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House OKs $14 billion auto rescue deal (The News Journal)
Senate GOP opposes loans for GM, Chrysler
Washington, Dec 6 -
The House passed a $14 billion rescue for General Motors Corp. and
"I do not believe that government holds the key to
Congressional Democrats, in an effort to secure a
"The combination of a domestic recession and a global
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., supports the measure. Vice
The compromise strengthens the power of the federal
Despite the president's support, Senate Republicans
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said on the Senate floor
While the bill would give GM and Chrysler the $14
Automakers last week had asked Congress for at least
On his train ride to Washington, Carper said, fellow
Carper said during a Tuesday speech on the Senate
"We want to improve the likelihood that we'll get
Chrysler on Wednesday as Democrats vowed to move ahead with the
emergency loans despite warnings from Senate Republicans that it lacked
the support needed to win final approval.
The measure passed the House on a 237-170 vote, with Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware among 32 Republicans voting in favor.
Castle expressed dismay over the automakers' business plans and said he
has pressed for greater innovation and better fuel efficiency for more
than a decade. He said he supported the bill with the hope that it will
help save jobs, noting that nearly 2,000 auto-related jobs have been
lost already in Delaware.
rebuild a business or an industry, and I abhor the practice of turning
to taxpayer dollars in order to lessen the hardships of our economy,"
he said in a statement. "However, people are struggling. It would be
irresponsible to look away from the individual workers or families that
have done nothing wrong and would face job loss ... insurance
challenges and, frankly, more foreclosures."
bill President George W. Bush would sign, met with White House
officials to draft the current measure.
financial credit crisis is crippling our manufacturing base," said Rep.
Sander Levin, D-Mich. "We must act to preserve the millions of jobs at
stake, to maintain the U.S. advantage in advanced technologies and to
protect the synergies between the auto industry and national security."
President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to come back and vote if necessary,
according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and a transition aide.
Biden will be in Washington today, meeting in the morning with retired
Marine Corps. Gen. Jim Jones and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the
nominees for national security adviser and secretary of state.
overseer, or car czar, who would make loans to GM and Chrysler. If
those companies don't make cuts and reach deals with creditors and the
union by March 31, the overseer must call back any loans and
essentially force the companies into bankruptcy.
vowed to stop the bill. Several said it would be better if the
automakers declared bankruptcy.
that the rescue plan was "ass backwards" for handing the money to the
automakers before requiring more detailed plans of how they would save
themselves. GM and Chrysler have said they need $8 billion before the
end of the month to stave off insolvency.
Vitter said he would use every procedural tool at his command to delay and block any bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that if Republicans used such
roadblocks, the Senate would likely have to meet through the weekend to
pass any bill.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he believed the bill has "less than a handful of votes" among Republicans.
"This bill is an incredibly weak bill, it's the product of an
administration that wants to kick the can down the road, and I think it
has minimal, very little support in our caucus," he said.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala, called the bill "a travesty."
"This is an installment on a huge bailout that would come later," he said.
Shelby and other Republicans said they favor an alternative from
Corker, who has said automakers and the UAW need to commit to steep
cuts in return for aid.
billion the automakers say they need to survive through March 31, it
also sets the terms for Ford Motor Co., which has said it will not take
a loan but will ask for a $9 billion credit line. GM and Chrysler would
have to grant the government stock or warrants that could give it a
majority stake in either company, and also restrict executive pay and
end corporate jet travel.
$34 billion in loans. One congressional witness, Mark Zandi, chief
economist and co-founder of Moody's Economy.com, predicted the cost of
ensuring that automakers don't go into bankruptcy in the next couple of
years would be much higher, falling between $75 billion to $125
billion.
Amtrak riders told him they didn't like the idea of Congress giving
money to automakers any more than they liked giving it to financial
institutions in October.
floor that lawmakers aren't interested in unconditionally offering the
money and saying "we hope you get better and can repay the money down
the line."
back every dime that is lent and more, and we want to make sure the
companies, particularly Chrysler, Ford and GM, make the additional
changes they need to increase the likelihood they will be viable for a
long period of time," he said.