Is it just me, or does it seem like the Dims want to nationalize the auto industry with this bailout?
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Dims want to nationalize the auto industry with this bailout?
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A House GOP alternative to the UAW bailout
By Michelle Malkin • December 10, 2008 01:07 PM
House Republicans have come up with a no-bailout alternative for the House GOP Leaders Propose No-Bailout Alternative for Auto Industry
WASHINGTON, DC – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN), and other House GOP leaders today put forth an alternative to the $15 billion taxpayer-funded auto bailout proposed by House Democratic leaders. Boehner issued the following statement:
“The proposal put forth by our colleagues in the Democratic majority is unworthy of American auto workers and unworthy of American taxpayers. It guarantees failure at taxpayer expense. It will keep the industry dependent on taxpayer money instead of giving auto workers the security of a viable industry that is back on its feet and ready to compete. American auto workers and taxpayers deserve better.
“A responsible plan should protect taxpayers and help auto workers and their families by allowing the Big Three to become competitive again. Our plan does this.â€
whoopsie..................
:fuelfire:
It was a dead heat. General Motors sold 9.37 million vehicles worldwide in 2007 and lost $38.7 billion. Toyota sold 9.37 million vehicles in 2007 and made $17.1 billion.
That was the second best sales total in GM's 100-year history and the biggest loss ever for any automaker in the world.
For Toyota, that was roughly $1,800 in profit for every vehicle sold. For GM, it was an average loss of $4,100 for every vehicle sold.
Currently, UAW workers at Ford, GM and Chrysler earn an average of $28 per hour, plus benefits. At the Toyota and Honda non-union plants in the United States, the hourly rate, excluding benefits, is $26 and $24, respectively.
Add the cost of benefits for the current workforce and the cost of pensions and health care for retirees (benefit-collecting retirees outnumber current workers by three-to-one at GM, Ford and Chrysler) and the difference in labor cost between a Toyota plant in the US. and the plants of Detroit's automakers jumps to $29 per hour.
More specifically, the hourly compensation cost for labor, including benefits and retirees' costs, at the Big Three is $73 per hour, compared with $44 per hour at a Toyota factory with American workers in the U.S.
Further, it takes fewer hours of labor to produce a car in Toyota's U.S. plants than at the plants of Detroit's automakers.
Pay raise for judges tucked into bailout plan
If the $14 billion bailout plan for U.S. automakers passes, it will help more than just Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. Federal judges would get a pay raise, as well.
The raise — labeled a cost of living adjustment — would bring U.S. District court judges up to par with members of Congress, who will receive an almost $5,000 boost on Jan. 1. District judges and lawmakers now earn $169,300 a year but are expected to be awarded a 2.8 percent raise next year, said Dick Carelli, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted that the judicial pay raise go into the automaker loan measure, which is the only item of business on Congress' lame-duck agenda.
Under ethics legislation enacted almost two decades ago, members of Congress get a cost of living raise automatically, but they have to vote to give judges an identical raise. Because the spending bill covering U.S. courts has not passed, the step is necessary if judges are going to get their raise.
Even with the raise, judge earn far less than lawyers at big firms, just as members of Congress make less than most lobbyists.
Link (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/10/national/w110614S58.DTL)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insisted that the judicial pay raise go into the automaker loan measure, which is the only item of business on Congress' lame-duck agenda.
House passes Detroit bailout
Bill would provide $14 billion in loans to keep GM, Chrysler out of bankruptcy. But Republican opposition in Senate threatens chances of approval.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Housepassed a stopgap $14 billion bailout to U.S. automakers Wednesday evening, but Republican opposition cast doubts about its fate as it moves on to the Senate.
The House vote came in the wake of an agreement on the measure earlier in the day between Democratic Congressional leaders and the Bush administration.
The bill is designed to keep General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy through at least March to give the new Congress and Obama administration a chance to craft a more long-term solution.
The measure passed by a count of 237 to 170 thanks to overwhelming Democratic support. But only 32 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill.
Eight of those Republicans are from Michigan, joining the six Democrats in the state's delegation in voting for the measure.
A ninth Michigan Republican, Timothy Walberg, did not vote. Seven other Republicans that voted for the bill are from nearby Midwestern states that are also home to auto plants. But outside of the auto belt, the bailout had little Republican support.
More (http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/10/news/companies/auto_bailout_legislation/index.htm)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/TexasFred/ShittyCars-1.jpg)