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Automotive Failout
The senate fails to pass the $14 Billion dollar automotive bailout plan.
“This is going to be a very, very bad Christmas for a lot of people as a result of what takes place here tonight.” – Harry Reid D Nevada
The Senate failed to pass the $14 billion dollar automotive bailout plan late Thursday evening, in a 52 to 35 vote. Sixty votes would have been required to bring the plan up for consideration. Currently there are no further plans for another bill to be pushed through congress until at least the end of the year.
The main point of contention amongst Republicans, who refused to support a bill endorsed by both the White House as well as House and Congressional Democrats, seemed to lie in wage negotiations between Republicans and the United Auto Workers Union (UAW). While all sides worked late into the night trying to broker and acceptable agreement, talks reached a stalemate over Republican demands for steep wage and benefit cuts by the UAW in 2009, two years before their current contract is slated to expire. Under the Republican plan, automakers would have been required to cut wages and benefits to match those of Nissan, Toyota, and Honda employees in the United States.
Financial markets plunged immediately upon the news of the failed bailout, which is likely to have many other global repercussions as well, since both GM as well as Chrysler have made it publicly clear that they may not have enough capital to make it through the end of the year. Both companies have retained legal council regarding a potential chapter 11 filing in the near future. Over the past couple of weeks there have been many sides to this argument regarding the automotive bailout, with those who unanimously think that these companies should not receive or do not deserve aid as well as those who vigorously are in favor of a bailout. The failed bailout is obviously going to have many implications on many of us, whether it be job related or simply financial related, so what do you guys think? Do you think that it was a negative thing that the bailout failed or do these companies maybe not deserve public bailout money? What do you think?
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The U.S government is F'in dumb for not passing this now they handi cap our troops because the small companies that supply parts to the "BIG 3" also make parts for the tanks trucks and even guns for our armed forces, and these companies don't make there living off the U.S. Gov. contracts they make there money off there contracts with gm ford or chysler.And once the doino's start falling and they start going down one by one, that leaves our military with a max of 90day supply of parts. We might as well invite the terroist for dinner.
What he said?
I'm glad they didn't pass the bailout. Maybe if our companies would make decent cars for a decent amount of money this wouldn't be a problem. They need to stop paying those workers so much too. They get paid to sit in a room when they're laid off and that shouldn't be happening either. When you're laid off, it's because there's nothing for you to do. You shouldn't still be getting paid to do nothing. And also, Scott, the government pays those companies a lot of money and they will survive just fine. If they're not making parts for the car manufacturers then they're not spending any money making those parts either.
With this automotive failout, we have shot ourselves in the foot. Again.