POLL: Should the Gov’t rescue the auto industry?
Congress is debating a $25 billion loan proposal to give automakers part of the $700 billion originally allotted for the mortgage and banking sectors.
“We are seeing a potential meltdown in the auto industry, with consequences that could directly impact millions of American workers and cause further devastation to our economy,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor.
But The White House says making the financial-rescue package available to automakers isn’t politically possible. “There aren’t the votes in the Senate” to pass the Democratic plan, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said yesterday.
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC are seeking aid as industry-wide sales have plummeted to a 17-year low. GM this month said it lost $4.2 billion in the third quarter and almost $73 billion since the end of 2004. The largest U.S. automaker said it may not have enough cash to get through the year. Ford lost $2.98 billion in the third quarter as sales fell 22 percent.
An estimated 2.5 million jobs could be loss if the auto industry collapses, including 1.4 million people in industries not directly tied to manufacturing, according to a Nov. 4 study by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A collapse of General Motors would cost the government $200 billion in aid to states and extended unemployment benefits, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
So what should we do?
Loading ...
3 Comments
butterfly
Wednesday, 19th November 2008 at 5:54 PM
‘Rescue’ is kind of a tricky word. I want the government to help with a pre-packaged bankruptcy or help engineer one company getting bought by another, or both. There aren’t enough customers for everyone to survive and something must be done.
I voted ‘no’ on the rescue.
sas
Monday, 8th December 2008 at 4:30 PM
Bail out the auto industry and start to investigate congress, salary too high, lobbyist payoffs and travel perks–too many leave office with much to much money in the bank
Kevin
Wednesday, 10th December 2008 at 12:27 PM
The auto industry needs to go into chapter 11. They need to reorganize and throw out the Union contracts that are hurting them competitively. Yes, I know there is going to be a bunch of Union people that are going to be pissed about this, but the free ride is over… The world has caught us to us and is going to leave us if we don’t stop paying some High-school dropout $29+ an hour to put on 2 tires and 10 lug nuts. When kids in school hear that Union members make more than College grads, even kids with a little common sense will wonder where the value in eduacation is.
Let’s see drop out of school and make 80 grand a year with O.T. or go to college have student loans from 40K-120K that I have to pay off for the next 10 years and then only make 50K-60K to start.
Unions were a good thing 30-40 years ago. Now all the do is act like a cancer to any company that get’s one.
Leave a Comment