Automakers renew plea before Frank's panel
Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, opening day two of the second round of hearings on automakers' appeal for federal aid, highlighted today's new report that shows that 533,000 more jobs were lost last month.
That means, the Newton Democrat said, there are 1.9 million fewer jobs than last December -- and makes it more urgent to prevent layoffs in the auto industry.
There is now a consensus that the Big Three automakers need to restructure and retool, including labor costs, Frank said. And he credited the automakers, who are seeking $34 billion in loans and lines and credit, and the United Auto Workers for making concessions.
To those who say that GM, Ford, and Chrysler should go into bankruptcy instead, Frank said allowing the companies to walk away from their debts would only worsen the credit crisis.
With the double whammy of the credit crunch and rising unemployment, "for us to do nothing ... would be a disaster," said Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.
He acknowledged that a lot of mistakes have been made by the industry, by Congress, and by others. But he said trying to punish the guilty now would be like giving extra work to an entire class in school because one or two children acted out.
"I don't want to give the entire country extra homework because the auto executives misbehaved," he said.
The Associated Press reports that GM says it will lay off about 2,000 more factory workers early next year. It will cut shifts at car factories in Lordstown, Ohio; Orion Township, Mich.; and Oshawa, Ontario, in February due to slowing demand for their products.
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We have already lost 1.9 million jobs so far this year. We are looking at adding more allowing the big 3 to fail. Add more job losses for December and January in other sectors.
Now it is said that 1 in 10 mortgages are in default and foreclosure, with more to add up with job losses.
What a great legacy for the Bush Presidency. I think it is outrageous that these exit interviews are not questioning his view on his leadership role as President.
for the auto makers to ask the general public to bail them out..forget it. let the CEO, and the CFO et al turn over their bonuses they gave themselves for making inferior cars-gas guzzlers and unreliable. I am Toyota customer- 2 cars and 1 truck after being swindled by Dodge.never again
So now Barney Frank is arguing for a bailout of the auto companies. What a surprise. Take our tax dollars and give it to irresponsible companies. What Detroit needs is to build better cars.
As for Michael who thinks President Bush is responsible for the quality of US cars, I guess some people will blame Bush for everything.
34 billion dollar is more than the market cap of theses 3 auto companies. In my opinion, the best deal is for the government to take over (or buy) all these companies at current values, and keep all employee working, including the executives. Workers will keep all their jobs, and at the same time, government pay for less.
No one is mentioning the billions in taxes the big three auto boys bring into our treasury. The dealerships, the suppliers, the employees the aftermarkets, etc. etc. The auto dealers and manufacturers have been more responsible in paying taxes than Congress has been in spending their tax money. So let them have some of it back. That would be a helluva lot more responsible than one useless military contract.
Barney Frank is a bloated, blithering, socialist idiot, and so are the weak minded lemmings who keep voting him into office, and so is the president elect he supports. Barney Frank, Joe (Senator Scranton) Biden, and Christopher Dodd are responsible for the government policies that allowed the home loan fiasco, and now they want to throw good money after bad with the auto industry. It's not their money to throw. If I had a business and mismanaged it, Congress wouldn't throw money at me to save me from myself; they would let the free market determine my fate. Let the free market determine the fate of the Big Three and something stronger and better will emerge.
I am getting very sick of people blaming EVERYTHING on Bush. Did Bush OK lending big bucks to people who couldn't ever pay back what was loaned to them.?
Did bush OK Fannie and Freddie to loan billions to people withhou proper credit ratings?. The answer is no.
Barney Frank and his liberal friends has caused this monster problem this country has. He has ruined millions of retirement plans. Along with that Ex Pres.
Clinton has braggfed about how many low income people are now living in new homes. You have the guts to blame Bush????
For eight years liberals have been a fantastic bully on the pulpit character. President Bush never deserved the treatment he has received. The liberal gang has besmirch, slander, pillage the presidency of Bush. The Clinton Adm. forced the banks to make these bad loans. Banks were hammered into submission with this program. Adding insult to injury in comes Franklin Raines, another genius from Harvard just like the president elect, who came up with the bonus idea of the more loans you make the more you earn. He must have taken fleecing instead of law at Harvard. Only thing that saves it all that the judges of the legacy is the same people who love Castro, ACLU lovers, econazis. Who cares they think
GM manufactured the Electric Car E1 in California several years ago, they were great, Californians were anxious to buy them - GM leased some out and then pulled them all from the market and had them destroyed. Some one with guts should remind GM that they know how to build electric cars and should start doing it again Right Away!!!!
We are so over you Barney Frank! You and your sub prime mortgage scandals, your alleged prostitution ring in your basement without your supposed knowledge. You seriously make me ill and should go home and work at McDonalds or something.Paying Gobie for sex and then hiring him as an assistant but yet not knowing he was running the prostitution ring out of the basement?? You politicians are disgusting and we are sick of you.....
let Ford Chrysler, GM just sink. They and there unions brought all this on.
They have never done a favor for there customers when buying a car,
Except hide charges, and tricky sales tactic.
Bailing them out is NOT going to make people buy that so call american
crap
It is total wrong to give away tax payers money to Three none car building company's. This week is just another way for them to COME CRYING for money's they spent on LOBBIES. Millions of jobs have been lost or move out side our boarders including the BIG THREE'S and they still don't understand that we as American's do not care about them or there factories.
New Factories are being build as we speak in rthe south. They will replace all of the big three's factories
Say NO!!!!!!!!!!! to the BAIL OUT.