Money Pit? Senator Proposes $25 Billion More For US Automakers

Sen. Carl Levin said today he may seek an additional $25 billion in loans for the auto industry before the end of the year, citing deteriorating economic conditions for Detroit's car makers.

Levin, D-Detroit, said doubling the loan program to $50 billion would help automakers during a difficult period for the industry. Congress approved a $25 billion loan program last month, but credit markets have tightened since then and the companies have reported dismal sales figures.

"I think we ought to make sure that we take every step we can to assist the industry through this rough patch," Levin said in an interview with The Associated Press.

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answer - 10/17/2008 12:57:32 PM

0 Boost

Stuff like the cost of health care and other labor issues wouldn't really matter that much if Detroit would finally learn that they just need to produce vehicles people actually want.

And the crap that really irks me is that we are now going to chuck some more handouts to Detroit, when they have make several kick-ass cars that aren't sold here in the U.S.

Why the hell can't we get the Euro Ford Mondeo instead of a crappy Taurus/500????????!?!??!?

Porschinator - 10/17/2008 1:34:47 PM

+1 Boost

Its a lot of money but the US is far from being the only country to help its domestic auto industry. Japan assists its domestic auto industry by removing the burden of retirement costs by paying retirees from the gov't also pays for health benefits too!

Germany gives huge tax breaks to their domestic auto makes for the last 60 years!

So say what you will...this is nothing new. BUT the US domestic auto industry better start to reinvent itself and spend more time looking into the future so that it is prepared for what may come.

E36er - 10/17/2008 1:57:01 PM

+1 Boost

Dereg + free market + greed = US auto manufacturers.

RIP

Agent004 - 10/17/2008 3:32:51 PM

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Can't we just pay the US auto manufacturers $25billion to close? Isn't that the ultimate solution to their problem?

mpls - 10/17/2008 5:52:17 PM

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What credit crunch ? What nationl debt ?

especially when there's government hand outs for failed enterprises, even then what's the guarantee they won't go towards executive bonuses !

mini22 - 10/17/2008 7:32:52 PM

+1 Boost

Unfortunately it's the American auto worker that gets screwed if the big 3(possibly in the near future the big 2)go down. So while a bail out to the US auto makers is not the most favorable thing it will keep factories open and people employed.It looks like Chrysler is going to be split up in parts. Possibly Renault will get Jeep and GM will get trucks and Minvans from Chrysler. It would seem to me that Cerberus should insist that Renault by part of Chrysler and Dodge as well in order to get Jeep.