|
Protesters chant 'bailout is a sellout' as Big 3 execs testify
RAW
STORY
Friday, Dec 05, 2008
Protesters were escorted from a Senate hearing room
Thursday, chanting "the bailout is a sellout" as executives
from the Big Three automakers requested $34 billion in taxpayer
funds they said was necessary to prevent collapse.
About 18 people were escorted from the Senate Banking Committee
hearing.
"The bailout is a sellout. The poor are suffering ... the
homeless, the hungry, they're suffering," the protesters
chanted as Capitol Police escorted them from the room.
Before the outburst, Sen. John Thune (D-MT) was questioning the
auto executives and criticizing President Bush's policies.
"I hope this doesn't count against my time," he quipped.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
It's unclear who organized the protesters, but none appeared
to be dressed in the rosy garb that has been a trademark of Code
Pink, the anti-war group that regularly interrupts House and Senate
hearings with protests.
Video of the protests will be posted here soon.
Auto execs beg for aid
Executives from Ford, GM and Chrysler pressed their case for a
bailout.
The executives returned to Capitol Hill two weeks after their
initial appeal for a government rescue ended in humiliation at
the hands of congressional leaders who ordered them back to Detroit
to reframe restructuring plans.
"It's fair to say that last month's hearings were difficult
for us ... but we learned a lot," General Motors Corp Chairman
and CEO Rick Wagoner told the Senate Banking Committee in prepared
testimony.
"We're here today because we made mistakes, and we're here
because forces beyond our control have pushed us to the brink."
Ford CEO Alan Mulally also attempted to show contrition before
his grilling by the panel of senators.
"Since the last hearing, I have thought a great deal about
the concerns you expressed. I want you to know I heard your message
loud and clear."
Robert Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler, argued his firm's already advanced
restructuring and cost cuts had been plunged into uncertainty
by outside economic factors.
"We're here because the financial crisis that started in
2007 and accelerated at the end of the second quarter in 2008.
"As consumer confidence fell and credit markets remained
frozen, the lowest US auto sales in more than 20 years has put
tremendous pressure on our cash position."
Banking committee chairman Senator Chris Dodd said a failure
to take action would amount to playing "Russian roulette"
with the US economy.
"We need to act, not for the purpose of protecting a handful
of companies. If that were the extent of the issue -- I would
let them fail.
"Inaction is no solution."
But the committee's top Republican Senator Richard Shelby, who
opposes the bailout, questioned the debt-laden firm's restructuring
plans and asked whether they were ready to use the crisis as an
opportunity to change.
"I have my doubts," he said.
Democratic leaders have raised the prospect of recalling Congress
for a vote on a rescue next week but it remained unclear whether
there was sufficient support in Congress to pass a rescue plan.
In a belated public relations exercise, the executives, pilloried
for swooping into the first hearing in corporate jets, drove more
than 500 miles from Detroit in fuel-efficient cars.
Democrats want the White House to tap an already approved 700
billion dollar finance industry bailout to rescue the auto firms.
But the Bush administration insists the money should come from
a 25 billion dollars in loans designed to spur development of
fuel efficient vehicles.
Wagoner gave fresh evidence of the precarious state of his company,
requesting a second four billion dollar loan by January in addition
to an already requested immediate four billion dollar rescue payment.
Both payments would come from GM's request for 12 billion dollars
in short-term loans and a six billion dollar line of credit requested
by the firm.
On Wednesday, United Auto Workers (UAW) president Ron Gettelfinger
said his union was willing to delay billions in dollars of payments
to a health care fund and suspending provisions of the union's
contract for laid-off workers.
The about-face, after the union earlier ruled out more sacrifices,
illustrated the gravity of the crisis with around three million
jobs at stake.
GM and Chrysler warn they could run out of cash within a matter
of weeks without billions of dollars in low-cost, government-backed
loans.
Neither automaker expects they would be able to survive if they
were forced into bankruptcy protection and the ripple effects
of their failure would be felt across the country as auto supplies
and related companies unravel.
Mulally argued Ford's restructuring program was already working
well and said it might pull through on its own and return to profitability
by 2011, but asked for a nine billion dollar line of credit in
case the economy worsens.
In its restructuring plan, Chrysler said it needed seven billion
dollars by December 31 if it was to survive global credit crisis,
falling demand for large vehicles and a global economic slump.
The fate of the key industry is a key early test of the incoming
administration of president-elect Barack Obama, who has warned
he is not prepared to write the companies a blank check.
|
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
|
|
