands.”
A new book awaits: “Profiles in Cowardice”
Nancy Pelosi lose her whip? The Obama change has not apparently reached to the aeries of the Democrats. Scoop last week was that the O-man wanted the auto industry supported, even told President Bush that he wanted this, and his own PARTY disses him!
Hey, with this level of “change” operative, there may be a better future that 4 years of Democrat control portended on 4 November.
I’m not impressed with the sky is falling.
GM is hurting so bad that they are closing plants and laying people off. Except in Arlington, Texas. In Arlington the plant is not closing; the workers are working overtime. They are making large pickups and SUVs. Are people buying large pickups and SUVs? No. GM is paying people to buy large pickups and SUVs.
GM is also running full page ads in the Dallas Morning News urging us to call our representatives to urge them to vote the $25 billion bailout. I assume they are paying for similar ads in other papers.
The GM executives fly in separate private jets (at an estimated cost of $20,000 per executive) from Detroit to Washington to beg extreme need of money.
Those executives shut down the R&D;for fuel efficient vehicles seven years ago.
Curiously, the international division of GM is the only division making money. Seems they can make fuel efficient vehicles in foreign countries that people will buy, but can’t figure out how to do that in the U.S.
Today Toyota cannot keep up with the demand for the Prius. You have to get on a waiting list. They don’t have to pay incentives.
The executives of GM, Ford and Chrysler complain of the cost of their union contracts. How much is the pay for the CEOs and other managers of these companies making? You, know the guys to ran the companies into the ground with bad decisions.
They come to Congress with a plea for $25 billion dollars, but admit they have no idea what they are going to do with that $25 billion.
My proposal: Make the $25 billion contingent on stopping “incentives” to buy fuel inefficient vehicles, quickly switch production to “green” vehicles, limit the top pay to no more than $400,00 with the same health, retirement, etc. benefits of the lowest paid workers.
If they don’t accept the terms, then the sky really isn’t falling.