WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2008

Detroit's Big 3 Make $25 Billion Plea

Beleaguered Automakers Warn Congress Of Broader Economic Peril; White House Skeptical

    • From left, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, and University of Maryland School of Business professor Peter Morici testify during a Senate hearing on the state of the auto industry on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008, in Washington. Photo

      From left, Ford CEO Alan Mulally, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, and University of Maryland School of Business professor Peter Morici testify during a Senate hearing on the state of the auto industry on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008, in Washington.  (AP)

    • Photo

       (AP GraphicsBank)

    • Chevrolet salesman Philip Jordan, center, assists Charlotte Olson, right, who's looking to buy a car for her 18-year-old daughter, Kari Olson, left, Nov. 12, 2008, in downtown Los Angeles. Photo

      Chevrolet salesman Philip Jordan, center, assists Charlotte Olson, right, who's looking to buy a car for her 18-year-old daughter, Kari Olson, left, Nov. 12, 2008, in downtown Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Ric Francis)

    • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 5, 2008, to discuss Tuesday's presidential election. Photo

      House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 5, 2008, to discuss Tuesday's presidential election.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

    • Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., second from right, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., right, pose for a photo before a meeting with, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, Jr., Chrysler Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert L. Nardelli, and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 6, 2008. Photo

      Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., second from right, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., right, pose for a photo before a meeting with, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, Jr., Chrysler Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert L. Nardelli, and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 6, 2008.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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  • Play CBS Video Video Big Three In Need

    American automakers GM, Ford And Chrysler are running on empty and hoping that the government will come to their rescue with a bailout. Jim Axelrod reports.

  • Video U.S. Auto Industry Stalls

    Three million jobs could be at stake if one of the big three automakers fails, and the prospect of a bailout is looking bleak. Michelle Miller reports.

  • Video Automakers Running On Empty

    A bailout for the auto industry may be looming, but there may not be enough money to save them, reports Anthony Mason. Maggie Rodriguez talks to Mich. Gov. Jennifer Granholm about the ripple effect.

Should the federal government bail out the Big Three automakers?
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(CBS/AP)  Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with Congress on Tuesday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry, warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse.

Millions of layoffs would follow their demise, they said, as damaging effects rippled across an already-faltering economy.

But the new rescue plan appeared stalled on Capitol Hill, opposed by the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress who don't want to dip into the Treasury Department's $700 billion financial bailout program to come up with the $25 billion in loans.

"Our industry ... needs a bridge to span the financial chasm that has opened up before us," General Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner told the Senate Banking Committee. He blamed the industry's predicament not on failures by management but on the deepening global financial crisis.

And Robert Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler LLC, told the panel the bailout would be "the least costly alternative" when compared with damage from bankruptcy.

Sympathy for the industry was sparse.

Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., told the leaders of GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. that the industry was "seeking treatments for wounds that I believe to a large extent were self-inflicted."

Still, he said, "At a time like this, when our economic future is so tenuous, we must do all we can to ensure stability."

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., complained that the larger financial crisis "is not the only reason why the domestic auto industry is in trouble."

He cited "inefficient production" and "costly labor agreements" that put the U.S. automakers at a disadvantage to foreign companies.

Angus MacKenzie, editor in chief of Motor Trend, says the whole industry is "structurally all wrong."

For example, while GM and Toyota each have about 20 percent of the U.S. market, GM has eight brands and Toyota has only three, reports CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason. General Motors has 7,000 dealerships; the Japanese automaker has just 1,500.

"It's got too many people making too many products in too many factories, selling through too many dealers," MacKenzie says.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally told senators the auto industry was "a pillar of our economy. We look forward to working with you to be part of the solution" to the financial crisis. "We at Ford are well on our way to transforming our country and building a new Ford," he said.

GM's Wagoner said that despite some public perceptions that his company was not keeping pace with the times and technological changes, "we've moved aggressively in recent years to position GM for long-term success. And we were well on the road to turning our North American business around."

"What exposes us to failure now is the global financial crisis, which has severely restricted credit availability and reduced industry sales to the lowest per-capita level since World War II."

Failure of the auto industry "would be catastrophic," he said, resulting in three million jobs lost within the first year and "economic devastation (that) would far exceed the government support that our industry needs to weather the current crisis."

Chrysler's Nardelli sought to respond to critics who suggest the automakers seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as have some airlines that later emerged restructured and leaner.

"We just cannot be confident that we will be able to successfully emerge from bankruptcy," Nardelli said.

Chrysler was bailed out by the federal government once before, in 1979, with $1.2 billion in loan guarantees. The company repaid the loan, plus interest, ahead of schedule.

Joining the Big Three CEOs, Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers union, said the emergency loans were important for the survival of the industry and union jobs. He said the UAW recognized that "in order for these companies to be competitive, we had to make tough calls" in labor concessions.

Congressional leaders worked behind the scenes in an effort to hammer out a compromise that could speed some aid to the automakers before year's end. But the outlook seemed poor.

"My sense is that nothing's going to happen this week," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said at the opening of the hearing.

Earlier, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Congress might have to return in December - rather than adjourning for the year this week, as expected - to push through an auto bailout.

"Dealing with the automobile crisis is a pressing need. We are talking about a lot of people ... and a great consequence to our economy," said Hoyer, D-Md.

Superior Industries, a wheel maker in California, has already taken a hit, reports Mason.

"We've just closed a plant is Kansas. That will be approximately 700 people," says CEO Steven Borick, who adds that his business is down more than 30 percent this year.

The financial situation for the automakers grows more precarious by the day. Cash-strapped GM said it will delay reimbursing its dealers for rebates and other sales incentives and could run out of cash by year's end without government aid.

In the Senate, Democrats discussed but rejected the option favored by the White House and GOP lawmakers to let the auto industry use a $25 billion loan program created by Congress in September - designed to help the companies develop more fuel-efficient vehicles - to tide them over financially until President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other senior Democrats, who count environmental groups among their strongest supporters, have vehemently opposed that approach because it would divert federal money that was supposed to go toward the development of vehicles that use less gasoline.

Instead, they want to draw the $25 billion directly from the $700 billion Wall Street bailout - bringing the government's total aid to the car companies to $50 billion.

A Senate vote on that plan, which would also extend jobless benefits, could come as early as Thursday, but aides in both parties and lobbyists tracking the effort privately acknowledge it doesn't have the support to advance. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson renewed the administration's opposition on Tuesday.

Even the car companies' strongest supporters conceded Tuesday that changing the terms of the fuel-efficiency loan program might be the only way to secure funding for them with Congress set to depart for the year and the firms in tough financial shape.

"While I believe we have to have retooling going into next year, if in the short run the only way we have to be able to get some immediate help is to take a portion of that, I would very reluctantly do that - but only because I believe President-elect Obama is going to be focused on retooling and on a manufacturing strategy next year," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

Mr. Obama said he believes aid for the auto industry is needed but that it should be provided as part of a long-term plan - not simply as a blank check.

"For the auto industry to completely collapse would be a disaster in this kind of environment," Mr. Obama told 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft in an exclusive interview aired Sunday night.

The White House said the government shouldn't send any more money to the struggling auto industry on top of the already-approved loans.

"We don't think that taxpayers should be asked to throw money at a company that can't prove that it has a long-term path for success," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader, said that redirecting the existing loans was "a sound way to go forward," and that he was working with Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada to set a vote on such a plan.

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Add a Comment See all 290 Comments
by craigh9 November 18, 2008 11:36 AM EST
Enough is enough!!! Bailing out the financial sector was necessary to keep our economy viable. The car manufactureres are a business - large yes, but a business. Their remedy is bankruptcy, not a bailout. The entire car inductry is broken in america. Spending good money after bad is not the answer. The companies need the bankruptcy rules in order to restructure themselves, to alter the absolutely ridiculous contracts with the labor unions as well as exisitng contracts with dealers. If they are given money by the government nothing will change and they will be back for more in short order or be filing for bankruptcy anyway. Here''s hoping someone in Congress has the common sense to end this ridiculous notion and force the auot industry to handle their own mess - they made it, and they have avenues available to fix it. IT IS NOT THE PROBLEM OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OR GOVERNMENT!
Reply to this comment
by gop_will_win November 18, 2008 11:40 AM EST
Let them go bankrupt and dissolve the unions. Then hire everyone back at minimum wage and no benefits.
Reply to this comment
by craigh9 November 18, 2008 11:51 AM EST
Posted by gop_will_Win at 08:40 AM : Nov 18, 2008

That''s rather harsh, but a 30% reduction across the board would make things workable again. Instead of the average labor cost being $70/hr it would be reduced to $50/hr. - the unions could negotiate what''s mopre important to their members - would they prefer to keep their current salary and pay the difference for their benefits or do it flat rate. This is what has to happen to make those companies viable again
Reply to this comment
by tbuckl November 18, 2008 12:17 PM EST
All hands on deck! All hands on deck! She is going down at the bow, abandon ship! abandon ship! Man the life boats. All hands on deck, this is not a drill, this is not a drill, man the life boats. Mayday mayday this is USS American we are taking on water and going down, Mayday mayday this the USS Americna we are taking on water and sinking, life boats are being deployed, we are abandoning ship at this time.
Reply to this comment
by a_witness-2009 November 18, 2008 12:44 PM EST
Read this slowly. Let it sink in. Quietly we go, Sheep to slaughter.





Does anybody out there have any memory of the reason given for the government%u2019s creation the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Carter Administration?



Anybody? Anything? No? I didn''t think so.



Bottom line . . we''ve spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.



Ready? It was very simple, and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.



The Department of Energy was created on August 4, 1 977 to



%u201DLESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.%u201D



HEY, PRETTY EFFICIENT, HUH?



AND NOW IT''S 2008, 31 YEARS LATER, AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS NECESSARY DEPARTMENT IS $24.2 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!



THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY ''WHAT WAS I THINKING?''



And now we are going to turn the Banking system over to them? God Help us.

Reply to this comment
by abbe91 November 18, 2008 12:46 PM EST
"The Big 3 should just go into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and lose the UAW and their Union. Let the Democrats in Congress give those jobs to the "illegal immigrates" in our country for $5.00 per hour.
Posted by hclinton2012 at 09:39 AM : Nov 18, 2008"

The democrats voted to raise minimum wages. That''s Amnesty McCain and his friends that you are describing there. Sorry, try again.
Reply to this comment
by hitoyou1 November 18, 2008 12:54 PM EST
No bailout. Ket them, the big 3 fall. Shut the door. Get the junk off the road. Go sleep in a park. Just go away. No one wants you.
Reply to this comment
by n8yvn29 November 18, 2008 1:02 PM EST
Bailouts for Junior Bush''s crony rich buddies on Wall Street but no bailout for the auto-industry (which employs workers represented by unions). Is is not time to prosecute Mr. Bush?
Reply to this comment
by pirmin3 November 18, 2008 1:02 PM EST
Let ''em sink!! No bailouts for idiots. Good time to get rid of the worthless UAW too.
Reply to this comment
by ricklf1 November 18, 2008 1:16 PM EST
I VOTED FOR OBAMA AND I SAY BAIL OUT THE BIG THREE AND SAVE AMERICAN JOBS AT ANY COST. WITHOUT THE GREAT AMERICAN AUTOWORKERS DURING THE LAST WORLD WAR, YOU YAPPERS AND CRYERS WOULD BE SPEAKING GERMAN RIGHT NOW!
Reply to this comment
by mycommentspg November 18, 2008 1:51 PM EST
The bailout situation is out of control just as Congress is out of control. http://mycommentspage.blogspot.com/
Reply to this comment
by cariboubarbi November 18, 2008 1:53 PM EST



The only way the American auto makers can get out from under the decades of damage caused by Union oppression and over-inflated wagers is to to BUST the companies, and rebuild them from the ground up.
With competetive wages, new model lines, and rededication to fuel efficient cars, they will come back stronger ever!

Posted by DaVicar1 at 10:17 AM : Nov 18, 2008




Agreed, but they won''t be able to stay afloat through chapter 11 if they can''t borrow. In this economy no one will lend to them. So if they go bankrupt, they disappear completely.

It''s an ugly situation. We can''t let them fall and take the economy with them and we can''t prop them up in their present state because they''d never become solvent.






Reply to this comment
by cariboubarbi November 18, 2008 1:55 PM EST



A conditional yes to a bailout. It must be conditional on a viable plan to turn the companies around. This economy can''t absorb the impact of the auto industry disappearing over night.



Reply to this comment
by jsd330 November 18, 2008 2:03 PM EST
I thought the financial sector was a business too. Lets stop their bailout, they are still giving their top people bonus''s. Let the financial sector file for chapter 11 , heck let all the business''s file for chapter 11, and lay everyone off. Thats should stop all the crying about who is getting bailed out and who is not.
Reply to this comment
by chitown4716 November 18, 2008 2:05 PM EST
The auto unions contributed and supported Obama big time and now have an IOU in their pocket. The dems and Obama are now tripping over themselves to pay back the unions by not allowing the auto makers to fail and therefore reduce union membership, dues, political clout, etc., etc.... If you voted for Obama don''''t cry foul over this because this is exactly what you voted for. This is the real "change you can believe in" so enjoy it as there is more taxpayer heart ache to come for the next 4 years.


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Posted by atlanta3430

This has very little to do with unions as much as it has to do with the 2.3 million Americans that would lose their jobs if the automakers failed.....even in a time of crisis the attack on labor never stops....
Reply to this comment
by cheetah-man7 November 18, 2008 2:06 PM EST
A part of me feels for the actual workers of the Big 3. But, the companies themselves have done this to themselves. Sending production to other countries and creating HUGE, gas-guzzling SUV''s have done us all in. They need to keep things in the USA and create new cars that will see us into the next century. Look at Toyota and Honda for examples of good business and good products!
Reply to this comment
by lf1952 November 18, 2008 2:19 PM EST
Last war was then, this is now. The workers have little in common with each other - no "job banks" (full pay, no work), no $50-75/hour PLUS benefits. RETIRED autoworkers often bring in more than active duty military officers!!!

IF Detroit had been making money up to now, that would be one thing. NONE of the "Big Three" have successful business models - NONE have been making money.

US made cars simply don''t compete with Japanese or European manufactured cars - quality OR price OR fuel consumption. If they can''t compete, then they go out of business - it SHOULD be that simple. The US is BUYING pieces of financial institutions (that will bring IN revenue down the road). If the US bought all three automakers, they would STILL lose money.

This is the United States. The workers in WWII fought FOR freedom, including a free market. Let''s not throw away their sacrifice on failing businesses.

We didn''t have a choice on the financial institutions - if they fail, we ARE looking at a Depression - no money in banks. Not the situation with the automakers.

Either the "Big Three" rebuild AFTER bankruptcy in a way that permits them to compete, or their workers go work for "foreign" car makers - mostly actually here in the US.
Reply to this comment
by whitemale08 November 18, 2008 2:26 PM EST
The only way the American auto makers can get out from under the decades of damage caused by Union oppression and over-inflated wagers is to to BUST the companies, and rebuild them from the ground up.
With competetive wages, new model lines, and rededication to fuel efficient cars, they will come back stronger ever!


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Posted by DaVicar1 at 10:17 AM : Nov 18, 2008--

NO...the way for the automakers to get out of this mess is to end ''globalization'' like the Constitution dictates.

If you want an import like Toyota then you pay a high enough tariff that protects the ''domestic economy''. That''s what the Constitution says.

Auto manufactures made more in real terms back in the 60''s and 70''s before ''globalization'' was firmly embraced and they made quality cars back then.

"Globalization" loots vital industry from countries all for the glory of Wall Street and City of London.
Reply to this comment
by mikezembill November 18, 2008 2:32 PM EST
TOYOTA AND HONDA ARE NOT SELLING THERE CARS AT THIS TIME SO ITS NOT JUST THE BIG 3
Reply to this comment
by demdump November 18, 2008 2:34 PM EST
Watching the news this morning ,Honda Civic open up a new plan in Indiana, get all the CEO''s and top management from the big 3 come down there and learn for Leadership...
Reply to this comment
by demdump November 18, 2008 2:36 PM EST
THIS IS PETHETIC: BEGING TAX MONEY FOR THEY SALARIES:
Go Dems. my heroes , use my tax money for this Idiots.

But auto executives, backed by leading Democrats, insist they need another $25 billion in emergency loans to avert a collapse of one or more of their companies before year''s end. That would bring the total federal help for the industry to $50 billion this year.

The executives, along with the head of the United Auto Workers union, were making their case Tuesday at a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee as auto
bailout backers hunted the votes necessary to pass the plan in a postelection session. Aides in both parties and lobbyists tracking the plan privately acknowledge they are far short.

Reply to this comment
by cariboubarbi November 18, 2008 2:40 PM EST



A conditional yes to a bailout. It must be conditional on a viable plan to turn the companies around. This economy can''''''''t absorb the impact of the auto industry disappearing over night.




Posted by CaribouBarbi at 10:55 AM : Nov 18, 2008

the autoworkers will be fine...they have their educations to fall back on

Posted by jamesm12341 at 11:29 AM : Nov 18, 2008




I''m assuming that was sarcastic.

Three + million jobs would disappear overnight. Our economy would not be able to take it.



Reply to this comment
by lloydbest1 November 18, 2008 2:42 PM EST
"Last war was then, this is now. The workers have little in common with each other - no "job banks" (full pay, no work), no $50-75/hour PLUS benefits. RETIRED autoworkers often bring in more than active duty military officers!!!" Posted by lf1952 at 11:19 AM : Nov 18, 2008

Yeah, maybe....But I would rather see line workers getting paid 50 - 75 bucks an hour for doing nothing as is implied by lf1952 than pay some executive veep $250 thousand per year for doing essentially the same thing.
Why has nearly no one on this board brought up the critical issue of executive and high managerial overcompensation while dunning auto workers who, by the way, do not earn anywhere close to "$50-75/hour PLUS benefits"? Top compensation for a GM assembler is $35.00/hr. and that only after several years of service. If you include bennies then the the total compensation package might just scrape $45.00 per.
Maybe $35.00 is a touch high for the kind of work these guys (and gals) do but is is a h@lluva lot more reasonable than to pay someone like Rick Wagoner ten to forty times that much (depending on bonuses and stock options) for overseeing an operation that essentially runs itself.
Reply to this comment
by demdump November 18, 2008 2:42 PM EST
20 Billions for every 2 months Bails out ???

How many time do you want to use our tax money for this bail out...
Reply to this comment
by demdump November 18, 2008 2:44 PM EST
Our Engineer here don''t make $100 dollars per hour....
Reply to this comment
by skyhawk761 November 18, 2008 2:48 PM EST
Enough is enough!!! Bailing out the financial sector was necessary to keep our economy viable. The car manufactureres are a business - large yes, but a business.

Posted by craigh9 at 08:36 AM : Nov 18, 2008
+ report abuse

Bailing out the financial sector so they could take lavish trips to California and pay themselves MILLIONS in bonuses is necessary to the economy? This is nothing more than corporate welfare that W and his bunch have been doing for almost eight years now.

Reply to this comment
by mikezembill November 18, 2008 2:52 PM EST
When toyota came to Kentucky they gave away the farm to fix the tractor Martha Lane Collins gave them tax breaks that my great grand kids will pay for and if they make money it goes to Japan. When toyota first sent there little trucks over to this country they did not last three years until the body fell off. But with the work force they have ( one of the best in the world ) they ship there cars back to Japan. And if the big 3 got the tax breaks they do they would do just as good THEY ARE NOT SELLING THE CARS THEY BUILD THEY HAVE LAID OFF WORKERS TOO.
Reply to this comment
by cruzn66 November 18, 2008 2:55 PM EST
This whole situation is sickening! Yes, the taxpayer is getting hit up again for bad management of every industry in this country, yet, how prepared are we to continue to watch our neighbors or even ourselves lose everything we own because eight years of administrative and legislative mismanagement allowed the "so-called free market" to rape and pillage at will. Why not stop worrying about allowing people to borrow on credit, and give the money to the people who would actually go out and pay there bills, and maybe, just maybe, have enough left over to start buying things again that will put the manufacturing sector back to work, not the paperpushers on Wall Street who basically produce wealth at other people''s expense?
Reply to this comment
by mikezembill November 18, 2008 3:01 PM EST
JAMESM12341 THE BIG THREE DID NOT HAVE THE FARM GIVEN TO THEM LIKE KENTUCKY DID.I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT INDIANA BUT IN KENTUCKY THEY GAVE AWAY THE FARM TO FIX THE TRACTOR MY GREAT-GREAT GRANDKIDS WILL BE PAYING FOR THIS IN TAX BREAKS.
Reply to this comment
by grumpas November 18, 2008 3:03 PM EST
Isn''t it just a little hypocritical to bail out Wall Street that is just as much of a money making business? And then tell the big 3 no????? We all know why the Republican''s are pulling this s...!!! They have a vested interest in Wall Street they are cronies of Bush''s! The big 3 provides work for millions of American''s! They keep the middle class going! So screw them! Obama is right it will be catastrophic if they collapse. It will destroy what''s left of this country after the Bushie''s get through raping us!
Reply to this comment
by mikezembill November 18, 2008 3:13 PM EST
I can tell you one thing if we loose 3 million jobs in this country over night the UNITED STATES as we know it now will not be. The banks will not make it the country will not make it.
Reply to this comment
by rbullock440 November 18, 2008 3:24 PM EST
Anyone ever heard of air-compression autos? Let''s replace them with this inventor & start over!
http://www.mdi.lu/english/
Reply to this comment
by November 18, 2008 3:33 PM EST
Lets do some simple math the estimate is 2.5 to 3 mil unemployed (may be overstated but let''s go with that figure) folks say that''s 10% unemployment. Wrong, that''s a simple math based on population not WORKERS, that figure is about 150 mil. That''s an effective unemployment rate of 20% on top of nearly 7% at the moment.

There are those who say let it burn, go bankruptcy. Lets run with that, investors lose their stake. How easy would it be to gain new investors after that? What makes anyone think that labor contracts could be renegotiated without the Feds stepping in to protect retirement and health?

What of individual dealers with huge financial stakes at risk? Independent jobbers with entire business and employees at stake? Banks, many in critical condition that will take a hit, owners who will be affected.

I have to say anyone wishing for the death of an American company, does not know what they are wishing for.

The easy thing to do is say no. It''s much harder to say yes.

I don''t like "bailouts" better than anyone else, however if you look at the financial climate worldwide, now is not the time to say no.

In case no one has noticed the Germans, the Koreans and the Japanese are consider assisting their industries, including the automotive sector.

Give them a guaranteed loan, with a few important conditions.
Reply to this comment
by November 18, 2008 3:38 PM EST
Our Engineer here don''''t make $100 dollars per hour....


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Posted by Demdump at 11:44 AM : Nov 18, 2008

So? Use the old Republican line. Tell him to go back to school and get a new job. Go on tell him, see what his response is.
Reply to this comment
by mikezembill November 18, 2008 3:40 PM EST
if1952 if a person spends 40 years in the military what would his retirement be.
Reply to this comment
by November 18, 2008 3:41 PM EST
Keep this figure in mind 100 Billion

That is what has been given to the import automakers in "incentives" in the last decade.

Those incentives are TAXPAYER dollars and folks didn''t squeak too much. Why? Jobs.

But on the other hand, loan, a 1/4 of that to existing business that already employes people.

Listen to them scream.

But-----They are buddies with the banks. (insert head scratch here)
Reply to this comment
by navyjimfl November 18, 2008 3:42 PM EST
chapter 11 is not leting them fail....they can restructure and move on.....
Reply to this comment
by November 18, 2008 3:43 PM EST
if1952 if a person spends 40 years in the military what would his retirement be.


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Posted by rxzyu at 12:40 PM : Nov 18, 2008

Better question yet, take a 4 to 8 year job what is your retirement? Healthcare? Perks?

That would be the president.
Reply to this comment
by incog-nito November 18, 2008 3:43 PM EST
Maybe they could use some kind of help. Maybe the unions need to make more concessions. Maybe the executives need to take a pay cut. But these are NOT the main reasons why Detroit is in big trouble. The economic downturn has resulted in reduced sales for ALL automakers, both foreign and domestic. The only difference is that the reduction is much more for the domestic brands. Why? Because Detroit had bet the farm on building and selling continually bigger and bigger SUVs, while other automakers focused on smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. They chose short-term profit over long-term vision. More than anything else, THIS is the reason why the Big Three is deep trouble today.
Reply to this comment
by mikezembill November 18, 2008 3:46 PM EST
REBULLOC THIS WAS DONE IN THE 1950''S WITH A FLATHEAD FORD.
Reply to this comment
by irmcvet97 November 18, 2008 3:48 PM EST
Some Fascist have the impression that somehow, if we allow the Big Three to go into bankruptcy that the UAW will be crushed. They know very little of the Law. IF they go bankrupt they then must sit down with the UAW what and how to come up with a Labor Contract that will provide the necessary relief needed from labor to get approval from the Court. Other than that nothing much changes. It will be up to the Membership of the UAW as to IF that agreement is acceptable to them. Right now IS NOT the time for a Labor War and frankly the way we have treated the workers of this nation with this "Free Trade" garbage, how far they are willing to go is questionable. We are responsible for forcing GM to compete with companies paying in some case''s 30 CENTS a Day in wages.
Reply to this comment
by niceface19 November 18, 2008 3:48 PM EST
No bail out for these killers.
Reply to this comment
by irmcvet97 November 18, 2008 3:51 PM EST
chapter 11 is not leting them fail....they can restructure and move on.....

Posted by navyjimfl at 12:42 PM : Nov 18, 2008

In THIS credit Market? With the debt the suppliers are going to have to swallow? ARE you people totally NUTS?? Those suppliers, right now, are just hanging on by their finger nails. They have been competing with companies that pay workers 30 Cents a DAY in wages for DECADES now. THEY have NO way they can withstand what bankruptcy means toward what the Big Three owe them. Better think about that one LONG and hard!
Reply to this comment
by November 18, 2008 3:53 PM EST
chapter 11 is not leting them fail....they can restructure and move on.....


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Posted by navyjimfl at 12:42 PM : Nov 18, 2008

Don''t know much about bankruptcy do you? In this credit market? Get real
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by mikezembill November 18, 2008 4:05 PM EST
RICKWAR I HOPE WE DO NOT FIND OUT IF WE WOULD HAVE UNEMPLOYMENT AT AROUND 30% THERE WILL BE A WAR IN THIS COUNTRY NOT SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THIS COUNTRY IF PEOPLE THINK ALL THE PEOPLE OUT OF WORK WILL STAND IN A SOUP LINE WITH THE STORES THAT HAVE FOOD THEY HAD BETTER THINK AGAIN. I THINK THERE SHOULD BE A CONDITIONAL BAILOUT WITH THE CEO''S TAKING A BIG CUT THE AUTO WORKERS HAVE TAKEN A CUT AND MAY HAVE TO TAKE MORE I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE WORKERS HAVE DONE AT THIS POINT TO HELP. BUT I CAN TELL YOU ONE THING IT''S NOT FAIR FOR THE WORKERS TO TAKE ANY MORE WITHOUT THE TOP PEOPLE TAKING A HELL OF A CUT. I DID THAT A FEW YEARS BACK AND IT SUCKED.
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by mikezembill November 18, 2008 4:15 PM EST
NAVYJIMFL HAVE YOU EVER BEEN WITH A COMPNY THAT DID CHAPTER 11.
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by gslinger3 November 18, 2008 4:17 PM EST
The Union president says there will be "absolutly no concessions" from the union. He''s wrong. Workers are probably going to concede their jobs.

Screw the D@mn Unions!
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by gslinger3 November 18, 2008 4:18 PM EST
The Union president says there will be "absolutly no concessions" from the union. He''s wrong. Workers are probably going to concede their jobs.

Screw the D@mn Unions!
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by gslinger3 November 18, 2008 4:20 PM EST
The Union president says there will be "absolutly no concessions" from the union. He''s wrong. Workers are probably going to concede their jobs.

Screw the D@mn Unions! Get Rid of all of them and give the company''s a chance!
Reply to this comment
by gslinger3 November 18, 2008 4:20 PM EST
The Union president says there will be "absolutly no concessions" from the union. He''s wrong. Workers are probably going to concede their jobs.

Screw the D@mn Unions! Get Rid of all of them and give the company''s a chance!
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