Auto Bailout Bill Collapses in Senate Despite Intense Negotiations
I guess the Senators finally listened to the American people. It is a shame that they didn't listen to us in October before they bailed out the banks. We could have saved billions then.
A deal on $14 billion in aid to Detroit's Big Three automakers fell apart Thursday night in the Senate despite intense negotiations on Capitol Hill between lawmakers, union officials and representatives from the three companies.
The bailout died after failing 52-35 on a Senate procedural vote.
Earlier in the evening, the talks appeared to have produced a breakthrough, with Democratic leaders "hopeful" that an agreement had been reached that would be acceptable to Senate Republicans, who have resisted the aid package. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came back later to report the effort had failed, adding he was "terribly disappointed."
The White House said it was evaluating its options in light of the breakdown.
The collapse of the latest negotiations came as the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening that General Motors had hired lawyers and bankers to consider whether to file for bankruptcy, a prospect made more likely by the outcome of Thursday's talks.
A procedural vote is scheduled Thursday night but it is expected to be little more than a formality.
"We just don't have the votes," Reid said. "I dread looking at Wall Street in the morning."
Democratic leaders and the White House made final pleas for the bill's passage on Thursday, but the two sides in the Senate failed to forge a compromise.
The House approved the plan late Wednesday on a vote of 237-170. It would infuse money within days into cash-starved General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. Ford Motor Co., which has said it has enough cash to make it through 2009, would also be eligible for federal aid.A car czar to tell an private company what to build and what to sell it at. That was tried once, the place was the Soviet Union and it didn't work then.
The plan would also create a government "car czar," to be named by President Bush to dole out loans, with the power to force the carmaker into bankruptcy next spring if they didn't cut quick deals with labor unions, creditors and others to restructure their businesses and become viable.
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Now these companies just might have to trim down, cut costs, get new contracts with the union and give up executive perks in order to survive. Or they will fail. But it is not up to the government to bailout any private company or business sector.
1 comment:
Everyone will have to make sacrifices in these times, it's unfair to just ask the taxpayer to carry all the load. Those running these companies need to be punished, it's their job to prepare them for times like this. They're not supposed to be professional beggars in suits.
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