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Candidate Obama Backs $4 Billion in Government Aid to U.S. Auto Industry
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Michigan's Democratic members of Congress got a boost from Senator Barack Obama this week when he backed proposed loans and other aid to the U.S. auto industry.
In a letter to the United Auto Workers (UAW), Obama said "tax credits and loan guarantees for our automakers" are something his administration would support if he is elected president in November. The UAW has already endorsed Obama.
Michigan's two Democratic senators have asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to put some $3.75 billion in loan funding for the auto industry into the current economic stimulus bill under consideration. As elaborated in the Detroit Free Press, the idea would be to defray the cost to the government of letting automakers and suppliers take out loans at below-market interest rates directly from the U.S. Treasury, and use that money to develop new models and update facilities.
Obama also expressed support for more tax incentives for "ultraefficient vehicles." McCain has previously said he opposes the loan program because he has better plans, including a consumer tax credit for buying fuel-efficient vehicles and, more exotically, a multimillion-dollar cash award — in the amount of a dollar for every person in the United States, or about $300 million — to the maker of an efficient electric vehicle battery.
An EPIC-MRA poll released Tuesday says the Michigan presidential vote is nearly evenly split between Obama and Republican rival John McCain. A survey of likely voters in Michigan showed 43 percent plan to vote for Obama, while 41 percent support McCain. The poll was taken from July 13-15. McCain was in Michigan at the time, fresh from campaign stops in the heart of the Detroit auto industry.
What this means to you: Detroit will be grateful for economic stimulus programs, loans and anything else coming from either side of the aisle right about now. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
In a letter to the United Auto Workers (UAW), Obama said "tax credits and loan guarantees for our automakers" are something his administration would support if he is elected president in November. The UAW has already endorsed Obama.
Michigan's two Democratic senators have asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to put some $3.75 billion in loan funding for the auto industry into the current economic stimulus bill under consideration. As elaborated in the Detroit Free Press, the idea would be to defray the cost to the government of letting automakers and suppliers take out loans at below-market interest rates directly from the U.S. Treasury, and use that money to develop new models and update facilities.
Obama also expressed support for more tax incentives for "ultraefficient vehicles." McCain has previously said he opposes the loan program because he has better plans, including a consumer tax credit for buying fuel-efficient vehicles and, more exotically, a multimillion-dollar cash award — in the amount of a dollar for every person in the United States, or about $300 million — to the maker of an efficient electric vehicle battery.
An EPIC-MRA poll released Tuesday says the Michigan presidential vote is nearly evenly split between Obama and Republican rival John McCain. A survey of likely voters in Michigan showed 43 percent plan to vote for Obama, while 41 percent support McCain. The poll was taken from July 13-15. McCain was in Michigan at the time, fresh from campaign stops in the heart of the Detroit auto industry.
What this means to you: Detroit will be grateful for economic stimulus programs, loans and anything else coming from either side of the aisle right about now. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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