Auto Bailout Done - Bush Pelosi Cut a Deal

[autorank]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/06/business/main4651796.shtml

Dems, White House Agree To Auto Bailout
CBS News

(CBS/AP) After weeks of tense discussions with the heads of the U.S. auto industry, Democratic Congressional leaders have reached an agreement that may just clear the way for the Big Three to get the money they need to survive ... for now.

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier reports that significant progress came Friday night, when Democrats from both the House and Senate agreed to bail out the struggling General Motors, Chrysler and Ford with federal funds.

Several officials say the White House and congressional Democrats have agreed on $15 billion in loans, which is less than half of what the car chiefs were seeking.

They say the breakthrough came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bowed to a demand by President Bush that any aid come from a fund that had been intended to help Detroit produce more fuel-efficient cars

[Webster Green]

1. Pelosi sucks!

Seems that she is the chimp's bitch.

She does everything he tells her to, and she is protecting him from facing up to his criminal behavior.

Pelosi is an utterly useless piece of shit. :wtf:

[autorank]

4. Hey there

Well this is less than 1/2 of that requested and the money comes from the 'green' fund to be
used to encourage lower emissions.

It's no wonder the approval rating for Congress is approaching single digits.

[MsLeopard]

22. I couldn't agree more

I'm embarrassed she's from my state. BushCo must have some incredible dirt on her from their domestic spying, it's the only thing that makes sense to me.

[Deja Q]

24. I thought she only sucked Mr. Pelosi.

Meh.

[economicgeography]

2. re:

I can tolerate the bailout but believe that dictating business models is a dangerous precedent.

So you say, "yea but any smart bank would have stipulations on how the money is to be spent"

To which is say, "my friend you just justified bailing out the financial sector"

[DonCoquixote]

13. There is a difference

Yes, we should never have allowed the banking sector to get that vulnerbale, but we had 8 years of the Chimp, but whenever someone says "why did we bail them out, everyone forgets, if the banks went, and the credit went, that same credit every payroll in america is based on, how the heck were you expecting to get the paycheck, regardless of if your job went under?

[FedUpWithIt All]

3. I really dislike Pelosi. n/t

[madrchsod]

5. everything changes on jan 21

the auto companies have enough money to keep going past jan 20th. that is all they need till the adults sit down and start to work out the deal to save hundreds of thousands of jobs in the usa.

did anyone notice that pelosi does`t have the votes to over ride the .... veto?

[AndyTiedye]

7. She Doesn't Have the Votes to Stop the Automatic Repiggie Filibuster

and she still won't in January.

[regnaD kciN]

18. Uh, there's no filibuster in the House.

:crazy:

[AndyTiedye]

26. True, But Everything They Do in the House Will Die in the Senate

[John Q. Citizen]

10. Buggy whips! it's time to bring them back. they've been unemployed the longest, after all. And

trolley car conductors. Save their frigging jobs from the auto/tire/oil beast for Christ's sake. They ran 'em out a business in the first place!

Anyway, as a liberal, I'd rather see GM workers building light rail and converting toward the future of independent auto travel. Any idiot knows if every Chinese and Indian guy gets as many cars as your average Mexicalian guy that all hell is going to hit the fan.

We have to employ people absolutely. But let's have them do something less (or more) than stupid.

[paulk]

23. don't bring reality into this discussion!

we must bash Pelosi!

[autorank]

30. Here' s how I think it changes

Obama is hugely popular. He's done an amazing job of neutralizing criticism and the Kenyesian
plan is accepted on the right as well as everywhere else.

Congress will do what they do - waste time, line their pockets, plug in earmarks in bills. But
when the rescue package goes forth, in various forms, I'll bet he calls their bull shit everytime
they fuck around.

Why? Because he's at 70% approval, people are desparate, and Congress is at an averate 75% disapproval
rate. All he has to do is go on the tube and ask the 70% who approve to call their congressperson
and tell them to stop the nonsense. He'll only have to do it once. I can't wait.

I do not see Obama allowing a bunch of earmarks and other nonsense. I do see him lowering the boom
and letting these narcissists know who is the boss;)

[John Q. Citizen]

6. Seems like everybody else gets a pony except me. What's with that?

If they give me my single payer I say bail them wherever. But my single payer pony remains a pipe dream. And it won't be long before we are bailing out government funded private health insurance companies.

Meanwhile, back on Wall Street and over in Detroit...

[LynneSin]

8. This is a lame duck session with an asshole that will veto anything that benefits us

Someone mentioned we don't have the vote to overcome the filibuster. Well guess what, if we have 60 we might not either. It was stupid for people to assume that 60 means we'd never see a filibuster. All 60 meant is technically if everyone who is a democrat or claims they support us decides to filibuster then we would have enough.

What we democrats need to do starting 1/21/2009 is work with 3 people in the senate and give them a bit of power to help us get things done and that's Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. All 3 of them are moderates and could be the ones that help us stop the republican filibusters. The favor we could return is giving them a voice in the Senate that they may not have had under a republican leadership that did not appreciate these pro-choice, pro-environments and even pro-labor (Specter is very respected by the Labor groups) republicans. And let's face it - I'd trust any of these 3 over Joe Lieberman, who is technically one of the so-called '60' we were counting on.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. We need one fucking person in the Senate to stand up for single payer. Then we get two.

and then three.

That's how Obama won. Why shouldn't we win too?

[LynneSin]

19. that's the thing - why bother now when in 2 months we have it so much easier

I agree with you 100% and we already have people standing up for it with Ted Kennedy leading the way.

But the thing is we have 40 days with a really lame duck president who would take all that work and shoot it down. SPHC is top on Obama's list - let's just be patient, change is coming soon.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

9. Ya know, that just might happen.

Doctors and dentists across the country are reporting empty waiting rooms, as Americans defer routine maintenance. That, plus all the people who will undoubtedly default on their medical bills due to unemployment and/or no credit...

Oh yeah, that might just be the next industry to "fail".

[Mika]

28. Yep. All of my DDS associates are in a panic.

I've reduced my salary to $1 so my staff can remain employed. :scared:

[Fleshdancer]

11. My favorite part of the article:

As carmakers made their plea to Washington for a $35 billion bailout package, GM announced it will cut shifts at factories in Ohio, Michigan and Ontario in February as a result of slumping car sales.

About 2,000 jobs were involved, bringing GM's year's total of layoffs to 11,000.

:grr:

According to wikipedia, GM has factories in 35 countries. Perhaps I'm too cynical at this point, but targeting North American factories for more layoffs and to do so after the inauguration seems like a veiled threat to me.

[DonCoquixote]

14. Ya think?

Of course, they are going to do that anyway, after they declare the bankruptcy that they wanted to do since minute one, after they make sure the money set aside for green cars is spent.

[autorank]

29. They're such total asswipes

They are completely indifferent to workers.

However, if they were smart executives, they'd avoid this type of thing and push very hard to
make it look like the bailout was vital to workers, suppliers, etc. The GM guy in particular,
was such a technoid and a stiff. What this tells me is that they're not only lousy managers,
they're not very bright.

Somebody should have asked these three if they've ever been unemployed and aobut to be evicted
from their homes. That would have been a fine moment.

[ixion]

15. Pelosi both sucks and blows, IMO

why the hell she CONSITENTLY 'bows' to demands by the WORST PRESIDENT EVER is truly beyond me.

[Hubert Flottz]

16. I guess things could be worse...

Obama could have nominated Harry Reid or Nancy for Secretary of Defense and given the CEOs another Bush tax cut...

[regnaD kciN]

17. Think of this is a temporary maneuver...

...to keep the auto companies afloat until 1/20/09.

Then we get to decide the terms for the rest.

The fact is, if Obama took office in the wake of a closure of GM or Ford, the country would be in such a world of hurt, I'm not sure even he could get us out of it.

[NNN0LHI]

20. That damn Pelosi trying to save 1 in 10 jobs in America

Whats that matter with that woman? There are plenty of streets for these people to live in.

Can't she just leave people alone to die?

The people criticizing her about this make me sick to my fucking stomach.

Don

[Deja Q]

25. Exactly.

The companies need to get some proper analysts; people do not want SUVs.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

27. They wouldn't have sold if people didn't want them.

A friend of mine who works at a Dodge dealership tells me that there is renewed interest in pickups and SUVs since the cost of fuel has gone down. People on DU seem to have developed amnesia about what was going on in this country just a few years ago. In the late 90s/early 2000s those giant gas guzzlers were not sitting on the lots gathering dust while everyone was clamoring for electrics and hybrids. They were selling.

[spanone]

21. 'Nancy Pelosi bowed' there ya go!

to the lamest duck president who doesn't have a fucking ounce of political capital...way to go nancy