Congressional Action Bolstered American Auto Industry: Saved Billions of Dollars, More than a Million American Jobs http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/factcheck?id=0157According to a report released yesterday by the Center for Automotive Research, government action supporting the auto industry prevented a $26.8 billion loss to the American taxpayer and saved nearly 1.5 million American jobs. And today’s initial public stock offering of the newly-reformed General Motors has analysts predicting taxpayers will be repaid for much of the emergency intervention. Bloomberg:
The U.S. government avoided a $28.6 billion loss and saved more than 1.45 million jobs by bailing out the automotive industry, a research group said today.
The loss would have been caused by increased public welfare payments and lost tax receipts from workers had the government not provided $82 billion of assistance to the industry, said Kristin Dziczek, director of the labor industry group at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan…
“You could argue that because the auto industry is one of the most productive and integrated industries, putting the money there was a better place to put it than job creation in any other sector,” Dziczek said.
Congressional Republicans – working on behalf of the Special Interests – made no secret of their opposition to Democratic initiatives to save the American auto industry. From Politico, "Republicans Hope General Motors is President Obama’s Hurricane Katrina":
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