Dems urge help for Big Three
Staff, wire reportWASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for ''emergency and limited financial assistance'' for the battered auto industry on Tuesday and urged the outgoing Bush administration to join lawmakers in reaching a quick compromise.
Five days after dismal financial reports from General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., Pelosi backed legislation to make the automakers eligible for help under the $700 billion bailout measure that cleared Congress in October.
Union leaders at GM's Lordstown Complex have urged government action to help the ailing automaker through one of its toughest challenges in a year that marks its 100th anniversary. The Lordstown Complex itself is feeling the pain, with as many as 1,100 of its 4,800 hourly and salaried employees slated to be laid off Jan. 9 due to slowing sales of its Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 small cars.
GM on Tuesday said it will seek 10 percent more cuts in salaried work force beyond buyouts it already secured. The increase will push the white-collar staffing cuts to 30 percent.
The automaker said in a government filing Monday that about 3,460 salaried workers have accepted a buyout as of Oct. 31, exceeding the target of 3,000 announced in July. GM had 32,000 salaried workers as of Sept. 30, about 300 of them at Lordstown.
But the company said its financial situation has worsened since then, prompting another round of buyouts, attrition or layoffs.
With the automakers' finances deteriorating, Pelosi said in a written statement the aid was needed ''in order to prevent the failure of one or more of the major American automobile manufacturers, which would have a devastating impact on our economy, particularly on the men and women who work in that industry.
''Congress and the Bush administration must take immediate action,'' The California Democrat said.
Administration officials have concluded that the bailout bill that passed earlier does not permit loans to the auto industry, but lawmakers are expected to return to the Capitol for a brief post-election session beginning next week.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also supports help for the industry, and he issued a statement saying Democrats were ''determined to pass legislation that will save the jobs of millions'' as part of a postelection session.
''This will only get done if President Bush and Senate Republicans work with us in a bipartisan fashion, and I am confident they will do what is right for our economy,'' he said.
The plight of the industry has drawn attention from the White House and the incoming Obama administration in recent days, as well as among lawmakers.
Last week, President-elect Obama prodded the Bush administration to do more to help the industry, and on Monday, aides said he raised the issue with President Bush in an Oval Office conversation meant to underscore a smooth transition of power.
Officials familiar with the conversation said the president replied he was open to the idea.
Before adjourning for the elections, Congress passed legislation providing for $25 billion in government-backed loans to the automakers to prod th em to retool their factories to make more efficient vehicles.
Since then, executives from GM, Ford and Chrysler LLC and officials in the United Autoworkers union have called for more than that to avert a possible collapse of one of the nation's most basic industries, including a $25 billion loan to help keep the companies afloat and $25 billion more to help cover future health care payments for about 780,000 retirees and their dependents.
GM and Ford reported last week that they spent down their cash reserves by a combined $14.6 billion in the past three months. Ford said it would slash more than 2,000 white collar jobs.
Pelosi's statement did not specify how large an aid package she prefers.
Instead, she said she had asked Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to draft legislation.
A companion effort is under way in the Senate.
The Senate is scheduled to meet next week in a post-election session but until Pelosi issued her statement, it was not clear the House would follow suit.
The House already has passed legislation to provide additional unemployment insurance benefits for some of the growing ranks of the nation's jobless, as well as a separate measure to stimulate the economy.
That meant the Senate could have passed either or both bills and sent them to the White House for Bush's signature without further action by the House.
Pelosi's announcement changed that, and raised the possibility of a postelection session that covers more areas.
The Bush administration, for example, has said that enactment of a free trade agreement with Colombia is its top priority in Congress.
Many Democrats oppose the proposed agreement as written. But it is unclear what, if any, compromise might be possible that would allow auto assistance and a trade agreement to be the last major measures signed into law by the outgoing president.
In her statement, Pelosi said any assistance to the industry should include limits on executive compensation, rigorous government review authority and other taxpayer protections.
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Dschweck
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11-13-08 8:21 AM
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Tommyboy;Scream on child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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thomas123
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11-12-08 6:23 PM
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WAKE UP PEOPLE----- GM HASN'T HAD INTEREST IN US WORKERS FOR YEARS. CHINA THE NEW MEXICO IS WHERE ITS AT RUSSIA EUROPE AND ANY OTHER PEOPLE THEY CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IS WHERE THEIR HEARTS ARE.......THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU ANY MORE SCREW GM GO BUY A HONDA THEY GAVE UP ON YOU YEARS AGO PRE NAFTA I HEAR THEIR MANIACLE LAUGHTER FROM HERE.
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Dschweck
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11-12-08 3:02 PM
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XANADU40;You will see some funny loking Toyotas if the are parked in the lot.You can get away with a Honda motorcycle in the lot,your new Toyota Tundra within the fence,is bad Juju..Makes trucks look ill.
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XANADU440
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11-12-08 1:06 PM
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EVER BEEN ON A PICKET LINE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME???? YOU SHOULD TRY IT
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XANADU440
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11-12-08 1:03 PM
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TOO GOOD FOR TOO LONG....... NO WONDER, TOO MANY TOYOTAS IN THE GM PARKING LOT.... GO FIGURE???
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pahootaman
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11-12-08 11:28 AM
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never, and I mean NEVER, was I ever at a car dealership, looking at cars, and wondered to myself, "Gee, I need something that can hold an entire soccer team, and my groceries, and that grand piano I always wanted". Every time I give people credit for doing something smart, I'm shown something contrary. Like people who live in the city that drive F-150's. They're always, ALWAYS the first to complain about gas prices on television.
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SHERIFF102
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11-12-08 8:49 AM
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GM has informed the employees at the Arlington, TX plant (SUV's) they will be working OT the rest of the year. The price of gas is down..... sales for those are UP Go figure
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pahootaman
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11-12-08 8:43 AM
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How about instead of just throwing money at the problem, you drop SUV subsidies and give detroit money incentives to get them in line for long term fuel effecient production. Right now, GM, Ford, and Chrysler want money to keep payroll going. There's no real incentive for them to change operations. They were given 20+ billion dollars a couple of months ago already, they burned through it with nothing to show for it. Putting a Hybrid engine into a Explorer and giving it 1 mile extra per gallon isn't "moving forward". I think the dems have their backs to the wall though, and they'll have to throw money at the problem. I don't think there's a clear solution yet.
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FlashGordon
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11-12-08 8:23 AM
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cuckoo! cuckoo! There has been no beneficial free trade agreements for the United States !! There are no enforced laws to protect the workers of the United States.
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ells001
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11-12-08 8:02 AM
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Unfortunately, I also agree that I will be extremely surprised if anything re the auto industry gets dones before January 20. As to Columbia trade - I don't think trade is a bad thing in itself if we have laws in place to protect what comes in - flowers, for instance, full of pesticides. I am more concerned that we may be helping to spread poor and unsafe working conditions in Columbia (as we have in other places) instead of standing for fair and safe labor standards.
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Trancemage
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11-12-08 7:19 AM
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I have to argree with you two 100%. The more we have allowed our jobs to go over seas, the less money we have to spend here. Letting yet another "free trade" agreement to be pushed through... just adding more fuel to the inferno.
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OldManGrump2
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11-12-08 6:45 AM
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Nothing will happen until Obama takes office January 20th. Bush wants to trade auto salvation for Columbia free trade agreement. Another bad deal for the workers of the USA. The Demorights can't let that agreement happen.
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Dschweck
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11-12-08 5:09 AM
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Dems be begging,not urging...NAFTA and poor American quality products and FAST profits,Ms Speaker,created this monster.How do you propose to undo history?
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