Looked like the Democrats and Chimpy had worked out a deal to help the auto companies, but a substantial number of Republicans in Congress are balking. The whole thing might fall through.
The Republicans are claiming that the companyies should file chapter 11, and they insist that if the Fed backs the warranties, people will still buy their cars. I wouldn't. I'm sure most people would not.
Their opposition is simply a knee jerk reaction to the record levels of spending that Bush and the Republicans have done over the last 8 years. They want to seem "fiscally conservative". Unfortunately, they're going to destroy a large segment of our economy in the process.
From a personal point of view, I'm unaffected, but not ambivalent. I drive a Japanese car now, and I'll have no problem finding something suitable from a foreign company in the future. I won't lose my job when the domestic companies go out of business.
Something on the order of 3 million people will be directly affected.. about 10% of all jobs.. losing those jobs... and health insurance.. all in an economy that is shedding jobs at a rapid pace. We normally don't let people starve to death, nor die from lack of health care, so as society takes care of all the victims of the malfeasance of the ruling class, it'll end up costing us a hell of a lot more than if we just keep people productively employed.
And the Republicans will blame the working class (i.e. unions) for the disaster.. further deepening the recession (which the monumentally stupid people say we're not in), and causing a cascade of other economic disasters.
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