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WORLD> America
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Auto rescue bill in peril, opposed by GOP senators
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-11 07:59 Opposition wasn't limited to Republicans. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana announced he was against the measure because of a provision to bail out transit agencies. The bus and rail systems could be on the hook for billions of dollars in payments because exotic deals they entered into with investors, which have since been declared unlawful tax shelters, have gone sour. At the White House, Deputy Chief of Staff Joel Kaplan told reporters at a late-morning briefing that the administration had yet to read the fine print of its "conceptual agreement" with congressional Democrats. However, he indicated clear support, saying Bush would personally lobby Republicans. House Republicans swiftly voiced their opposition and called for a plan that would instead provide government insurance to subsidize new private investment in the Big Three automakers, demand major labor givebacks and debt restructuring at the companies, and encourage them to declare bankruptcy. Rep. John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, the minority leader, said the legislation "asks taxpayers to further subsidize a business model that is failing to meet the needs of American workers and consumers." Under the bill being considered Wednesday, the carmakers would have to submit blueprints on March 31 to the industry overseer showing how they would restructure to ensure their survival, although they could be given until the end of May to negotiate with the government on a final agreement. The carmakers initially asked Congress for $25 billion, then returned two weeks later to plead for as much as $34 billion. But with the White House refusing to dole out new spending for the Big Three, congressional Democrats agreed to use an existing program that was to help carmakers retool their factories to make more fuel-efficient cars. That fund yielded only $15 billion in emergency loans, and when negotiators agreed to leave some money in the environmental program, the amount fell to $14 billion. A breakthrough came when Democrats agreed to scrap language — which the White House had called a "poison pill" — that would have forced the carmakers to drop lawsuits challenging tough emissions limits in California and other states. There was still heartburn among Republicans, however, over language that would force the automakers to abide by those states' limits. Democrats insisted on it as a kind of consolation prize for environmentalists, who already were livid at the raid of the fuel-efficiency program. Kaplan said the Bush administration would work with President-elect Barack Obama's team on choosing the so-called "car czar," acknowledging that Bush's tenure ends soon and the automakers' woes will continue well into 2009. Obama defended the auto bailout as necessary given the threat a potential Big Three collapse could pose to an already battered economy. "As messy as it may be, I think there's a sense of, 'Let's stabilize the patient,'" he said in an interview published in Wednesday's Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. The car czar would have say-so over any major business decisions by the automakers while they were taking advantage of federal aid, with veto power over any transaction of $100 million or more. The companies, including the private equity firm Cerberus, which owns a majority stake in Chrysler -- would have to open their books to the government overseer. And if Chrysler defaulted on its loan, Cerberus would be responsible for reimbursing the government. Also included in the bill is an unrelated pay raise for federal judges. |
