A $25 billion bailout for automakers faces opposition from Republican leaders in Congress, complicating prospects for its approval in coming weeks. House Republican leader John Boehner, Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, and Alabama Representative Spencer Bachus, have all criticized aspects of the aid package being crafted by Democrats in the House and Senate.
``I don't know of a single Republican who is willing to support'' the auto bailout, Democrat Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said yesterday, adding that he would be careful about bringing up any measure that might fail.
Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, wrote the executives of the auto companies a letter yesterday, urging them to emulate the example of Lee Iacocca, the former head of Chrysler, and cut their salaries to $1 a year.
The chief executives should ``be the first employees of your companies to make a personal sacrifice,'' Grassley wrote. ``Hardworking American taxpayers, including me, expect it.''
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