Auto Industry Bailout Update: $15 Billion Edition

The biggest news about a potential auto industry bailout is the fact that there is potential for a bailout. Congressional leaders, the Bush Administration and others are working on a plan that would put $15 billion towards keeping GM and Chrysler afloat until President-elect Obama takes office. More details should emerge in the next two days.

• Churches in Detroit pray for a bailout...with SUVs on the pulpit.
• Jay Leno and the founder of Tesla Motors say the Detroit Three should be bailed out.
• The failure of GM and Chrysler could push NASCAR to the brink, experts say. Many sponsors have been pulling out of the circuit this past year, but losing half of the manufacturers involved could be lethal. NASCAR made $3 billion in 2007.
• Chrysler has retained a law firm that specializes in bankruptcy. We guess they do have a backup plan.
• Jon Stewart of the Daily Show sums things up with his unique point of view in this video clip.
• The AP schools us with a little “Meltdown 101” about what could happen if the domestic automakers file for bankruptcy in terms of honoring warranties and drastic fall of resale values.

Comments

An SUV on the pulpit?
Put ya haaannnds on the radio sista's. The car radio that is.
I was against the bailout of the big three until I saw Jon Stewart explain it. YouTube it. It was right on the money. Congress should've forced the banks to lend it to them. Part of the gargantuan payout to them that they're hoarding can help the Motowners.

The other dan,
I link to the Daily Show above. Second to last item.

Why is the Big 3 being singled out as the bad guy here when it it the politicians and investors who got us in this mess? Why are some politicians asking for GM CEO Richard Wagoner to leave the company ... if Mr. Wagoner is fired, so should all CEOs of financial institutions who received bailout money and politicians who contributed to this crisis? Since the big 3 got rid of their corporate jets, the politicians like Nancy Pelosi should do the same too!!!

this is insane, outrageous, rude,disrespectful i dont know what else to say about puttinga car on a pulpit n praying for it. G-d will punish this church, thats like putting crap on G-ds face it is so insulting. the church is suppose to be holy n not a place to put luxury items n pray about materials. oh n of course it had to be a Gospel church in which i mean Black peolple church. dont get me wrong iam half Black n iam not racist.

this is insane, outrageous, rude,disrespectful i dont know what else to say about puttinga car on a pulpit n praying for it. G-d will punish this church, thats like putting crap on G-ds face it is so insulting. the church is suppose to be holy n not a place to put luxury items n pray about materials. oh n of course it had to be a Gospel church in which i mean Black peolple church. dont get me wrong iam half Black n iam not racist.

is like they are idolitrizing the SUV, is that there new G-d haha, whats next putting a picture of Brittany Spears and praying for her

First, read the article. secondly, I go to church every week and this is not rude or disrespectful- they are praying for the industry, and I am sure if it is a Detroit church, all of the congregation works in that industry. The dealership that donated the cars could have made a better choice, but at least they are all hybrids.

Broq

People rely on a comedian to obtain a better understanding as to the implications of the automotive bail-out? I guess GM burning through $72B while under Wagoner's outstanding leadership was not enough?

Americans are fools that's why the top 5% have 95% of the wealth. Thank God my father succeeded in business so we are not in that bottom 95 percentile.

One of the conditions of any bailout is that any car sold by the big 3 American nameplate companies be designed and assembled in America by Americans. Chevy is nothing more than a marketer of korean cars at the bottom of the market. They buy them, ship them over here and mark them up. Don't tell me that it's cheaper to build the Aveo in Korea when that country has to import all of the raw materials for the car assemble it and sell it at a low enough price so GM can make a profit flipping it. GM has plenty of engineers who could design the Aveo in their sleep. We have raw materials in America and there's no reason not to build economy cars here, except that the big three only want to assemble high profit vehicles, like SUVs that make $15,000 per vehicle. Any bailout should require that American car companies start serving Americans with reasonably priced economy cars built by Americans.

Engineering aside, there’s a huge difference between assembling in a unionized and non-unionized plant in America, especially for the Detroit 3.

broq what an ignorant, the church is a holy place not a parking lot, there was no need to bring a car inside thats like seating on the Bible, and second it seems like there praying for prospertiy, in my church we pray for everyone but we dont go in details like especifically onto the automakers. and if the church is located in detroit they could just pray that everything goes well and leave it on the Hands of G-d!!!

and and i hope you rememer the story where Jesus comes in to the church and destroys everyones things because hes people were using the church as a market

Before I would approve of any auto company bail-out, I would like to see a plan for the auto company dealerships to start treating customers like human beings, not like sheep waiting to be fleeced (i.e., deceptive sales practices, hidden rebates, add-ons, etc.).

Customers should not have to go into a dealership armed with a "Consumer Reports Auto Buyers Guide" to protect themselves from the dealer's practices in order to buy a new or used car!
Thank you