Auto Industry Bridge Loan Deal Getting Closer
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bush, Business, Cars, Democrats, Energy, Environment, Money
Remember folks, these are loans and we could actually make money on the deal…the same way we did last time when we helped a car company out and mandated they increase their CAFE standards.
WASHINGTON — Faced with staggering new unemployment figures, Democratic Congressional leaders said on Friday that they were ready to provide a short-term rescue plan for American automakers, and that they expected to hold a vote on the legislation in a special session next week.Seeking to end a weeks-long stalemate between the Bush administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, senior Congressional aides said that the money would most likely come from $25 billion in federally subsidized loans intended for developing fuel-efficient cars.
By breaking that impasse, the lawmakers could also clear the way for the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., to request the remaining $350 billion of the financial industry bailout fund knowing he will not get bogged down in a fight over aiding Detroit.
One additional thing to keep in mind is the compromise reached here. Because that the money will be coming from funds already set aside with the passage of the 2007 energy bill. And it will help these companies accomplish the same thing that money was intended to do in the first place…develop more energy efficient cars.
Yes, reorganization will happen in the meantime, and yes, they may need additional money to help them with that, but that road is preferable than a protracted bankruptcy that would shatter consumer confidence in their brands.
More as it develops…
This entry was posted on Saturday, December 6th, 2008 and is filed under Bush, Business, Cars, Democrats, Energy, Environment, Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 7th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Yes, Justin;
I’m still waiting for this Administration to tell us exactly what they’re requiring – demanding – that the Financial Co’s do with the soon to be $700 Bill that is going to be in the public interest. Are they improving the environment? Keeping workers on the job? Creating new jobs by loaning investment capitol for start up’s? We don’t know, because we didn’t ask! The CEO’s of the banks that already received hundreds of billions in cash, not loans to be repaid, but investments in their Co’s have not been scrutinized. WHY?
I don’t understand the double standard placed on the Auto Industry compared to the Financial Industry, especially since the later got us into this mess in the first place. Have the banks done anything to alleviate the millions of homeowners who are losing their homes due to the unworkable loans they devised to make quick, easy money? I haven’t heard too much yet.Why aren’t those CEO’s driving their sub-compacts down to Washington to explain that?