WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 (Agencies) – The top Republicans in the House of Representatives have rejected calls by Democratic leaders for a new financial bailout of US automakers.
"Spending billions of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root causes crippling automakers' competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy," Minority leader John Boehner said .
Boehner is not the only Republican casting doubt on the Democratic Party's calls to rescue the auto industry, which accounts for millions of jobs in states like Michigan and Ohio, already hit by the reeling economy.
"The financial situation facing the Big Three is not a national problem, but their problem," veteran Republican Senator Richard Shelby was quoted as saying in the Financial Times.
A House hearing on Wednesday, another senior Republican, Spencer Bachus, expressed fears of a rash of federal government bailouts.
Also on Thursday, Democratic leaders in Congress said that they do not expect to pass an immediate bailout for the struggling US auto industry, after opposition from Republican legislators.
Earlier this year, Congress approved a USD 25b loan guarantee program to help ailing automakers retool to produce fuel-efficient vehicles, but the Big Three automakers -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- asked lawmakers last week for an additional USD 25b to survive the recent financial crisis.
Chrysler's Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said that his company needs federal funding and an alliance with other automakers to survive the current financial crisis.
Nardelli said the amount Chrysler would seek from its second US government bailout in 30 years had not yet been determined and would hinge on an assessment by US officials of the automaker's liquidity needs and its turnaround plan.
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