Why Lamar Missed The Auto Bailout Vote

By Kleinheider Posted on December 12, 2008 at 8:22 am

While Senator Corker has taken a lead on the issue hastening the collapse of the Big Three bailout, Mike Slater wonders where our senior Senator was when the vote was going down.

Post Politics has your answer. Reached early this morning Alexander spokesman Lee Pitts explained why Senator Alexander was neither an official yea or a nay on yesterday’s vote:

Senator Alexander did not vote because he is home in Tennessee recuperating from surgery to remove a cyst from his back. If he had been present he would have voted no. In a statement the Senator said, “One-third of manufacturing jobs in Tennessee are auto-related, and we are all concerned about the challenges facing the auto industry, but taxpayers must also be protected. Government involvement may have a role in the solution to this problem, but putting a government that can’t run itself in charge of running two big car companies makes no sense to me, and that’s what this bill would have done.”

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Tags: auto bailout, Big Three, Lamar Alexander, surgery  

Auto Bailout Bill Passes House

By Kleinheider Posted on December 10, 2008 at 11:23 pm

From the New York Times:

The House approved the rescue plan by 237 to 170, mostly along party lines, with 32 Republicans mainly from states heavily dependent on the auto industry joining 205 Democrats in supporting the measure. Voting against were 150 Republicans and 20 Democrats.

The White House so far has failed to generate support among Senate Republicans, who have the power to kill the bill.

All Tennessee House Republicans voted against the measure along with Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper. Rep. Bart Gordon did not cast a vote.

SEE ALSO:
Detriot Free Press
John Scott

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Tags: auto bailout, Bart Gordon, Big Three, Jim Cooper, Tennessee Congressional Delegation  

Corker’s Getting Upset

By Kleinheider Posted on December 8, 2008 at 7:42 am

Tennessee’s junior senator is not happy about how the auto bailout is shaping up:

U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, today issued a statement following reports of an auto bailout plan being developed between House Democrats and the White House.

“Based on the outline we’ve seen so far, we are disappointed in the plan that is being developed between House Democrats and the White House,” said Corker.

Earlier this week at the Senate Banking hearing Sen. Corker outlined a plan which states:

“Before we even contemplate making a loan to these companies, we need to put in place specific and rigorous measures that include:

“One, give existing bondholders 30 cents on the dollar to help reduce their overall debt load.

“Two, bring wages immediately in-line with companies like Nissan and Volkswagen.

“Three, GM owes $23 billion to the United Auto Worker’s VEBA (voluntary employees’ beneficiary association) account. The union must agree to take half of that payment in GM stock.

“Four, the union must agree to do away with payments to workers who are still receiving almost full compensation up to four years after their jobs have ended.

“These are the same types of conditions a bankruptcy judge might require to ensure that these companies become viable and sustainable into the future, and if they will agree to these terms then we have something to talk about. The process I have suggested would allow them to avoid the problems and stigma that accompany a formal bankruptcy, while forcing them to do the things they need to do to be successful companies.”

SEE ALSO:
$15B vote for Big Three
Wake Up America
Southern lawmakers on the fiddling
A Commercial Appeal editorial
Reuters
Corker too hard on Big 3
Bloomberg
A City Paper editorial
Losing money in the good years

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Tags: auto bailout, Big Three, Bob Corker  

Corker Doesn’t Appreciate Their Ruse

By Kleinheider Posted on December 4, 2008 at 4:14 pm

The Senator doesn’t think Chrysler should be propped up by government just long enough to be conveniently sold:

Corker, a critic of the industry, said Thursday during a Senate Banking Committee hearing in Washington that Chrysler’s private equity owner won’t put any more money into the business and intends to sell it.

By loaning Chrysler the $7 billion it requested, he said, the government would just be providing capital to keep the automaker afloat until a sale by Cerberus Capital Management LP.

SEE ALSO:
Video from Dan Lehr
Automotive News
The Street

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Tags: auto bailout, Big Three, Bob Corker, Chrysler