Mo. Sen. Kit Bond will back auto bailout plan
By SAM HANANEL
Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Writer
Published: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Updated: Saturday, November 15, 2008 8:06 AM CST
Updated: Saturday, November 15, 2008 8:06 AM CST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Missouri Sen. Kit Bond said Friday he would join Democrats in supporting a plan to loan $25 billion to the beleaguered auto industry.
Bond is only the second Republican senator to back the proposal, which faces opposition from the GOP minority and the White House. Democrats want to carve the emergency loans for automakers out of the $700 billion financial rescue package passed last month.
“The idea of the government getting involved in the free market is very troublesome and potentially dangerous to the health of our system, but we have to act in unique times of crisis when tens of thousands of Missouri workers are in danger of losing their jobs,” Bond said in a prepared statement.
Bond made the decision after seeking assurances from Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan that the plan would include protections for taxpayers, executive accountability and financial reforms to bring automakers’ costs back under control.
The Senate will take up a measure to extend the emergency loans to automakers on Monday. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are pushing Congress to approve the aid.
Democrats have been seeking about a dozen Republicans to support the measure and push it past an expected filibuster, but the only other Republican to back the plan so far is Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, a state with several auto plants and manufacturers of auto supplies.
The White House said Friday it favors an alternative plan to speed release of a separate $25 billion loan package for the Big Three carmakers that was approved in September and aimed at helping them meet stringent fuel-efficiency rules.
Missouri has more than 221,000 auto-related jobs, which includes workers employed at three automotive production plants in the state as well as manufacturers of auto supplies. Ford Motor Co. builds the F-150 pickup truck in Claycomo, Mo., near Kansas City; GM has a plant in Wentzville, Mo., that builds full-size vans, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana; and Chrysler produces the Dodge Ram at its North Assembly Plant outside St. Louis.
Last month, Chrysler stopped production of Dodge and Chrysler minivans at its South Assembly Plant in Fenton, Mo., and laid off about 1,500 workers.
Missouri’s junior senator, Democrat Claire McCaskill, says she supports the concept of extending the loans, but wants to see the protections guaranteed to taxpayers before she can vote for the bill.
Bond also is supporting a separate measure with Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., that would make the interest on new car loan payments and sales taxes tax deductible for a year. The deduction would be available to families earning less than $250,000 a year, or individuals making less than $125,000 annually.
Bond is only the second Republican senator to back the proposal, which faces opposition from the GOP minority and the White House. Democrats want to carve the emergency loans for automakers out of the $700 billion financial rescue package passed last month.
“The idea of the government getting involved in the free market is very troublesome and potentially dangerous to the health of our system, but we have to act in unique times of crisis when tens of thousands of Missouri workers are in danger of losing their jobs,” Bond said in a prepared statement.
Bond made the decision after seeking assurances from Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan that the plan would include protections for taxpayers, executive accountability and financial reforms to bring automakers’ costs back under control.
The Senate will take up a measure to extend the emergency loans to automakers on Monday. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are pushing Congress to approve the aid.
Democrats have been seeking about a dozen Republicans to support the measure and push it past an expected filibuster, but the only other Republican to back the plan so far is Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, a state with several auto plants and manufacturers of auto supplies.
The White House said Friday it favors an alternative plan to speed release of a separate $25 billion loan package for the Big Three carmakers that was approved in September and aimed at helping them meet stringent fuel-efficiency rules.
Missouri has more than 221,000 auto-related jobs, which includes workers employed at three automotive production plants in the state as well as manufacturers of auto supplies. Ford Motor Co. builds the F-150 pickup truck in Claycomo, Mo., near Kansas City; GM has a plant in Wentzville, Mo., that builds full-size vans, the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana; and Chrysler produces the Dodge Ram at its North Assembly Plant outside St. Louis.
Last month, Chrysler stopped production of Dodge and Chrysler minivans at its South Assembly Plant in Fenton, Mo., and laid off about 1,500 workers.
Missouri’s junior senator, Democrat Claire McCaskill, says she supports the concept of extending the loans, but wants to see the protections guaranteed to taxpayers before she can vote for the bill.
Bond also is supporting a separate measure with Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., that would make the interest on new car loan payments and sales taxes tax deductible for a year. The deduction would be available to families earning less than $250,000 a year, or individuals making less than $125,000 annually.
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