Breaking: Auto Bailout Fails in the Senate

11:10 p.m. EST: The Senate just voted down the widely known auto "bailout" bill. From everything discussed it appears the UAW was willing to concede to pay parity as a condition for the bill to go through without any negotiation.

There are currently no plans for another bill before the end of the year.

Word tonight is GM has hired bankruptcy counsel.

Chrysler had previously retained counsel to look at Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

At this hour Asian stockmarkets are plunging on the news.

Comments

Seems like not only they (UAW) are already selfish, but they are also stupid.

Screw you, you a$$. It wasn't the union it was political bickering. 3 to 4 bucks an hour when all those bastards make 5 times as much. Yeah, just wait and see which ones get re-elected if they are from a state that gets the unemployment from this.

GM & Chrysler will obviously need money to help pay for those pricey bankruptcy Lawyers, etc. I wonder if they’ll resort to shutting down their operation and selling all their vehicles at a loss? Only time will tell if we see 80% off a 2008 Tahoe. If so, I’d be first in line to buy one. They’ve taken advantage of the consumer with mediocre products in the past and now it’s the consumers turn leach them for what they’ve got. By the way, I still hope GM, Ford and Chrysler survive later down the road as a leaner, more efficient and profitable automaker.

I think they are already desperate to give consumers deals. I hate to see them go out of business because then there will be no competition in the marketplace. Do you think Japanese really give deals? I haven't seen any until this economic crisis.

stupid stupid stupid backwards a$$ republicans just doomed us all. THANKS A LOT YOU RIGHT WING F*@KERS!

What's gonna happen to those who need to get their vehicles serviced, and their warranties, etc.? If they go bankrupt, aren't they gonna need a certain amount of reserves to handle consumers' maintenance and problems that are certain to arise in the future?

MORE GM problems: Detroit News yesterday: GM may lose 40 percent of showrooms if GMAC defaults, dealer group official says

"General Motors Corp. may lose as many as 40 percent of its 6,500 U.S. dealerships should lender GMAC LLC default, a key retailer for the automaker said.
"There's so many dealers on the edge, if GMAC goes out of business 30 to 40 percent of dealers won't be able to get financing from anywhere else," Martin NeSmith, a liaison to GMAC as member of GM's National Dealer Council, said in an interview. "They'll go out of business."

It's interesting that Chrysler owner, Cerberus, is also the majority owner of GMAC. These guys just might not be the bright lights that many people think they are.

On the up side, most say GM needs to shed dealers, so a GMAC collapse could help that. Of course, the downside of that is that some lousy dealers could survive while good ones close,

"It's interesting that Chrysler owner, Cerberus, is also the majority owner of GMAC. These guys just might not be the bright lights that many people think they are."

Well of course, Dan Quayle their Chairman, duh?!

Like I said earlier, prices on GM and Chrysler vehicles will fall off a cliff as the company/dealers liquidate whatever they can.

Dodgefan - Japanese, Koreans and Germans don't need to give great deals very often because their products/image speak for themselves.

The big 3 need to build better quality, better looking cars. Im sorry but I think the big 3 automakers have some of the ugliest looking cars out there. A couple of months ago, I rented a Chrysler Sebring, what a disaster. The interior looks SO cheap and its all hard plastic. Compared to a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord, the quality and looks suck! Even Korean makers, like Hyundai has come a long way. I know the big 3 can build better cars, look at some models Ford build for the European markets. They are so much richer looking than our Ford Fusion, even the upcoming remodel Fusion looks ugly!

Markt

Last I saw the Democrats had a majority in the house.

If they had a majority how does the blame lie with the Republicans?

I think both parties have plenty of blame to accept for the current situation.

Valero, having a majority in the House allowed the bill to pass through the House. But the Democrats do not have a 2/3 majority in the Senate. The Democrats in the Senate tried to get the bill through, the Republicans, against the wishes of a Republican President, refused to approve the legislation. It was pretty obvious it was a political move. How much spending did the Republican Congress approve for overseas activities, but when it comes to funding the US economy they let it go.

This Bill was actually known to fail in the very beginning. If you are smart enuf, you would have seen that NO ONE WANTS TO GIVE UP ANYTHING.

Sure, there were news reports on "oh, we'll give up this and that, we'll agree to this and that." But one thing you need to understand - we WILL. Future tense. Not now, but in the future. Essentially, this boils down to, "give me the $ now, and we'll talk later."

It's really an unsmart move by the Union, but on the same token, union was forced into this situation, and they now have become the scrap goat. Even though I don't like union, I don't blame them 100% for the Bill's failure. It's not the politicians' fault, however! Remember, the gov't is giving out the $ with string attached (of 'coz - there's no free lunch!)

Unsmart move though, because this is a sinking ship with too much weight. Ship's just about to sink completely, and everyone is still holding on to all their belongings instead of dumping them to have the ship float back up again :(

How is it not the politicians fault? Why because the union wouldn't cut 3 to 4 dollars an hour? What about the bailout approved for banks where banks are still going to pay bonuses to executives even though those businesses are going under? Quit seeing it only as a union and see it as a working American. The government will support a huge bank bill because they will see some of the money come back to them, will they see money from the auto bailout? Not nearly as much. And they approved a 700 billion dollar bailout for banks, what is 14 billion? 2% of it.

It's sickening to watch our supposed leaders bicker over what amounts to trivialities. For once forget about what damn party you belong to and your personal agendas...do what's in the best interest of America.

My contempt for the federal government is at an all-time high.

Well hopefully the White House will cover the automakers through to the new administration taking over. Those who want these loans made available should be happier then, as the much larger Democrat majority should be able to push things through then. As it is, the current senate only has a Dem majority of one, which means it was always going to be hard to get through.

I am generally against propping up failing businesses, even if they are just loans and not strictly a bailout (why are we calling this a bailout? This is VERY different to the money we gave to the banks - these are LOANS). I am FOR this though, simply as working within the midwest, and within the automotive sector, I can see any of these folding iminently would lead to me potentially losing my job soon after as part of the fallout.

Watchdog,
Watching CNN last night and David Gergen said that on top of this and the bailout he has never seen such an irresponsible Congress, none acting in the best interest of the country.

Dave,

You and everyone else here want to see swift action from our government? Well, then all it takes is a government back corporation from (Pick one – Japan, China, France, Venezuela, Germany, Russia, our FRIENDS, the Saudis or heck, anyone else for that matter) expressing interest in buying all three automakers and you’ll see Congress setting up all sorts of protections for the industry.

"Dodgefan - Japanese, Koreans and Germans don't need to give great deals very often because their products/image speak for themselves."

Koreans? Really? I think some of their newer cars are great, but they mostly sell because they are a deal, and even then they have huge discounts. The Sonata, which I like BTW, has had rebate advertised on it in houston almost since it came out.

The other two have deals too- they are just disquised to look better - lease specials, special APRs, etc.

Broq

Ken L.
I doubt it. The Chinese are being talked about to buy Saturn now.

But otherwise you're right. All of this is so depressing isn't it?

This is not depressing rather it's REFRESHING! Say good-bye to the crooked Unions! Say good-bye to inept management! Say good-bye to low quality cars! This is a WIN-WIN for the USA! Real Americans drive Real American Cars and Trucks - Toyota and Honda.

valero
Supporters of the bailout needed 60 votes to advance it.
Voting "yes" were 40 Democrats, 10 Republicans and 2 independents. Voting "no" were 4 Democrats and 31 Republicans.

taken from the associated press. it failed due to republicans. read the news once in a while.

See what I meant when saying the union is stupid?
They are dragging the companies to drown but don't want to or don't even realize they have to back up a bit just so that everyone keeps a job.

UAW is to blame here, but not 100%. They don't design, develop or market the cars and trucks that GM builds and nobody wants. They just build them.

Bail out the suppliers, not the incompetent automakers.

Yes Bill, you are a real American. Just go into a Detroit neighborhood with a sandwich board on your back saying everything there and see how many of your real American neighbors welcome you.

Oh, and this coming from a (former) diehard GM fan.

One that got burned twice by their poor product btw.

Bloke,
Real Americans don't get intimidated by Union punks like yourself. Real Americans know they deserve quality so they buy REAL American cars made by Honda and Toyota in the USA. Come back on Monday for another Dope-slap!

Joe America

Dang Joe (or is it Bill?), you done showed me huh? I won't wait till Monday, how you give it another shot? I don't see why anyone would be intimidated by me, especially on a website. If you are so tough and smart go do what I suggest above and see what happens when you go to a real American town. You think Unions exemplify the evil in the auto manufacturing industry? Have you looked at the executives of those companies? Why shouldn't a Union fight for benefits of those American workers when the executive makes 500% more than them? And you know who implements all those cost cutting measures that makes the cars cheap in the end? Not the Union.

Dope Slap? Please, I'll slap you silly with information anytime you want. Its dorks like you who make it fun to blog on a website.

Bloke,

I can tell you first hand how immature and stupid those UAW workers are. Just after the first day that they went on strike in 2007, my Civic got keyed. Next day, the tyres on my mom's Accord were slashed.

So, if I live around Motown, I have to buy their inferior products so that my vehicle doesn't get damaged?

People act like the Big 3 decline happened over night.... It's actually been happening for 30+ years. Why are we just now doing something about it? Why did our predecesors feel the need to pass this problem on to thier siblings? Oh yeah.... by bailing out the Big 3, we're doing the same thing they did to us.

Why? Because no-one had the intestinal fortitude to handle the problem as it presented itself because they were to concerned for their own well being.

Why do we scream at each other here?
Did government decided to attack Russia and called for total mobilization?
We're lucky to live in civilized times!
Ok. The mismanaged company will close its doors, some people will lose jobs and some others will lose money in stocks etc. But this is normal. We'll get over this and lets look forward to the new opportunities. And what if government wouldn't have any way to get those billions to help them?
When you are going to rob a bank you know that you might end up in jail. When you open business you know that you might lose invested money. So, when you end up losing them, don't cry.

Tony, nothing like taking the simplest view of a very complicated situation. If it were as easy as you say, the government or the news media would have never gotten interested in it.

And J, I don't know if it was a UAW worker that keyed your car. It was probably someone who was pissed at following behind you when you were making a 40 mpg run around the city in your Civic.