Posted on 12/12/2008 7:04:08 AM PST by meandog
Bush changes mind, may save auto giants
Facing the potential bankruptcy of iconic American firms, President Bush on Friday abandoned his longstanding objection to using using the Wall Street bailout fund to help save G.M., Ford and Chrysler.
A frustrated Republican congressional official said: "If only they had said this last week, we could have saved ourselves a full week."
Ten hours after the Senate rejected a separate lifeline for the automakers, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a statement it would be "irresponsible" to let the companies crash. So she said Bush will "consider other options," including the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program that Congress created for the Treasury Department in October.
"Under normal economic conditions we would prefer that markets determine the ultimate fate of private firms," Perino said in a statement. "However, given the current weakened state of the U.S. economy, we will consider other options if necessary – including use of the TARP program — to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers. A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
A modern day version of the "tea party".
The auto industry is essential to this country both in the short term and in the long term. We need to revive manufacturing. This economic catastrophe clearly demonstrates the weakness of a service economy or as some call it a consumer driven economy.
Maybe so, but, the airlines and other industries have had to go bankrupt and reorganize. Why should the auto industry be any different? It’s not like they will vanish. The will vanish in their current form, which is not a bad thing, IMHO.
AMEN!!!!!!!
“The big three union is already taking big pay cuts, the big issue is legacy costs.”
Source on the pay cuts?
Really, you might want to take a look at the trade deficit. We essentially manufacture almost nothing. What little we manufacture will disappear if the Auto industry goes under. I love all the Free traders who argue against all evidence that manufacturing is fine. We do not make clothing, electronics, or much steel (this will evaporate if the big three goes under). I go to the store; I can’t find hardly anything made in this country. The government is even trying to force Chinese food on us despite the complete lack of safety standards. During the bird flu epidemic...they wanted to import chicken from China. The free trade policies as practiced now are bad for America period.
The Pres could send in the US Army to administer GM, F, and C and operate the assembly lines.
I agree. My FU emails will increase no doubt. Free traders promised America that we would not lose jobs...We lost jobs. Now they tell us we don’t need those jobs anyway. The free trade globalists have much to answer for-they not only were wrong, they lied through their teeth and refused to admit their many mistakes. ‘Illegals take jobs America won’t do’...tell that to the thousands of Americans seeking jobs who lined up at a chicken plant in GA after the illegal workers were arrested. ‘We will be the idea people.’Tell that to Techies . who have lost many jobs to H1B visa holders who are needed to to do the jobs America is to stupid to do according to free traders like Gates of Microsoft. There are liars, damn liars and then the liars of free trade fame who have bankrupted this country.
I understand all this. In fact, logic alone demonstrates Free Trade/Globalism does not work, will not work, and will never work.
Not only we have lost good jobs, and have had other professions racked by illegal or non-citizen labor....we are seeing our agricultural system displaced by shipping out American agri-products...and forcing the US to import staples...we now have to import food!
Also....you notice how the US agri budget keeps growing....we taxpayers now subsidize agriculture even more...because the wealth-redistribution from bad free trade deals has put the ag-industry in a hole....it cant compete with foreign subsidized ag products...no matter how many illegals the ag industry hires
Just the stupidity of all these bad trade deals
If you goal is truly to save the Auto industry bankruptcy can not work. The airlines continue to sell tickets while in bankruptcy-certainly fairly cheap tickets. The auto industry can not sell $500.00 cars.
Also, you need parts to stay in business. Parts manufacturers have already signaled unless a deal is reached, they will not send the parts. The plants shut down and liquidation begins.
There is no way in the current financial situation, GM could get debtor financing-won’t happen. The banks are not lending to healthy companies much less bankrupt companies. Nope-we have a loan or the big three go away in a matter of days and weeks most likely.
Bush and McCain may try to push the amnesty through before he leaves with the help of Miss Lindsay Daisy Graham-nesty and Mel “Scarface” Martinez.
Rarely have a country’s leaders been so UNITED in the treachery that none would call it such. I think you might have to go back to the hundred families of Carthage, or the murder of Julius Caesar to get an example of such unity in treason.
I agree with everything you said about agriculture. It is not enough for these free traders to destroy our jobs and our middle class. Now, they want to force us to eat Chinese food...which is figuratively and literally poison.
“Illegals take jobs America won’t do’...tell that to the thousands of Americans seeking jobs who lined up at a chicken plant in GA after the illegal workers were arrested.”
I worked in the construction industry. You would have been hard pressed to find a carpenter, carpet layer, brick layer, roofer or framer, who could speak English. Americans would have happily done those jobs, just not for $8.00 an hour.
Another sad fact is that those jobs were once entry level jobs and many of the people driving the nails would eventually become foremen. Not so with the Mexican nationals, they work till the job is done then take their money back to Mexico. During the great building boom a few years ago I was on site tweaking some cabinets, and the building superintendent, who was just out of college with a degree in music appreciation, wanted me to move a base cabinet to a spot reserved for a sink cabinet, I showed him the pipes that the plumber had stubbed out and the blueprint showing a sink, he had no idea how to read a blueprint, or even a line drawing. He told me he was getting more money than he ever thought he would make having trained to be a music teacher, but even though he had no skills or experience in the building sector, the fact that he had a college degree was why he got hired. Unfortunately he didn’t know anything and most of the Mexican workers either didn’t know either, or didn’t care.
How far is HE willing to go to DESTROY the Republican Party?
to get an example of such unity in treason.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..............
The scope and scale of it is so large that it is almost impossible for the average person to comprehend it..
The way I see it, trade with countries that use slave labor is not “FREE TRADE” it is “SLAVE TRADE.”
My only hope is faith in the knowledge that things like this can’t go on forever, any more than the Soviet Union could. One swift kick and the whole rotten edifice is going to come crashing down.
Me too.
New hires at GM receive $14.00 per hour. The average wage is 28.00-30.00 per hour. There is a two tier system established in the last contract. Actually, in some case the UAW workers would need to increase their salaries to establish parity with the transplants. No worries though, some Toyota workers were recently fired for releasing a memo-where the company talks about driving down North American wages-truly a rush to the bottom. Go global and you to0 can work for a bowl of rice...or maybe a half bowl.
The Senate denied it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.