Automakers requesting $50 billion from Congress
For those of you that read this blog often, sorry we’ve been gone. Summer=vacation, but now we’re back and the blogs are too! According to an article on MSNBC.com, automakers plan to ask Congress to support funding up to $50 billion in low-interest loans for the next three years to help to develop fuel efficient vehicles and make their assembly plants more modern. According to the article, these loans are a very important and will be a top priority when Congress goes back into session next month. The sluggish car sales and the credit markets tightening has caused this urgency with the automakers. Last year’s energy bill approved $25 billion for low interest loans for the auto industry, but Congress has not been able to get the funding for this plan. Due to the high gas prices and bad sales of SUVs, these low interest loans are definitely a must for the auto industry. According to auto industry officials, this is not a bailout for them. This is the same aid that Congress have given to the investment banks and mortgage firms. In order for Congress to give the automakers $50 billion, they would need to set aside $7.5 billion as well for protection from loan default. That’s alot of money, but I think that Congress needs to help the auto industry in some way or else our economy will only continue to get worse with the auto industry declining rapidly each quarter.