Showdown Looming In Congress Over Automaker Bailout

WASHINGTON -- Hardline opponents of an auto industry bailout branded the industry a "dinosaur" whose "day of reckoning" is near, while Democrats pledged Sunday to do their best to get Detroit a slice of the $700 billion Wall Street rescue in this week's lame-duck session of Congress. The companies are seeking $25 billion from the financial industry bailout for emergency loans, though supporters of the aid for General Motors Corp. Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have offered to reduce the size of the rescue to win backing in Congress. Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and Jon Kyl of Arizona said it would be a mistake to use any of the Wall Street rescue money to prop up the automakers because a bailout would only postpone the industry's demise. "Companies fail everyday and others take their place. I think this is a road we should not go down," said Shelby, the senior Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. "They're not building the right products," he said. "They've got good workers but I don't believe they've got good management. They don't innovate. They're a dinosaur in a sense."
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Posted by Editor at November 17, 2008 03:35 AM