House passes Auto Rescue/Bailout Bill, still faces heavy Senate opposition
by John Neff on Dec 10th 2008 at 10:42PM 
The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Wednesday to pass the Auto Rescue/Bailout Bill by a vote of 237 to 170. The contents of the bill came from concessions made by Congressional Democrats to White House demand, which include $14 billion in government loans, $1 billion less than was previously discussed, and the creation of a "Car Czar" appointed by the president to oversee the automakers' progress. It is widely recognized that the bill is a stop-gap measure meant to float General Motors and Chrysler through the end of March. This would give them time to renegotiate with its creditors, the UAW and other companies. If all goes well, the status of GM and Chrysler will be reviewed around March 31st to determine if further federal assistance is required, which it likely would be unless the economy magically recovers and people start buying new vehicles again in larger numbers.
In order to get the bill passed, Congressional Democrats gave in to the administration's demand for strict oversight, including broad powers for the Car Czar to pull back the money if he/she determines that automakers aren't on track and dropping a provision that automakers must agree to end their support of lawsuits against states that have chosen to adopt emissions standards set by the California Air Resources Board that are stricter than federal standards.
Though the bill appears to have passed through the House with ease, the case for assisting Detroit with federal funds will receive much more resistance in the Senate where Democrats are not expected to have the 60 votes needed to block a filibuster by opposing Republicans. Led by Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala), the Republican opposition may have enough votes to indefinitely stall or outright block the bill's passage. The White House spent Wednesday among its Republican colleagues in the Senate trying to shore up support for the bill, but no one is certain what the bill's chances are of passing. The showdown between Senate Republicans and the fate of U.S. automakers is scheduled for a vote either late Saturday or early Sunday. Stay tuned.
[Source: CNN Money]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Bob 10:54PM (12/10/2008)
How did you find out about this?
Reply
Torrent 11:13PM (12/10/2008)
CNN.
Mobius_1 9:38AM (12/11/2008)
The Onion :P
Tourian 9:54AM (12/11/2008)
@Big Rocket
Bankruptcy is not a viable option, its a last resort. You are so sure that a car company like GM can become profitable after going through it, but you have nothing to base your "Sureness" on. You say you represent "the will of the people" but you face opposition in your opinions here. History has shown us that loaning an automaker money is a good idea. Chrysler paid it off early plus interest. Delphi, an auto supplier remains mired in bankruptcy and they are a supplier, not even a car maker. Show me one major automaker that has come out of bankruptcy. Nissan had to be bailed out, yes bailed out, by the French with Renault.
ben 1:37PM (1/06/2009)
the union and mfg. are so greedy they need to lower their prices and would not need a bailout! I hope congress never passes it and just lets them close the doors!!!!
C B 1 11:31PM (12/10/2008)
Well done with the cartoon theme in the last few posts on this issue.
Reply
mg driver 9:03PM (12/11/2008)
Bob Lutz for car czar
Reply
Auari 12:17AM (12/11/2008)
The showdown between Senate Republicans and the fate of U.S. automakers is scheduled for late Saturday or early Sunday ! ! !
ORDER NOW ON PAY-PER-VIEW FOR ONLY 19.99
I bet they would make a lot of money doing that.
Reply
mmstowes 12:21AM (12/11/2008)
My lady and I sat around all day on our day off watching the preceedings. It was snowing and crappy outside, we were tired and there was nothing on tv. It was interesting; we even popped popcorn. I took a bunch of calls that day and everyone was watching C-Span, probably the only time in tv history that many people have ever watched...lol.
Big Rocket 1:02AM (12/11/2008)
Six in 10 Americans oppose the bailout to the Big 3. Seven in 10 consider the bailout unfair to American taxpayers. Our national debt is $10 Trillion. Every man, woman, and child in this country owes $35 thousand. And what does the House of Representatives do about it? Against the will of the American people, we are plunged further into debt, in order to pay off the auto industry lobbyists. It is yet another sad chapter in the fiscal irresponsibility of our government.
Sources:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/03/auto.poll/index.html
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Sean 2:36AM (12/11/2008)
And without the bailout in less than a year when these three companies are completely gone and the unemployed work is doubled as a result?
Yeah that's a much better idea.
Torrent 1:17AM (12/11/2008)
Damn. Shut up!! You make such worthless posts. We get the point, you hate everything on earth.
happy_penguin 1:20AM (12/11/2008)
*giggle*
Big Rocket 1:22AM (12/11/2008)
@Torrent: If you have something meaningful to say to support the Big 3 bailout, then by all means, speak up. Personal attacks only serve to discredit your side of the discussion. I, for one, do not feel the will of the American people, and our enormous tax/debt burden, to be worthless.
Kimura 1:28AM (12/11/2008)
Oh please, with a society as greedy and self loathing as ours is it any wonder so many people oppose helping Detroit?
But it's OK that we were unwillingly forced to spend 700 billion on the banks who got un into this economic mess, and then another 20 million for Citigroup right after Congress snubbed their noses to helping Detroit the first time. I'd rather my tax dollars go towards helping companies that actually build something and employ middle class people than a bunch of rich paper pushers.
Kimura 1:30AM (12/11/2008)
un = us
...damn typos.
Big Rocket 1:36AM (12/11/2008)
@Kimura: No, it wasn't OK to spend over $700 billion to pay off Wall Street lobbyists. And, no, it isn't OK to spend $14 billion now, and perhaps even more later on, to pay off auto industry lobbyists. Two wrongs never make a right.
Jake B 3:50AM (12/11/2008)
Big Rocket you can not look at the loans as even more tax burden. In the grand scheme of things it is really not all that much money. The amount of money lost as a result of losing such a crucial industry would result in a serious net loss for the country. In simple business sense you have to spend money to make money, the same can be said here. We have to foot an industry so we don't get supremely squatted on by a great depression.
carlbolt 8:48AM (12/11/2008)
Big Rocket,
The will of American people is normally stupid and too emotional, it leads to nowhere.
Jean 10:33AM (12/11/2008)
I also read that there is a rasise for Federal Judges tagged on if it passed. Why don't we hear that on the news? Wonder what else they will tag on to get it passed?