What about the car industry?
Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 3:52 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Congress
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
The big wheels of American auto-making are coming up to your U.S. Capitol this afternoon for a visit with Congressional leaders. Subject: The $25 billion in loans coming to them for the purpose of "re-equipping" the domestic fleet to make it more fuel-efficient.
House minority leader John Boehner said last week the $25 billion in federal loans in the offing for Detroit automakers "looks like a bailout to me." He added that he still hasn't seen all the details.
At issue is a piece of legislation being considering in Congress that would make the money available to Ford, GM, and Chrysler to help them develop and market more fuel efficient vehicles. The automakers are asking for the loans in accordance with a law passed last year by Congress that raised CAFE standards. But many lawmakers, including notable conservatives like Boehner, are wary.
As often happens around here, the skirmishing is partly over nomenclature and political definitions: Is the $25 billion a "loan" or a "bailout"?
The automakers and their Hill allies say the former. Opponents say the latter, and express misgivings about the recent trend towards government intervention exhibited by the Bush Administration, most recently with AIG, but also with Bear Stearns, as well as Freddie and Fannie.
Seeing as how the measure is popular in Rust Belt battleground states like Michigan, the bill has a wind at its back this election year. It would most likely be included in year-end must pass legislation, like the resolution to keep the government funded until after the elections.
