Auto Bailout Fails in Senate

It seemed that after Congress passed the latest $14 Billion Bailout that it would surely make it through the senate today without too much friction, but that wasn’t the case.

“We were about three words away from a deal,” said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the GOP’s point man in the negotiations.  The United Auto Workers union would not accept to bring wages in line with Japanese competitors by 2009, and that was the issue that prevented this bill from being passed.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said he hoped President George W. Bush would tap the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund for emergency aid to the automakers. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have said they could be weeks from collapse. Ford Motor Co. says it does not need federal help now, but its survival is far from certain. Read more

Are The Big Three Auto Makers Doomed?

The auto industry seems to be next on the list of industries that will need federal support in order to maintain its existence in the United States. The Center of Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., estimates that the failure of the US auto industry would lead to the loss of 2.5 million jobs which is just more bad news in regards to the weakened US economy. Congress is set to debate this week on the fate of the Big Three, GM, Ford and Chrysler. GM has already warned that it may run out of cash and be forced to declare bankruptcy before the end of the year.

They’re a dinosaur in a sense,” Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I hate to see this because I would like to see them become lean and hungry and innovative. And if they did and put out the right products they could survive. But I don’t believe that the $25 billion they’re talking about will make them survive. It’s just postponing the inevitable.” Read more