Two bills introduced in Congress this week are apparently meant to save automobile dealers from hardship in the auto industry.
H.R. 2743 and H.R. 2750 both say they would “restore the economic rights” of automobile dealers.
What’s an “economic right”? Unclear.
But here’s the key line from H.R. 2743 (and there’s similar language in H.R. 2750):
. . [...]
“[T]roubled assets from any financial institution.” That’s what the financial services bailout bill allowed the Treasury Department to buy: “troubled assets from any financial institution.” They were talking about bad mortgages.
But then the money got used to buy pieces of financial institutions themselves. Some Members of Congress raised a stink when word circulated that [...]
Though the text of the auto bailout bill Congress passed Wednesday is still not available, a summary of it is in the wiki article about the bill. (You’re familiar with the wiki-editable articles on each WashingtonWatch.com bill page, right?)
It turns out the bill is much like the one we looked at here (and here) the [...]
Back when the bailout train was getting rolling, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posted the financial services bailout legislation on her blog Sunday September 28th, 2008 at 3:12 pm.
The House voted on the bill the next day at 2:07 pm. It was only 22 hours, 55 minutes later – not quite the 24 hours that [...]
There’s an especially important dynamic at play in the newest auto bailout plan (discussed in this week’s WashingtonWatch.com Digest) that’s worth highlighting: To shore up the financial situation of the “Big Three” automakers for some period, money would come from a fund intended to get them into building cleaner, more efficient vehicles.
Part of the [...]
That’s the amount per person in the United States U.S. automakers asked for in a bailout hearing today on Capitol Hill. Actually, the $34 billion proposed automaker bailout works out to about $110 per person in the United States, just shy of $350 per family.
Would you loan the auto industry a C-note?
The AP [...]
I’m impressed by the comments on H.R. 7297, the Emergency Automobile Industry American Jobs Protection Act of 2008, and encourage you to take a look.
I noted the bill in this week’s WashingtonWatch.com Digest (subscribe here) and spurred knowledgeable and opinionated people to share their thinking on the idea of a “Big Three” bailout.
There’s [...]
Congress returns to work this week to consider an economic stimulus plan. The Senate comes in Monday and the House on Wednesday.
While the broad outlines of that plan can be determined from reading news reports and watching President-Elect Obama’s first weekly address, the details are what matter.
The broad outlines:
- Extension of unemployment benefits. [...]