Dubya bails out big three

17th December 2008

The ‘big three’ US car makers have been rescued from bankruptcy by George W Bush.

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were facing disaster after a Senate bill to grant them a billion (£9.4bn) bail-out loan was rejected. Politicians voted not to provide them with taxpayers’ money to stay solvent, due to a disagreement about car workers’ pay.

But as we went to press, President Bush gave the green light for a loan sourced from the 0billion that had already been allocated to the failed US banking system. White House advisors warned that allowing one of the big three to go under would bring economic chaos to the country. The auto industry accounts for one in 10 US jobs.

GM and Chrysler had already hired bankruptcy advisors as the rescue was going to the wire, while GM has announced that it will slash production by a third in the first quarter of 2009 in a bid to save cash.

However, the bail-out may not save GM and Chrysler; they needed an estimated billion to reach the New Year.

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