❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now
Fallout: The Financial Crisis

White House considering auto bailout

Dan Grech Dec 12, 2008
HTML EMBED:
COPY
Fallout: The Financial Crisis

White House considering auto bailout

Dan Grech Dec 12, 2008
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

Scott Jagow: Congress will not be bailing out the automakers.
Not this year. As you may’ve heard, the Senate shot down the $14 billion package last night.
But just a bit ago, the White House said it might step in. Here’s Marketplace’s Dan Grech.


Dan Grech: The Bush administration is considering tapping into the $700 billion bailout meant for Wall Street. The White House says it would be irresponsible to let the industry fail.

Meanwhile, the finger-pointing has begun on Capitol Hill. Democrats say the auto bailout failed because of Senate Republicans. Republicans wanted a guarantee that United Auto Workers would lower Big Three wages by the end of 2009. The UAW refused.

Peter Morici: Make no mistake, this morning there is no bailout because of the UAW, not because of those Republican Senators.

Peter Morici is an economist at the University of Maryland:

Morici: I’d like to know why a waitress making $12 an hour, $30,000 a year, in Indiana, should send her tax dollars to Washington to subsidize someone earning $80 an hour and who gets generous retirement and severance and benefits she will never see.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger points his finger at Southern senators he calls anti-union and anti-Detroit. No word yet on when the White House will make a decision.

I’m Dan Grech for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.