Good Bye Detroit: The Final Nail in Big 3's Coffin

[Chuckiechan]

My Way News - Union balks and $14B auto bailout dies in Senate

Quote:

That bill - the product of a hard-fought negotiation between congressional Democrats and the Bush White House - was virtually dead on arrival in the Senate, where Republicans said it was too weak in its demands on the car companies and contained unacceptable environmental mandates for the Big Three.
Thursday's implosion followed yet another set of marathon negotiations at the Capitol - this time involving labor, the auto industry and lawmakers. The group came close to agreement, but it stalled over the UAW's refusal to agree to the wage concessions

It looks like rather than concede to lowering wages, the unions chose to not accept the deal and now they are out. I'd look for a bankruptcy filing Sunday unless the UAW is willing to agree to match the wages of Toyota and other auto manufacturers. In addition, unacceptable "green" mandates are a unreasonable burden for a bankrupt company according to the Republicans.

So I guess since Harry Reid folded the Senate tent rather than go against the unions, the Big 3 is as good as done for, and the unions will have to hope for a better deal from a bankruptcy panel of judges.

This is going to get really interesting.

[Pexster]

Why are stronger environmental standards unacceptable? Do these people not realize that part of the problem has been the intransigence of the automakers in this area?

[blubomber]

I thought Ford still had enough cash to get through 2009?

I also dont understand the deal with the UAW and why they wont lower their pay. I would rather have lower pay but still have health coverage than not have both.

[MTAtech]

Like Mark Twain, news of Detroit's demise has been greatly exaggerated. The Republican White House is bucking the Republicans in the Senate and offering the automakers money.

I'd like to know why the Republicans in the Senate are so fixated with UAW wages but weren't concerned at all about the giving money to investment bankers, who are the highest paid employees in the world?

I also wonder why the free-market Republicans want to micro-manage GM's union contracts? Are they also going to insist that other companies that wrote contracts with GM also lower their terms?

It's clear that the Republicans are just using this as an excuse to weaken unions. They never seem to miss an opportunity to stick it to unions. They did that after 9/11 too. The government workers that work for HOmeland Security aren't protected by civil service any longer.

[The Real Bingo]

Last I heard, the administration is trying to include the auto companies in the TARP funds. I don't think it's "over" yet, but if GM doesn't get something like $50 billion, I don't think the inevitable can be prevented.

[MTAtech]

Personally, I'd like to give out 750,000 $20,000 vouchers to Americans that could be used towards a purchase of an American car that gets over 30 mpg. That will give business to the auto companies and also provide stimulus to the economy.

[The Real Bingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTAtech

Personally, I'd like to give out 750,000 $20,000 vouchers to Americans that could be used towards a purchase of an American car that gets over 30 mpg. That will give business to the auto companies and also provide stimulus to the economy.

Should've probably been done for mortgages, too. Instead of a $700 billion trickle-down package (which isn't trickling down), they could've given 10 million households $70,000 to help pay off their mortgages. I'm not a proponent of either, but hey...at least it would have a quicker effect.

[surreal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blubomber

I also dont understand the deal with the UAW and why they wont lower their pay. I would rather have lower pay but still have health coverage than not have both.

The UAW has said they would cooperate if they could look over the numbers to see that they were not sharing a large percent of the loss vs other areas, (think top management?)

Wait a minute--

Quote:

The White House said today it would be "irresponsible" to let Detroit's automakers collapse and suggested it will use a bailout fund it had previously said was not meant for the sinking car industry.
The bill failed in the Senate by a vote of 52-35.

The revised view came the morning after senators killed an effort to provide $14 billion in emergency loans to Detroit automakers when a last-ditch attempt to renegotiate the deal collapsed. The House had passed its version of the measure on Wednesday night but the Senate was unable to follow suit.

"We will consider other options if necessary -- including use of the TARP program -- to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers," White House press secretary Dana Perino said today.

The White House had previously resisted calls to use funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, passed into law this fall to rescue the financial industry, and had insisted lawmakers boost the auto industry by other means, preferably by using part of a $25 billion already allocated to the car industry for a fuel efficiency program.

But today, the White House called the Senate's failure to act "disappointing" and said "it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time."

[surreal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Real Bingo

Should've probably been done for mortgages, too. Instead of a $700 billion trickle-down package (which isn't trickling down), they could've given 10 million households $70,000 to help pay off their mortgages. I'm not a proponent of either, but hey...at least it would have a quicker effect.

That was joke, on us. It is not going to happen.

[MTAtech]

Instead of making more credit available, my bank cut my home equity line by $100K. What a scam. The banks had no intention of freeing up credit.