Barack Obama

Pelosi, Reid and Emanuel Push for Carmaker Bailout

Over the weekend, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate urged the Bush administration to extend financial aid intended for Wall Street to struggling domestic carmakers, a move that could have the support of President-elect Obama.

By Brad Aaron

12:03 PM EST on November 10, 2008

Cadillac assembly line replica at the Detroit Historical Museum

The Times reports that on Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid co-signed a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking that part of the $700 billion bailout package be directed toward Detroit. “A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the
restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our
economy and the livelihood of the automobile sector’s workforce,” they wrote.

The letter was issued following a Thursday meeting between Congressional leaders and representatives of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, as Big Three sales continue to plunge. On Friday, GM announced that it could begin running out of cash in 2009.

Rahm Emanuel, incoming White House chief of staff, hinted on Sunday that his boss could be amenable to the Pelosi-Reid proposal. Again, the Times:

When asked on ABC’s “This Week” where Mr. Obama stood on the issue,
Mr. Emanuel seemed to suggest that Mr. Obama, as a last resort, might
be open to tapping the rescue fund to help carmakers, calling the auto
industry an “essential part of our industrial base.”
He added
that Mr. Obama has asked his economic team to look at ways to involve
the industry in shaping an energy policy that weans the country off
foreign oil, seeking ways to use the $25 billion in loans that Congress
passed in September to help make auto plants more capable of producing
fuel-efficient cars.

The Bush White House, for its part, has indicated it would not support using bailout funds for the Big Three.

Photo: MarkinDetroit/Flickr

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.