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Hernando Today

Brown-Waite Skeptical Of Automaker Bailout

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: November 22, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite's decision to vote for or against a bailout of Detroit's Big Three will ride on what the auto companies are willing to do, the Brooksville Republican said Friday.

"Obviously, there will have to be concessions," Brown-Waite said.

Brown-Waite said she agrees with Democratic congressional leaders who told company executives Thursday they need to submit a plan that shows their path to financial viability before Congress will consider handing over a $25 billion emergency loan.

Those concessions, Brown-Waite said, need to come from CEOs and the unions alike. The plan must include ways to streamline, rein in labor costs and make products relevant again, she said.

"Nobody likes to see a business go into bankruptcy, but if they don't have a survival plan, then what we're doing is just postponing the inevitable," Brown-Waite said.

However, Brown-Waite, who voted against the bailout of the financial industry, said she's still not convinced that bankruptcy still isn't a better solution even though executives have said that's not an option.

She said she suspects car company executives, who maintain that they don't have enough money to last through the year, have a back-up plan that hinges on bankruptcy.

Although skeptical, Brown-Waite said she isn't among the lawmakers who plan to unconditionally reject a bailout. She said she has to consider the ripple effect throughout the country - one in 10 jobs are tied to the industry - but also the retirees in her district who rely on a pension from the automakers. In bankruptcy, pensions of up to some $51,000 a year would be protected.

But if the company fails, former workers could lose everything.

Brown-Waite is getting plenty of feedback from constituents in the Fifth District.

Most are against the bailout, said her spokesman, Charlie Keller.

One constituent from Minneola, in Lake County, worries about setting a dangerous precedent for nothing.

The proposal "to rescue the 'Big 3' expands this bailout in a way that will make turning down other 'worthy' companies, industries, cities and states a virtual impossibility," the constituent wrote in an e-mail to Brown-Waite. "All this legislation will do is increase the bailout to include any and every organization that has the political muscle to gain access to all this essentially free cash. The expenditure of hundreds of billions that took our breath away just two months ago will pale in comparison to the trillions of dollars being spent and wasted."

But another constituent who claims to come from a family with three generations of GM workers and who currently works as an engineer for a company that has contracts with GM, Ford and Chrysler said letting the companies fail would "drive the entire country into a depression."

"Arguments can be made that the automakers may not have handled everything right in the past, but they have made great and painful strides in trying to do so," the constituent wrote, "and working with lawmakers that now have a focus toward gaining energy independence will only help them to become something more great and innovative in the future."

Congressional leaders expect to meet Dec. 8 to tackle the issue. Auto company executives vowed to submit reorganization plans as soon as possible.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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