CEOs of Big Three automakers plead for federal aid
Lawmakers express skepticism about bailing out Detroit, citing the environment, unions and equity for workers at non-U.S. plants in their states. A vote on the issue could come as soon as today.
Reporting from Washington — Chief executives of the nation's once-mighty Big Three automakers came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to plead for $25 billion in federal aid, but the idea of bailing out Detroit has run into a wall of skepticism from a broad cross-section of lawmakers concerned about the environment, unions and Japanese auto plants in their home states.
President Bush opposes providing emergency funds to Detroit automakers, though President-elect Barack Obama has called for aiding the U.S. industry. A vote on the issue could come as soon as today.
Some lawmakers see a bailout through the prism of constituents who work in the auto industry -- but not for General Motors, Ford or Chrysler.
"I'm sure that I'm going to be asked, 'Congressman, I work at Honda' or 'I work at Mercedes. I get $40 an hour,' " said Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.). " 'Why are you going to take my tax dollars and pay it to a company that's paying their employees $75 an hour?' "
Others, like Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), oppose federal aid on ideological grounds. Although Kentucky is the third-largest producer of automobiles in the U.S. after Michigan and Ohio, with two Ford plants and a GM facility, Bunning thinks a Big Three bailout would be a mistake -- just as he thought last month's $700-billion Wall Street bailout was socialism.
"I know Detroit's pain is felt in the towns and cities all across Kentucky," said Bunning, whose state is also home to a Toyota assembly plant, but "simply throwing money at the problem is not the answer."
Many also contend that U.S. companies bear a lot of the blame for their problems.
"I am not going to turn my back on the working men and women of America," said Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas), who is so proud of the GM plant in his district that he drives a Chevy Tahoe that was produced there. "However, throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at an ailing industry won't necessarily cure the problem."
Such views are especially frustrating for Rick Wagoner of General Motors Corp., Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Co. and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler. The three CEOs, who appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, said the nation's economic crisis threatened their companies' survival just as they were finally adapting to the global marketplace with leaner operations and more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Wagoner told lawmakers that a refusal to act would further imperil the already battered economy.
