Will the “big 3” get what they want? According to yahoo!, this is very much in doubt.
The title of this Yahoo! article is “Automakers plead for aid, but Senate votes are lacking”. This is basically insider trading because the executives of these firms took corporate jets to DC when asking for a bailout the first time. Congressional officials were neither amused nor impressed.
According to Chrysler vice-chairman Jim Price, in a statement to the Associated Press, “We're on the brink with the US auto manufacturing industry. We're down to months left. If we have a catastrophic failure of one of these car companies, in this tender economy, it would be a huge blow. It could trigger a depression”. He sure sounds desperate.
According to Yahoo!, “Imperiled automakers and their unions worked feverishly Wednesday to sell a skeptical Congress on a $34 billion aid plan, promising labor concessions and restructuring”. Words and phrases such as “imperiled” and “worked feverishly” suggest that these automakers are now desperate.
According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, speaking to the Associated Press, “I just don't think (that) we have the votes to do that now”. Reid added that “There's been talk going around now that the Bush White House may ask for the second $350 billion installment of the $700 billion financial industry rescue fund”. Furthermore, Reid says that workers' unions should not demand so much: “I think it's too bad that negotiated contracts between labor and management are going to have to be changed. But it's obvious to everyone - as strong a union guy as I am - it's obvious that there has to be some changes made”.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said that “It was not hospitable”.
So, what does all this mean for GM, Ford and Chrysler, the “Big 3” US automakers? It looks like they won't get any funding from the government so they will have to get back to their breakeven point on their own.
