Deal reached for auto loans; GOP senators vow opposition

[Wretched Excess]

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats and the White House reached agreement Tuesday night on the outlines of a $15 billion rescue of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, even as key Senate Republicans promised a filibuster of the draft proposal for not requiring more sacrifices from the UAW.

Lawmakers and administration officials said that while the final language of the bill was still being written, the House was expected to take up the bill Wednesday morning. A senior administration official said the bill stiffened the terms for the automakers to get aid.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., warned that the Senate could be in session this weekend because of roadblocks from opponents. Although the House could hold a vote in a matter of hours after a deal, procedural delays in the Senate could take several days to overcome, if backers of the rescue can win the 60 votes necessary, including up to 20 Republicans.

Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, a Democrat, said the deal would need strong backing to win passage.

"We will need the personal involvement of President Bush and President-elect Obama to reach our goal of securing bridge loans to ensure America’s auto industry is not only viable but vibrant in the years ahead," Levin said.

Details of the compromise were still unknown late Tuesday, but one change would call back the loan and force the automakers into bankruptcy if they failed to make progress on their turnaround.

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[Atomic Lib Smasher]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Dims want to nationalize the auto industry with this bailout?

[Eupher]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Dims want to nationalize the auto industry with this bailout?

not just the auto industry - the entire freaking ECONOMY.

Socialism at its finest.

[Wretched Excess]

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Dims want to nationalize the auto industry with this bailout?

that is what a "car czar" will do, I assume.  tell detroit to make the kinds of cars that politicians want made, not the kind of cars that people want to buy.

it's disgusting.  let 'em fail, and declare bankruptcy.  then they can bust the unions up, which, aside from obviously thick headed management, is the auto industry's biggest problem.

[Crazy Horse]

whoopsie..................


 

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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.”

 

[Jim]

whoopsie..................


  

 

looks like my nastygram to Cantor wasn't a total waste of time.

[Zeus]

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.

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[Wretched Excess]

thank God that during this time of national crisis and and economic downturn larger than the great depression, our congressional leadership is able to maintain their focus and avoid distractions.

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

[TexasFred]

[Eupher]

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.

Freudian slip, maybe?

Hey Harry! Here's a news flash for you!

You know that thing called an agenda? That thing you are talking about as being "lame duck?" Guess what, Harry! You and your pal Nancy control that agenda! Remember?

Now, why don't you take another look at that bullshit that you are credited with having uttered and go back and recalculate.

Trying to bury a pay raise for your lawyer/judge friends into a ****ing bailout package is the lamest form of lame, Harry.

How about maximum disclosure, Harry? How about putting that pay raise in yet another bill for the Senate to waffle on?

Asshat.  

[Miss Mia]

I hope this goes through.  They need to survive through 2009 and be able to retool and restructure.  Going through even Chapter 11 will ruin these companies.  Chrysler needs to go, period, but GM and Ford can still survive.  I think both have presented plans that include reducing their car companies (Saab, Volvo, Saturn, etc) and the fact that the UAW is taking over the pensions in 2010 is a great help.  

I think a loan to these companies is very necessary and if we lose them it's going to hurt everyone a whole lot more than what most people realize.


BTW, a judicial raise right now is completely ridiculous and an embarrassment. 

[Wretched Excess]

one step closer . . .

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.

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[Chris_]

You just keep posting stuff that I steal! :)