MSNBC is reporting that auto-state senators’ aides say they’ve reached a compromise to throw money at “speed emergency loans” to Chrysler, Ford and GM. And speed is the drug of choice here. After The Big 2.8’s CEO shot themselves in their collective feet in front of a Senate committee charged with rubber-stamping the $25b deal, Republicans and Democrats knocked some heads together. The peacock people say the as-yet-unnamed legislators plan to present their proposal at a mid-afternoon news conference today (Thursday). The plan: the president’s plan. The bi-polar, I mean partisan, I mean bi-partisan group will attempt to “divert” money from the already approved $25b Department of Energy Loans– to tide Detroit over until the incoming prez can do his part to subsidize the failing automakers with taxpayer funds. But folks, as this Bailout Watch originally postulated, this is NOT a done deal. Far, far, from it. And I’ll tell you why…
The New York Times reports that Representative Henry A. Waxman has just waxed Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan. The California Democrat will replace Dingell as the chairman of the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce. That’s the committee that cranked-out the original $25b Department of Energy loans upon which the compromise crew have their beady eyes affixed. Waxman is a tree hugger’s tree hugger. As we saw during the Senate hearing on the previous bailout– or is that the ante-penultimate bailout?– the Democrats are FULLY committed to forcing Detroit to increase vehicular efficiency.
They didn’t like the previous compromise on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE standards). They ain’t gonna like this usurpation one bit. It could very well be payback time for Detroit’s anti-CAFE lobbying. Curiouser and curiouser.
Oh man, are the ELFins and Sierra Club going to get their panties in a bunch over this one…
Whatever works though – I would expect the strings attached to be stiff.
Exciting times for sure.
I wonder if Mrs. Dingell will lose her GM exec job now that Mr. is irrelevant?
CAFE, Schmafeee…who cares? I mean seriously, if the automobile companies can earn 100mpg EPA ratings for plug-in Hybrids such as the Volt has been suggested it will earn, hitting 35mpg CAFE should only be a matter of sprinkling a few plug-in hybrids into your CAFE mix of numbers…and in GM’s case, remember that the Volt is not a one-trick pony, it is merely the figurehead of the E-flex technology that you will someday (hopefully) see on a wide variety of GM products around the world. Hopefully.
Yes…Senator Waxman is a royal asshole extraordinaire. A real gem.
Hmmmm? That explains the jump in shares.
I don’t see what they’re making a big deal about. I’m as much for energy efficiency as the next guy, but I know that if the D3 aren’t around to make ANY cars, they sure as hell won’t be around to make energy-efficient cars.
Early next year, President Obama will have the opportunity to revisit what’s left of the $700 billion TARP fund, and he’ll have to come up with a comprehensive energy plan. The energy plan will be a multiple hundred billion dollar plan itself. At that time, he can propose before a Democrat-dominated congress that they take $25 billion out of TARP and put it into the energy plan.
The News says that the new date for the Detroit 3 is Dec.8th to provide a proper Business plan to the Banking committee, guess they are hard at work, throwing something together that will pass muster eh?