“There are grounds to support a bailout, but there are some deal-breakers,” Tester said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
Tester is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which had a six-hour hearing Thursday where chiefs of the nation's top three automakers laid out their case for emergency federal loans to stave off bankruptcy.
Tester said any of the $34 billion auto bailout would not be new government debt, but would come out of the $700 billion bailout approved in October to save the nation's failing banking sector.
Tester said he could support such a bailout, but wanted to see at least three things included in the package:
- Taxpayers would be first in line when the debt is repaid.
- The money would be spent in America, on American manufacturing, rather than on expanding American-owned plants in Mexico, for example.
- A government board would have oversight of the bailout and would potentially help craft a bankruptcy package for an automaker, should it prove inevitable.
Tester also said he didn't like the idea of an automaker taking federal money, only to turn around and sell itself to a foreign firm. He criticized the $700 billion financial sector bailout, which Tester voted against, because too many banks used that money to buy other banks and further consolidate the sector.
Still, Tester said, there's a danger of real economic harm if any of the top automakers go bankrupt. Millions of jobs would be lost, including mining and auto-dealer jobs in Montana. If structured correctly, an auto bailout would be a much better deal for Americans than the financial sector bailout, he said.
Tester said a rescue package would put money on Main Street much faster and would prevent further deterioration of America's shrinking manufacturing sector.
“I don't think that's healthy for the country,” he said.
Executives for Detroit's Big Three automakers first appealed for about $25 billion in federal help before Tester's committee last month. At that meeting, all three had flown to Washington, D.C., on private jets and were “wishy-washy,” Tester said, when he asked if they would be willing to cut their multimillion-dollar pay packages to $1 dollar a year, should their companies take federal help.
This time, all three executives drove to Washington in hybrid vehicles, all three have accepted $1 a year in pay and all presented more detailed plans of how federal money would be used.
A final bill has not been written. Tester said his committee could vote on such a bill by next week, at the earliest.
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Bryan wrote on Dec 5, 2008 2:48 PM:
" As one of the 4 or 5 Republicans who lives in Missoula, I would like to show my support for Senator Tester. So far, he has made reasonable, well thought out choices.
He voted against the CEO $700 billion Christmas Bonus bailout package--which is not working--say goodbye to your children's/grandchildren's future.
If he thinks that this is necessary for the nation, then I will support his decision (though I will begin to second guess if Comrads Backus and Pelosi also support it.)
But before they give them any money, I would like for them to answer the question: "What got you in this situation to begin with?" If it was greed or mismanagement I would like for them to resign their positions (without severance pay) before loaning them my money, "
He voted against the CEO $700 billion Christmas Bonus bailout package--which is not working--say goodbye to your children's/grandchildren's future.
If he thinks that this is necessary for the nation, then I will support his decision (though I will begin to second guess if Comrads Backus and Pelosi also support it.)
But before they give them any money, I would like for them to answer the question: "What got you in this situation to begin with?" If it was greed or mismanagement I would like for them to resign their positions (without severance pay) before loaning them my money, "
mike jones wrote on Dec 5, 2008 4:13 PM:
" I would like Sen. Tester and his fellow legislators to also accept $1 yearly salaries until the federal budget is balanced. "
Jlarsen wrote on Dec 8, 2008 2:24 PM:
" It's a good idea, Mike Jones, but keep in mind that unlike automobile execs that earned tens of millions (if not more) over the past couple of years - enough to live on for many years to come (if not the rest of their lives) quite comfortably even if they only get $1 a year for a while - senators only make what, about $180K, a decent salary and more than I will ever make, but still a far cry from what these auto execs made while GETTING THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANIES INTO THE MESSES THEY ARE CURRENTLY IN.
From where I sit, Tester deserves every penny he makes, more than can be said for most senators/congressman, including some of Montana's own; and certainly more than can be said of most of the high ranking ceo's in this country that make a 100 million for 2-3 years "work" and leave their companies worse off than they found them. "
From where I sit, Tester deserves every penny he makes, more than can be said for most senators/congressman, including some of Montana's own; and certainly more than can be said of most of the high ranking ceo's in this country that make a 100 million for 2-3 years "work" and leave their companies worse off than they found them. "
Carl Willig wrote on Dec 5, 2008 7:10 AM: