House Financial Services Committee Automakers Hearing

9:54am
Representative McCotter is a member of the House Financial Services Committee. While he never found it once convenient to attend ANY of his assigned subcommittee hearings in 2008, I see that he is in attendance for today's hearings with the automotive leaders. I await his commentary...

Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) so far is making the most thoughtful commentary in the opening thus far. Similar to what I was thinking, in that if the automakers had been able to make these requests before Congress handed over the $700 billion blank check to Wall Street, they may not be suffering this intense scrutiny. The Congressmen have heard a lot from their constituents about that disaster, and now the Big 3 get to swim in the wake.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) finally reminds people that we don't operate in a pure free market world, and that other countries do an awful lot to support their industries. I think this is the same guy who asked the question two weeks ago about the executives flying commercial.

Yep, he's beating that drum again.

Lots of people saying "no one wants the auto industry to fail. BUT..."

"As we learned from AIG..."

I appreciate the argument being made by the Republican from South Carolina...it shouldn't be the business of Congress to set corporate policies and pick winners and losers in industry. Congress should create an environment where all businesses can succeed. Rep Price of Georgia is saying the same thing. IF these Republicans want to create a truly competitive business environment, they would pass health care reforms that enable foreign competitors to pass those costs on to their respective taxpayers.

McCotter gets the last word - 2 minutes! 10:18am...

McCotter intends to put forth 4 points:

1/2 of the bridge loan to come from the TARP, 1/2 from Energy funds for retooling.

McCotter likes the restructuring plans the Big 3 are putting forward.

"Losing jobs isn't a ripple effect, it is a tsunami."

"The only thing too important to fail in America is a working family."

Not sure if those are the four points, or if he's going to release something else later.

If I had a dollar for every piece of legislation that would benefit America's working families Thaddeus McCotter has voted against, I'd be able to give the Big 3 a loan myself. I think Thad is saying all the right things here, because he knows that his job will be one of the ones in the path of the tsunami if the Detroit auto industry goes under. I only hope that over the next two years, McCotter doesn't abandon his newfound populism. Help those important American families afford health care and education, Thad. Protect their jobs from unfair trade practices.

Two million Americans lost their jobs in 2008, thanks in no small part to the policies you and your Republican colleagues put forth from 2000-2006. You chose to make your stand against the Bush administration in the latter half of 2006, just in time for a reelection campaign, but far too late for those two million American workers. I look forward to a new and improved Thaddeus McCotter in 2009 - and I'll be watching.