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[单选题]The leaders of Detroit's struggling Big Three automakers are appearing before the Senate today, where prospects of ~25 billion in emergency loans to the industry appear to be stalling.
Amid GOP cries of "corporate welfare", Senate Majority Leader Reid introduced a bill yester-day to let the automakers and component suppliers tap into some of the money Congress allotted in the ￥700 billion financial bailout.
Reid, launching a lame-duck session, warned of a "potential meltdown" in the industry with devastating consequences. He said 355,000 people are employed by the industry and 4.5 million more work in related industries. An additional 1 million people, retirees and their relatives, are covered by retirement and medical plants within the industry, he said.
The Big Three-General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler-have been whipsawed by the faltering economy and credit crunch.
But the odds do not look good for Detroit. At the heart of the debate is whether automakers are deserving as a linchpin of the U.S. economy or not, in the words of one high-profile critic,Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, is an innovation-averse "dinosaur".
Shelby, appearing on Sunday to meet the Press, said "Get rid of the management. Get rid of the boards-the people who brought them to where they are today. This is a dead end. It's a road to nowhere, and it's a big burden on the American taxpayer,"
Republicans attacked the measure on several fronts. Some questioned the rush to judgment,others warned that other industries would soon line up for help. And some charged that the firms brought on their troubles by agreeing to union contracts with wages and benefits costing an average of ￥73 an hour, compared with ￥28 an hour for the average private firm.
GOP Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said the ￥T00 billion rescue was the No. I issued when he toured the state recently. "Candidily, the temperature of my constituents was boiling, 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and the thermometer was broken," he said.
Some opponents prefer that the automakers pursue Chapter 11 reorganizations instead of hitting up Uncle Sam.
Democrats argue that the ~25 billion is only 4 percent of the bigger bailout. Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley, said the bill has robust language on corporate oversight, taxpayer protections, and executive compensation limits.
A compromise could be struck if Democrats bowed to GOP pressure and, instead of new loans,rewrote the rules for ~25 billion in loans granted to automakers to help them retool factories to buildfuel-efficientvehicles. "It'smindboggling",oneRepublicansaidof Democrats'intransigence. "If I were them, I' d want to get this off my plate before Obama becomes president."
The automotive executives, Alan Mulatly, Ford's president and CEO, Robert Nardelli,Chrysler's chairman and CEO, and Rick Wagoner, GM's chairman and CEO, are to appear before the Senate Banking Committee. Shelby is the top Republican on the panel.
The post-election lame-duck session is the last chance to sign off on the measure during this Congress. The bill probably can pass the House, but prospects are iffy in the Senate, where Democrats need 60 votes to block an expected filibuster.
If nothing passes, it could be taken up in January by the next Congress, which will have a broader Democratic majority.
The passage intends to tell us that （ ）.
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