just keep bailing out aig the corruption is obvious--as for saving millions of jobs,its a no go--are we all to be that stupid as to not see what is going on-----millions in bonuses for the same people responsible for the failure---hope in my lifetime i never see another repub as president..some things never change,now they want a free trade agreement with colombia---what the hell is wrong with these people.

I hate to say this but GOOD! Let the Dems take all the heat when this goes down the drain! For years we have been bailing the Auto Industry out! It is time for the Auto Industry to kick the Unions out! It is the Union cost that make them uncompetitive! For years the Union has rapped the Big 3! For all you union workers, I am sure that the Big 3 will be very happy to hire you back, might be less per hour but you would still have a job! Better than collecting unemployment!

watch what happens as the gas prices drop--the dummies will be running to buy the old guzlers.---glad we have honda and toyota in this country.freaking american cars are junk anyway.

We must not as a nation forget the role the high cost of our dependence on foreign fuel played in the demise of our automakers. The exorbitant cost of gas the past year has done serious damage to our economy and society. We need to take lessons from our mistakes.WE also need to get out from under the grip our dependence on fore gin oil has on us. Why not take some of these billions and invest in America becoming energy independent. Driving an electric car would cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon. The electricity could be generated by solar or wind power. Green technology would create millions of badly needed new jobs. What America needs is a green revolution. It is time for us to move forward with alternative energy. I just read Jeff Wilson's new book The Manhattan Project of 2009. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about the downward spiral of our economy and it's effect on our society and would like to see our country become energy independent!
www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com

hey harry
next year germany will produce a car 4 seats 3 cyl diesel-bio diesel ok----over 100 mpg---what ever happened to the us being on top of tec.

If one of the automakers goes under it will cost the US about 2 million jobs when you count the peripheral companies that will be affected. That will cost the US about $20 billion in a 6-8 month period in unemployment (aren't many automakers looking to hire) and about another $20 billion in lost tax revenue. If the Republicans balk at this they are just plain stupid. There should probably be some codicils attached to the bailout but if it doesn't go through every Republican should be voted out of every office.

It took a two-day strike, extraordinary solidarity and more than two months of tough bargaining for 73,000 UAW members at General Motors to bring home a new contract with unprecedented product and investment commitments.
With the protection of U.S. manufacturing jobs at the top of the union’s bargaining agenda, UAW negotiators insisted on — and won — solid pledges from GM to build specific products in specific plants.
The agreement will deliver more than $13,000 in economic gains for a typical UAW member, including a $3,000 signing bonus, two 3 percent lump sums and a 4 percent lump sum.
Active workers will see their comprehensive health care coverage continue, with dental, hearing and other benefits improved. Retired workers will have their health benefits secured by a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA), prefunded by GM with $29.9 billion in cash and other assets. The fund can only be used to pay retiree health benefits, and will remain solvent for decades regardless of the financial condition of GM.

HEY HIPPIE
WANT TO BUY MY CHEVY TRAILBLAZER----within 30 thousand miles----four wheel drive quit working---brake rotors fell apart---alternator quit----door hinges wore out-----ball joints had to be replaced-POWER STEERING LEAKING-and a light is on check engine.i may have missed something to much to remember-----WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK.
60 THOUSAND ON OUR HONDA AND NOTHING WRONG.

WHY IS THE CAR INDUSTRY SO IMPORTANT---check how much of the parts are coming from canada and mexico---WHERE WERE THESE IDIOTS WHEN NAFTA TOOK MILLIONS OF JOBS OUT OF OUR COUNTRY,sound like a bunch of hypocrites..the garment and shoe industry were destroyed,along with others and no one gave a crap about it,we have paid a very deep price for what mr nafta did--(SLICK WILLY)

WHY ARE WE GIVING ANYTHING TO MISMANAGED BUSINESSES----LET THEM FAIL AND START OVER AS SMALL BUSINESS HAS TO DO-----YOU DONT SEE THEM BAIL THE SMALL BUSINESS OUT--BUT DO TAX THEM .WE ARE REWARDING --FAILURE

Nows the time to break the back of the UAW. Let the Big 3 fail, reoranganize and go the way of Toyota and Honda.

The auto industry has marched to its own drummer for years. When America needed fuel efficiency they gave us the Hummer (no pun intended). GM once built an electric car that, had they continued with it, would be a mega-seller today. Instead, they recalled each and every one of them and systematically crushed them (see "Who Killed the Electric Car"). That speaks volumes about the foresight of the auto industry. And keep in mind... declaring bankruptcy does not mean going out of business. It means they will have to restructure and, hopefully, come back leaner and stronger. Maybe then they'll start building fuel efficent cars that America needs.

Dodd needs to be escorted out of his senate office in hand cuffs and sent immediately to jail. This man is a under criminal investigation for his sweetheart mortgage deal with Countrywide, not to mention he was number 1 on the Fannie/Freddie money list. Dodd is the poster boy for term limits!!! GET THIS CROOK OFF THE NATIONAL STAGE!! Dodd your a joke!!

Chris Dodd - you are missing the point. Your reference to adding management improvement conditions to any "rescue" for a poorly managed business is, at best, ignorant. It is the mismanaged that should be allowed to go under while the fit companies survive.

We must rescue the banking system despite its mistakes because the financial system is the lifeblood of any economy. We had no choice with them, BUT PUT THE GENIE BACK IN THE BOTTLE -- YOU CANNOT USE THE CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES AS THE EXCUSE YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR TO SPEND YOUR WAY INTO A PERMANENT SENATE SEAT. It is my money (God knows I pay way more than my fair share since I have the gall to work hard and earn a lot) -- do not spend it in such a fool hardy way.

No bail out for Detroit. Not now. Not Ever.

BAIL OUT. Senator Dodd is among many who is lining his pockets first. There are many articles in the criminal investigation of this Senator. Basic rule in life: The rich get richer when the poor get poorer.

First we'll cover up the giveaway to investment banks and other assorted thieves under the TARP, then we'll launch the Car Rescue Action Plan (CRAP), and then we'll inflate housing prices so there are no mortgage defaults. Next year we'll repeat that cycle over and over until everyone's broke. This is not at all surprising given that we are looking at a one-party welfare state (That party by the way is neither of the two labels sold tous as a two party "system" it is the incumbent party.) Every election is a contest between the wealthy and influential Demublicans and the influential and wealthy Republicrats. Both have shown themselves all too willing to bail out people like them so long as it's your money not theirs that gets "invested" in these schemes. The reason it doesn't matter that the bailout plan has changed and was never explained before the money was handed over is that there never was a plan beyond let's throw taxpayer money at this and see what happens.

roscoe02...just go to Ford's & GM's website and look at ALL the benefits that the auto worker gets...pay child care, medical benefits that are unbelieveable, • Supplemental Unemployment Benefits: Entry-level workers with at least one but less than three years seniority will be eligible for 26 weeks of SUB. That increases to 52 weeks (which can be extended) for workers with three or more years seniority. Survivor Income Benefit Insurance (SIBI) has been increased $50, from $650 to $700 per month. The bridge benefit (24 months) has been increased $50 per month, from $650 to $700. In addition, the Mothers and Fathers Benefit will increase by $25, from $350 to $375.Life insurance coverage will increase with base hourly wage increases (see chart). In addition, members will become eligible for life insurance on the day of hire. Previously, they became eligible the first day of the month after hire.The interim supplement is paid to retirees who retire prior to their Social Security 80 percent date and who have fewer than 30 years of credited service. This benefit is paid until that date in addition to the basic benefit described above, but is reduced for early retirement. The amount per month per year of credited service, under the current agreement, payable at retirement ages 60 and 61, is $47.30. The corresponding amounts negotiated under the proposed agreement are $48.25, effective Oct. 1, 2007; $48.45, effective Oct. 1, 2008; $48.65, effective Oct.1, 2009; and $48.85, effective Oct. 1, 2010. Reduced amounts will be paid for retirees at younger ages.

I am a small business employer with 40 dedicated hard working employee's. We are not a union shop. If I fail my company would the government bail me out, of course not. The unions and the greedy blood sucking CEO's did this to themselves. Why should we bail them out they make a product that is so far beneath their foreign competitor's. If they manafactured a product that was in demand and was superior like Toyota, BMW, or Mercedes then I would not be writing this Email. Our standard of work ethics and quality needs to be looked at.....this is the problem..and no politician can fix this. Only Americans 1 by 1 can fix this and try to gain back the business that we basically handed over to the foreign companies.

As a CT transplant, I can tell you first hand that Chris Dodd is a lying pile of garbage, and belongs in jail. This Kennedy wannabe along with Barney Franks and Maxine Waters all had plenty of chance to avert the Fannie/Freddie meltdown and did nothing about it other than to say there were no problems(sic), everything was fine. Of course it was, FOR THEM, they made some serious money and didn't want to give it up. They ALL need to be investigated and prosecuted and put in jail. Of course, with their party in charge, that's NOT gonna happen even with pinhead Pelosi's promise of having a "more ethical congress". Yeah right.
The scarier thing is, these same morons who drove it down are the ones who'll decide who gets the bailout money, how the hell does THAT make sense? The bail out is a scam and I'm really pissed off, will do everything I can locally and with the power of the internet to make sure all these idiots are NOT voted in again. Time and time again WE get screwed, and it's about time we hold them accountable, for NOT doing the will of the people, THEIR EMPLOYERS! Pardon me for not being a lying, self serving, scumbag that thinks I know what's better for my constituents, to whom I took an oath to represent. "Just words, just speeches"... tell me about it.

The "BIG 3", Wall St and the insurance companies are victims of their own greed and stupidity and can all go to hell. What? An un-regulated mortgage system pushed to loan to un-qualified clients is a taxpayers issue? I think not. Let them sell their yachts, mansions and other niceties they scammed us for over the years and make do like the rest of us, "spread the wealth around". Unions killed the US auto business, plain and simple, nothing anyone says can convince me otherwise. NAFTA, with US business sending their labor out of the country for cheap labor and to keep their profit margin high and tax liability low, was the killing blow. As I work in the auto parts aftermarket industry, for example, I can tell you that there is almost NOTHING made in the US anymore, even though the "brand" stays American. Can you say China, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, Korea, Turkey, Pakistan, Poland, Germany, Italy, India... and these are just a sampling of suppliers for AMERICAN cars. So don't tell me how NOT bailing GM etc will cost so many jobs, that's total bull. Dump the unions and get proficient at making cars people WANT to buy at a fair price. Not the over inflated prices (to cover union perks) for junk you wouldn't (or shouldn't) sell to your own mother...

I DEMAND GONGRESS AND THE SENATE DO SOMTHING NOW , THE REPUBS MUST AGREE HAVEING BEEN DEFEATED . THE GOP AND THE DEMS IN BOTH HOUSES MUST HELP MAIN ST BY HELPING THE AUTO INDUSTRY . NO PROBS WHEN THEY HELP THE WEALTHY BANKING MOGALS WAS THERE.THIS IS JUST AS URGENT.