How did the automobile industry get involved in this bailout?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Here's Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post:
"It's desperation time for the Big Three automakers. They are awash in gas-guzzling vehicles nobody wants to buy, bleeding red ink and running out of cash.
So it should be no surprise that when Congress returns next week, the companies and their unions will put on a full-court press to win approval for $50 billion in federal loans to be used to re-engineer and retool their plants for a new generation of energy-efficient vehicles."
He's reluctantly for it, but read the posts below.
Here's Jesse Walker on Reason:
https://www.reason.com/...
"It doesn't seem so big anymore, next to that whole turn-Wall-Street-over-to-the-Treasury-Department plan, but the $25 billion handout for the auto industry is still rolling forward. U.S. News has the details. Among the bullet points:
• It's much bigger than the Chrysler bailout of 1980.
• There are few strings attached.
• There's more aid coming.
Apparently, corporate welfare has its own cycle of dependency. "This year's $25 billion is just a down payment," the report concludes. "The automakers now plan to ask the government for another $25 billion in loans next year. It's just spare change, after all."
And Robert Reich on the bottom line:
http://robertreich.blogspot.com/...
"Meanwhile, when no one was looking, American automakers are on the way to getting their own sweetheart deal from Congress -- billions, ostensibly to convert to more fuel-efficient cars. On a much smaller scale, this bailout is almost as outrageuos as Wall Street's. Detroit has known for years that it would eventually have to create fuel-efficient cars, but it kept producing SUVs and trucks because that was where the profits were. Japanese automakers in the US did the right thing, took the risk, made the investments in fuel-efficient technologies. But they're not getting bailed out."
Shouldn't we at least debate this bailout?