Bush approves $25 billion loan package for auto makers

[defendandprotect]

Bush approves $25 billion loan package for auto makers 2 hours, 1 minute ago



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed into law a mammoth spending bill to keep the government running until early March 2009 that includes a $25 billion loan package for troubled automakers.

The action came after the Senate over the weekend gave final congressional approval to the more than $630 billion spending bill that was needed to finance defense, education, farm, health, foreign aid and other government programs after the current fiscal year expired on September 30.

The spending legislation allows a ban on offshore drilling to expire on September 30. Democrats had hoped to extend the ban, but did not have the votes to overcome strong opposition from Republicans.

Bush, in a statement announcing that he had signed the legislation, said the measures to lift the ban on offshore drilling "will allow us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

The bill sets aside $7.5 billion in taxpayer funds needed to guarantee $25 billion in low-interest loans to help General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC produce more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.

U.S. automakers have said the taxpayer-backed loan package

would give them access to capital at a time when credit markets are shut and
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081001/us_nm/us_usa_congress_funding

[ixion]

1. ah good... more low interest loans for the mega-corps

that'll fix it. :eyes:

[girl gone mad]

3. Slightly better than giving money to the banks..

and hoping that they might give it to the corporations.

[defendandprotect]

2. Capitalism is a rotting pile of manure ....

By any chance, did Detroit's unholy alliance with the oil industry over 50 years plus

have anything to do with their failure to produce fuel-efficient cars ...??

Electric cars ...???

Let the oil industry bail them out --- !!

Break them up -- and start producing all electric cars --

[samplegirl]

4. What about all the people

who depend on a pension check from the auto-industry.

[defendandprotect]

6. The pensions are ANOTHER question re the De-regulation and corruption ...

a long-pending problem of underfunding and weak oversight --

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Arlo Guthrie..sings "I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daBx_PBrvSE