Speaking in Cleveland today, Senator Sherrod Brown said urgent action is needed if the American auto industry is to survive.
Brown: "We cannot afford this industry to just go away. And if we don't act soon, either through the stimulus package, through the secretary of the treasury moving now or through a stimulus package next week, this industry faces huge losses and a huge layoffs."
Democratic Congressional leaders have asked that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson help automakers with some of the money originally appropriated to shore up the banking system. Some auto analysts, however, say the industry should get no bailout and without first agreeing to fire top management and tear up union contracts. GM's stock, by the way, plunged to a six-decade low today.