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US Congress delays car bailout plan
The Virginia Beach News.Net Thursday 20th November, 2008
Democrats in the US Congress have been unable to secure the numbers to get auto-industry bailout legislation through Congress.
The Congress has now postponed its vote on bailing out the car industry, insisting that the manufacturers demonstrate they deserve taxpayer assistance.
Senior Democrats had been pushing for US$25 billion in emergency government aid for GM, Ford and Chrysler.
The car companies say they need the extra cash to stay afloat but House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said they had been unable to explain how they would use the money.
The industry has been urged to re-present a clearer plan on how it will be accountable in the future.
The car manufacturers have been given until the start of next month to come up with their intentions.
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Comments on this story
American Miyang. 11-21-08, 03:18 AM |
US Congress delays car bailout plan
I need a bail out too as well, I drive a old pick up and I am broke as a broke dick dog.I do not fly a cooperate jet and I do not even have enough money to pay for the toll.Listen to me Mr Politician I do not need a forever bailout just feww dollars to pay for MC dess junior burger.A roof over my head and few asperin for my head ache. Sometimes a canned of beer anf I will
the cheapish one of the cooler.Bail out Bail out and do not need a golden parachute.
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Anonymous 11-21-08, 10:31 AM |
No wonder the Alabama’s non-union auto-workers are better-off and the production-lines are occupying, because Alabama is a red-state on the 2008 Electoral Votes map.
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waltky 11-22-08, 12:11 AM |
Uncle Ferd thought dey was in the car business instead o' the airplane business...
:confused:
Automaker to Return 2 Leased Jets
November 21, 2008 - After coming under criticism in Washington, General Motors has decided to return two of its leased corporate jets.
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G.M. said that the timing was coincidental â that it had already been in the process of returning two of its jets. But the return of the jets comes just as the chief executives of the Big Three auto companies in Detroit stirred controversy by traveling to Washington in private jets to lobby for a bailout. When the year began, G.M. operated a fleet of seven jets. Cost-cutting eliminated two of them last September, and two others are being returned now. Tom Wilkinson, a G.M. spokesman, said that the jet fleet had been used to shuttle employees to G.M. operations in 34 countries. âWe used the jets to go around the world,â Mr. Wilkinson said. âFor instance, we took one from Detroit to China, to Thailand and then back to Detroit.â
But it was the flight that Rick Wagoner, the chief executive, took from Detroit to the Capitol that made headlines. Some critics of the auto industry were appalled by the symbolism of corporate chieftains flying in luxury while pleading corporate poverty and asking for taxpayer aid. âThereâs a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands saying that theyâre going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses,â Representative Gary L. Ackerman, Democrat of New York, said at a hearing this week. âItâs almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo.â News of the slimmed-down fleet was reported on Friday in Automotive News. Mr. Wilkinson said that even before the current industry woes, G.M. had been cutting back on travel expenses.
The Ford Motor Company, which has a fleet of five corporate jets, is considering the possible sale of some or all of them. Unlike G.M., Ford owns its planes. Three of them are used for executive travel. The other two are used to shuttle engineers involved in vehicle testing in extreme climate conditions or in remote places. âWe are exploring all cost-effective solutions for our air travel,â said Mark Truby, a Ford spokesman. âWe have not made a final decision yet.â
There is no word yet on what mode of transportation Mr. Wagoner, Alan R. Mulally of Ford, Robert L. Nardelli of Chrysler or Ron Gettelfinger, the head of the United Automobile Workers union, plan to use should they head back to Washington. âWeâve been talking around the office that maybe the three C.E.O.âs and Gettelfinger would just carpool it to Washington,â Mr. Wilkinson said. âOf course, they probably will all be fighting to take the wheel.â
[url: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/business/22jets.html[/url]
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