Good grief Charlie Brown...the tax-payers bent over for Freddie and fannie and now this?:shrug:
The printing presses will be soon working extra overtime pumping out endless supplies of Green Presidential Portraited Toilet Tissue, otherwise known as "Dollars"
Dingell Pushes $25 Billion in Plant Aid for GM, Ford (Update1)
By Jeff Green
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- A Michigan lawmaker is asking the U.S. to speed rules that would free up $25 billion in government loans to convert General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC factories to build alternative-fuel vehicles.
The loans were authorized in last year's energy bill, and the guidelines were supposed to be written within a year of its December passage, Representative John Dingell said yesterday in a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.
``It is essential for the department to undertake this effort with urgency,'' wrote Dingell, a Democrat and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. ``Providing the domestic automobile industry with targeted and timely assistance will help stimulate the entire economy.''
Dingell said he's trying to get the funding secured before Congress adjourns for the year. His push follows GM's Aug. 1 report of a $15.5 billion quarterly loss and Ford's $8.7 billion deficit from a week earlier.
GM, Ford and Chrysler are closing factories that produce pickups and sport-utility vehicles being shunned by U.S. consumers as gasoline hovers near $4 per gallon. They are also speeding development of models such as gasoline-electric hybrids, fuel-cell vehicles and electric cars that use less or no fossil fuel.
`Existing Mechanism'
``The Congress and candidates are asking how they can support an industry critical to the economy,'' said Greg Martin, a spokesman for Detroit-based GM. ``We're pointing to an existing mechanism that can help,'' he said, referring to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Ford spokesman Mark Truby and Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan declined to comment.
Dingell said that vehicle sales account for about 4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
The rules call for loans for as long as 25 years with an interest rate set at the cost of funds to the Department of Treasury for obligations of comparable maturity, according to the text of the legislation. The loans can cover as much as 30 percent of the cost for assembly plants, component production and some engineering.
GM unsecured debt due in 25 years yields 12.94 percentage points over comparable government debt. That's $129.4 million annually over the cost of government debt in additional interest for each $1 billion.
`Amazingly Challenging Period'
``It's another way to help them in an amazingly challenging period,'' said Pete Hastings, a fixed-income analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. in Memphis, Tennessee. ``Lenders are pulling back in general, and what they can borrow for is going to be expensive.''
The government funding is for projects and spending completed by Dec. 30, 2020.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said yesterday the government should support efforts to put at least 1 million so-called plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015. They would travel as far as 150 miles per gallon of gasoline.
The effort would be spurred by a $7,000 tax credit for buyers. Automakers would get $4 billion in loans and tax credits to help them overhaul factories, Obama said in Michigan, an automaking state with the nation's highest unemployment rate.
``Against a witches brew of difficult economic, market and credit conditions, access to low-interest capital can help us to pursue a product plan more vigorously that meets dramatic market shifts and new fuel-economy rules,'' GM's Martin said.
Republican candidate John McCain wants to boost innovation by offering purchasers of zero carbon-emission cars a $5,000 tax credit. A graduated tax credit would apply to purchases of lower- emission cars such as GM's plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt car, due in showrooms by 2010.
He would establish a $300 million prize for development of new battery technology for vehicles. He also wants to encourage construction of 100 nuclear plants and invest government money in the development of clean-burning coal.
The printing presses will be soon working extra overtime pumping out endless supplies of Green Presidential Portraited Toilet Tissue, otherwise known as "Dollars"
Dingell Pushes $25 Billion in Plant Aid for GM, Ford (Update1)
By Jeff Green
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- A Michigan lawmaker is asking the U.S. to speed rules that would free up $25 billion in government loans to convert General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC factories to build alternative-fuel vehicles.
The loans were authorized in last year's energy bill, and the guidelines were supposed to be written within a year of its December passage, Representative John Dingell said yesterday in a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.
``It is essential for the department to undertake this effort with urgency,'' wrote Dingell, a Democrat and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. ``Providing the domestic automobile industry with targeted and timely assistance will help stimulate the entire economy.''
Dingell said he's trying to get the funding secured before Congress adjourns for the year. His push follows GM's Aug. 1 report of a $15.5 billion quarterly loss and Ford's $8.7 billion deficit from a week earlier.
GM, Ford and Chrysler are closing factories that produce pickups and sport-utility vehicles being shunned by U.S. consumers as gasoline hovers near $4 per gallon. They are also speeding development of models such as gasoline-electric hybrids, fuel-cell vehicles and electric cars that use less or no fossil fuel.
`Existing Mechanism'
``The Congress and candidates are asking how they can support an industry critical to the economy,'' said Greg Martin, a spokesman for Detroit-based GM. ``We're pointing to an existing mechanism that can help,'' he said, referring to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Ford spokesman Mark Truby and Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan declined to comment.
Dingell said that vehicle sales account for about 4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
The rules call for loans for as long as 25 years with an interest rate set at the cost of funds to the Department of Treasury for obligations of comparable maturity, according to the text of the legislation. The loans can cover as much as 30 percent of the cost for assembly plants, component production and some engineering.
GM unsecured debt due in 25 years yields 12.94 percentage points over comparable government debt. That's $129.4 million annually over the cost of government debt in additional interest for each $1 billion.
`Amazingly Challenging Period'
``It's another way to help them in an amazingly challenging period,'' said Pete Hastings, a fixed-income analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. in Memphis, Tennessee. ``Lenders are pulling back in general, and what they can borrow for is going to be expensive.''
The government funding is for projects and spending completed by Dec. 30, 2020.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said yesterday the government should support efforts to put at least 1 million so-called plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015. They would travel as far as 150 miles per gallon of gasoline.
The effort would be spurred by a $7,000 tax credit for buyers. Automakers would get $4 billion in loans and tax credits to help them overhaul factories, Obama said in Michigan, an automaking state with the nation's highest unemployment rate.
``Against a witches brew of difficult economic, market and credit conditions, access to low-interest capital can help us to pursue a product plan more vigorously that meets dramatic market shifts and new fuel-economy rules,'' GM's Martin said.
Republican candidate John McCain wants to boost innovation by offering purchasers of zero carbon-emission cars a $5,000 tax credit. A graduated tax credit would apply to purchases of lower- emission cars such as GM's plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt car, due in showrooms by 2010.
He would establish a $300 million prize for development of new battery technology for vehicles. He also wants to encourage construction of 100 nuclear plants and invest government money in the development of clean-burning coal.
