Supporters of the former point to the government’s life buoy to insurance giants Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. The Detroit Free Press reports that execs over at Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler agree that the only way out of their current mess is to get help from Uncle Sam. They guesstimate they need about $40 billion to get through the current storm in the auto industry and be able to offer hybrids and electric cars in any significant numbers.
Lobbyists for the car industry are asking legislators for a direct federal loan. Any plan will be announced on Labor Day. If true, then things will go like this: The government will lend about $25 billion or so in the first year at 4.5 percent interest. Afterwards, the government would have the option of deferring a payment at all for up to five years.
Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama said that he favored providing federal money to help auto makers in their development of renewable technology.