The Impala in dispute in the lawsuit. If you drive one of these, save some money for tires.
Posted on 08/20/2011 11:30:18 PM PDT by andyk
In a bid to boost flagging auto sales, the federal government will pay for any warranty repairs on a General Motors or Chrysler vehicle if either company can't because of financial problems or a bankruptcy filing, President Barack Obama said on Monday.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can. If you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors, you will be able to get your car serviced and repaired just like always," Obama said in a speech. "Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it has ever been. Because starting today, the United States will stand behind your warranty."
GM and Chrysler are at a high risk of bankruptcy as they face some of the lowest U.S. sales rates in 27 years, analysts have said. The government on Monday took several actions to help shore up the two automakers after forcing the resignation of GM CEO Rick Wagoner.
"Given where the industry is, these highly unprecedented actions are consistent with the unprecedented times we're in," Standard & Poor's analyst Robert Schulz told Reuters today.
Both companies have said that bankruptcy would snuff out sales because consumers wouldn't buy a car from a company that might not be around to honor the warranty and provide service and spare parts.
Any funds for the warranty program will come from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) provided by Congress, according to White House fact sheet on warrantees that was distributed last night.
Support for scrapping incentive
Obama also on Monday said he will work with Congress to try to fund credits for consumers who turn in old cars and buy cleaner, more fuel-efficient automobiles.
Programs of this kind "have been successful in boosting auto sales in a number of European countries," Obama said the news conference. The auto scrapping program is part of a larger administration effort to increase car sales and modernize manufacturers' fleets.
Obama said he also will try to speed up programs to support immediate demand for auto sales. The administration will try to accelerate federal purchases of government cars and increase the flow of credit to consumers and dealers.
Also on Monday, the Internal Revenue Service will start a campaign to alert consumers of a new tax benefit for car purchases made between Feb. 16 and the end of the year, Obama said.
Partisan reactions
Lawmakers responded to Obama's initiatives along partisan lines.
U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said the administration used the Wagoner firing as a "sideshow to distract us from the fact that the administration has no progress to announce today.
"The administration is pursuing much of what we pushed for in December, but the delay of several months has increased the severity and sent billions of taxpayer dollars down the drain. Now any investment is likely unrecoverable and we are putting more and more jobs at the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and the supply chain at risk in a politically charged environment."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed support for Obama's plans.
"We will not give these companies a blank check," the Nevada Democrat said in a statement. "If these companies do not develop strong plans to remain viable in the long term, they will lose our support."
Obama is an idiot.
Your honor, I want to play the tape of the President of the United States saying he would take care of this recall issue on my car.
Can’t wait to see the law suits!
AWESOME! Obama didn’t have the authority to make that promise and no legislation will back him up on it.
What an idiot!
This is absolutely insane.
Here comes the Auto Bailouts: Part II (Let’s go for more debt)!..(so that Obama can be reelected).
Obama: “If you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan”...
Uh, yeah, sure...
You got that right.
The democrats stole the GM bondholders money and turned it over to the UAW.
I will never ever buy anything made by these bailed out auto companies that are owned by thieves.
I want them all to wind up living in cardboard boxes on the streets of Detroit.
Ford KILL and capture the entire car industry by using the MyT engine of Angel Labs.. http://angellabsllc.com/mytengine.html
This things is amazing in its scope...
I would LUV to have an outboard engine with one of these..
More power small footprint.. more mileage.. air cooled no oil.. lasts forever.. few moving parts.. easy to rebuild.. On and ON..
Amazing to me that it hasnt been sucked up somebody.. even the Japs.. or Koreans..
Simply amazing performance and concept..
The Impala in dispute in the lawsuit. If you drive one of these, save some money for tires.
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
While I certainly agree with your concise assessment of him as “an idiot” I’m flummoxed as to why you folks are discussing an article written in 2009 as if it were happening today.
Granted, the ramifications for today are here (as in the Impala lawsuit) but that wasn’t an issue when this article was written.
(Or am I reading this wrong?)
No. You read it right. Apparently I was scammed thinking this article was a follow up to the lawsuit the transpired this week over the ‘07-’08 Impala. Nice catch.
For a minute I thought someone was playing “Let’s do the time warp again...” and I just couldn’t hear it.
See #8 - GM is denying (today) warranty coverage for “old” pre-bankruptcy cars whereas Obummer put the full faith and credit behind GM and Chrysler warranties in an effort to boost sales of Government Motors vehicles. The article just points this out. ;-)
As my grandpa used to say, if it sounds to good to be true ... well, you know.
It’s just a jump to the left. And then a step to the right.
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