Auto Loan Gets Boost

It looks as though the big three automakers might be a little closer to getting their auto loan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Bush administration have taken one step closer to assisting the auto industry, even though nothing is set in stone. Pelosi has dropped her opposition to borrowing money from a $25 billion program that was meant for other uses.

The program was set up to retool plants for advanced fuel-efficient vehicles, and instead that money will be spent giving the automakers their auto loan. This auto loan will enable the plants to stay in business, for without it they said that they would be looking to close their doors within the next few months.

Pelosi and the other Democrats had wanted the money to come from the $700 billion financial industry bailout that taxpayers had already paid for, and the Bush administration would not. They said that the money was already earmarked for the banks and they would not be willing to give an auto loan from it.

The auto loan package is now looking to be about $15 billion, and although they wanted to keep that money where it was supposed to be, they had no choice but to move in another direction. Unfortunately, according to experts, this move will end up hurting the auto industries attempts at getting more fuel efficient in the long run, but the Democrats say that this is exactly what the Bush administration wants – to keep Americans dependent on foreign oil.

 



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