Pelosi calls for emergency aid for auto industry

[Fade]

Pelosi calls for emergency aid for auto industry
Nov 11 05:25 PM US/Eastern
By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for "emergency and limited financial assistance" for the battered auto industry on Tuesday, and urged the outgoing Bush administration to join lawmakers in reaching a quick compromise.

Five days after dismal financial reports from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., Pelosi backed legislation to make the automakers eligible for help under the $700 billion bailout measure that cleared Congress in October.

In a written statement, the California Democrat said the aid was needed "in order to prevent the failure of one or more of the major American automobile manufacturers, which would have a devastating impact on our economy, particularly on the men and women who work in that industry...."

"Congress and the Bush administration must take immediate action," she added. Administration officials have concluded that the bailout bill that passed earlier does not permit loans to the auto industry, but lawmakers are expected to return to the Capitol for a brief postelection session beginning next week.

Story continued....
(http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94CVI8G1&show_article=1&catnum=0)

[avedis]

I love GM....but my god when is this madness of bailing companies out going to stop. How is the gov going to make these companies viable investments for the taxpayer. The market has spoken....they prefer imports....the truth hurts.

[XShipRider]

Amazing! No one's heard squat from her since she took over as Speaker. Why the sudden voice Madam Speaker?

[drunken sailor]

The Average American is hurting so they will not be buying any new cars so how do they plan on staying in business? They have no clue. Congress is ignorant. Ford, GM and Chrysler have been in the red for what 20 years? They need to let them go bankrupt without letting them cancel the current warranties.

We are getting screwed. Yeah big companies will have all the money they need but not many will be spending with them so say by by after a few months more of this bull***t.

We just paid for banks to loan money not horde it or buy other banks with it as they are doing now. The Treasury is hiding that fact as best as they can along with the Fed.

If they ever get us a stimulus package and its under $3,000.00 a person we should all refuse to pay our taxes next year.

Its our dam money. I have not been working my ass off since I was fourteen to see this kind of crap happen.

If we make it past January without the government going broke then it will be a miracle. When China and the Bank of London stops sending anymore money we have lost the war that they have waged on us. Watch how fast the Federal Reserve Banks try to run back home to momma with our money. Momma is the Bank of London.

[I can't think of a name]

By bail out a companies that have consistently proven they cannot make money? They need to die.

The assets will be bought up by entrepreneurs who have ideas about making a better car company.

There is also the fact that it will null the UAW contracts that have bankrupt to companies.


Also, American's don't need to buy a new car each year to keep Detroit making money. Look how much junk and waste that creates. It is a huge environmental issue that the democrats don't address. This is a another contradiction of the left between heir union and environmental base. Imagine how much less resources we would all use if we kept cars for 10 years each.

[I can't think of a name]

The Average American is hurting so they will not be buying any new cars so how do they plan on staying in business? They have no clue. Congress is ignorant. Ford, GM and Chrysler have been in the red for what 20 years? They need to let them go bankrupt without letting them cancel the current warranties.


Democrats have to keep the Big 3 alive because they employ thousands of UAW employees who all are FORCED to pay union dues that end up supporting DEMOCRAT campaigns.

So the democrats bailing out he Big 3 are ensuring that that money will end up back in the pockets. It is a massive scam where the Democrat party is running off of Government funds.

[Kilgor]

Detroit is f*cked, its as simple as that.

But the political consequence of being seen to do nothing is not a option.

[sinophile]

I love GM....but my god when is this madness of bailing companies out going to stop. How is the gov going to make these companies viable investments for the taxpayer. The market has spoken....they prefer imports....the truth hurts.

Its cheaper for the US to bail GM out then it would be for the pension administration to assume the pension benefits of a bankrupt GM's workers.

Its cheaper to for the US to bail GM out then it would be to pay the unemployment claims of all the out of work GM employees and all those workers throughout the GM supply chain would would be displaced.

Whats good for GM is good for the United States of America and all that.

[Zoomie]

Its cheaper for the US to bail GM out then it would be for the pension administration to assume the pension benefits of a bankrupt GM's workers.

Its cheaper to for the US to bail GM out then it would be to pay the unemployment claims of all the out of work GM employees and all those workers throughout the GM supply chain would would be displaced.

Whats good for GM is good for the United States of America and all that.
Oh, please spare me that crap. Just look at the trouble with the banks. We've bailed them out at $800b, and yet somehow that bailout package has exploded to trillions. This already sets a poor precedence, as it tells mega corporations if you do something stupid, the government will waste its money on you because you screwed up. Enough is enough, stop the bailouts, let the automakers sink for their stupid overreliance on the SUV.

[gayarabianman]

Oh, please spare me that crap. Just look at the trouble with the banks. We've bailed them out at $800b, and yet somehow that bailout package has exploded to trillions. This already sets a poor precedence, as it tells mega corporations if you do something stupid, the government will waste its money on you because you screwed up. Enough is enough, stop the bailouts, let the automakers sink for their stupid overreliance on the SUV.
x1.
If this auto bailout goes through, you can seriously(reality) say goodbye to lot's of things.
There just rinsing everyone know.
The simple question is.
Did we the people get these firms into this mess in the 1st place for us to have to bail them out?
I think you'll all agree that the answer in a big fat NO.
Let them go under, it's all there doing anyway.

[Jobu]

What are we going to do when they come back next year and ask for another $50 billion?

[Stonewall71]

I read GM is on the verge of bankrupcy! Is it true???????

[hell]

Its cheaper for the US to bail GM out then it would be for the pension administration to assume the pension benefits of a bankrupt GM's workers.

Its cheaper to for the US to bail GM out then it would be to pay the unemployment claims of all the out of work GM employees and all those workers throughout the GM supply chain would would be displaced.



LOL. Wrong on both counts. Taxpayers aren't on the hook for a private company's pension system (well, actually, they aren't supposed to be, but rationale left a long time ago).



Job losses would total 2.5 million from an automaker failure in 2009, including 1.4 million people in industries not directly tied to manufacturing, according to a Nov. 4 study by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Those disruptions would cost $125.1 billion in lost personal income in the first year, and $275.7 billion over three years, the study concluded.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKCvSSaWPdUE&refer=home

And it's not cheaper to bail them out as opposed to paying the unemployment claims, plus the lost tax revenue, at least according that that study, which is probably heavily biased and over-inflated, but it's mentioned anyway.


If we're going to be bailing folks out, I want concrete criteria listed; what does and doesn't qualify a company for this. How do they arrive at the "too big to fail" label. We're probably going to bail out American Express, the credit card company. AmEx, for ****'s sake.

[Fade]

I read GM is on the verge of bankrupcy! Is it true???????
They are not doing very well.

GM shares plunge after analyst sees them hitting zero (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=145779&highlight=general+motors)

[Vandervahn]

...
The simple question is.
Did we the people get these firms into this mess in the 1st place for us to have to bail them out?
I think you'll all agree that the answer in a big fat NO.

Actually, "you did". American carmakers had zero pressure on them until the oil price boom of the new millenium; the american customers chose cars that were known to be of crappy quality, without class and a minimum of 20 years behind European/Asian standards; and "You the people" by extension through your elected government, were protective of the car industry instead of demanding steady development. The effects are POS-family sedans with 3.5+ liter engines from the stone age which you guys quite happily bought.

The reason why Euro-Japanese cars are so good is that they have been under a relentless stream of environmental regulations by their governments and had to cope with overpopulated areas for years and years, all the while about every american government snubbed their noses over such regulations for their impact on the economy. This is not only true for carmakers by the way, its true for pretty much all of the heavier industries. While you laughed at Europe for its hypocritical treehugging, underneath there was actually a huge innovation motor revving up.

The effect is that while American industries had very nice profit margins for decades, they have now fallen behind in technologic standards so far that in, in SOME branches, there isnt even a hope of ever cathcing up again, now that the environmental behemoth has finally bitten the US ass as well. The funny thing is that the us carmakers actually HAVE had alternatives, "Ford of Europe" is not too bad and GM´s "Opel/Vauxhalls" have useable technology as well. They just should have brought them to the home turf 10 years sooner and we´d now have a reeling but not dying US auto industry.

Anyway, I wouldnt worry too much . In 2-4 years when all this is over the USA will see heavy investment by the worlds carmakers that survived, and as a low-cost country with high education level will be quite a bargain.

[LineDoggie]

Arent these Douches bringing out an Hummer HX(aka H4) shortly? Yet another POS Faux HMMWV wannabe.


No matter what, Detroit is F-'d Between making crap and becoming a conglomeration of Healthcare Providers which happen too make the odd Auto.

[deagle]

whats the point of giving money away its gonna be squandered anyways ?! the CEO's make so much money, why don't they try to earn their incomes and do something other than beg for money.!!

[Kilgor]

I read GM is on the verge of bankrupcy! Is it true???????

Yes, they will run out of cash in about January.

[CG51]

What is so difficult about making attractive, small cars that get good mpg and are reliable for this country? The Japanese learned everything about the auto industry from us. They improved on it and now we are learning from them. Not very well apparently.

[Kilgor]

What is so difficult about making attractive, small cars that get good mpg and are reliable for this country? The Japanese learned everything about the auto industry from us. They improved on it and now we are learning from them. Not very well apparently.

The lesson was not learned in the 70s. Now they are screwed.