There is growing support among politicians for what is being called the “Big 3 Bailout,” a federal stimulus package designed to keep the automobile industry, for decades the cornerstone of the American economy, from slipping into bankruptcy and/or total corporate collapse. Congress passed legislation to appropriate $25 billion to the automakers days before they passed the 0 billion Wall Street bailout. Yet, third-quarter sales losses are forcing General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler to turn to the federal government for money to halt afloat.
Rahm Emanuel told audiences Sunday, November 9, watching both ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” and CBS’ “Face The Nation” that President-Elect Barack Obama’s first priority after the inauguration would be to come by to work on the economic crisis. Getting a stimulus package through Congress, extending unemployment benefits, and helping states pay for health care costs were at the top of the list, assured Obama’s unusual Chief of Staff. He added that the new President was intent on expanding health care coverage, making education more affordable, and revamping the nation’s energy policy – all geared toward reviving the middle class.
And those reassuring words were what a panicked nation needed to hear. Although polls indicate that President-Elect Obama’s first press conference was seen by most people as a success, the news of the day that preceded the press conference did shrimp to help inspire and uplift.
Ford was first to report bad news out of Detroit. General Motors then reported mammoth third quarter losses. Thousands of layoffs were announced. Both companies’ stocks took substantial hits. By Monday, General Motors stock was trading at its lowest in its history. By Tuesday, it had station a new crude. An emergency bailout of the auto industry – dubbed the “Big 3 Bailout” — was called for and is supported by incoming President Obama.
All of the Big 3 automakers — Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler — have reported 20% losses for the year. It is believed the final year-end reports will be worse.
The argument in favor of the “Big 3 Bailout” is much the same argument used in bailing out AIG – the ripple achieve from the collapse of the automobile industry would be far too great an economic wretchedness to allow to let happen. General Motors alone employees over 750,000 people. Added to the catastrophe would be insurance policies, pension funds, subsidiary companies and their employees, affiliated companies and their employees.
But that wasn’t all. The Department of Labor reported 240,000 jobs lost in October, driving the total number of jobs lost for the year to 1.2 million.
Just the week before, the U. S. saw its 17th bank failure for the year. Freedom Bank of Florida was taken over by the Federal Direct Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
On Monday, AIG, the financial giant that the government has already loaned $200 million, asked for more. The federal government gave them an additional $27 million, bringing their total bailout/ buyout to $150 billion. The embattled lending giant came under fire for corporate excess on Tuesday for footing the bill for a $150,000 sales conference at a posh Arizona resort last week.
And if all those economic calamities weren’t enough, news from Europe and Asia were not promising either. It was announced that the failure of Iceland’s bank would cost England $1.3 billion.
On Sunday, China announced that it was going to appropriate $526 billion for a bailout to help their dying economy. China is the world’s fourth largest economy. That economy is driven predominantly by exports. Since the world market is depressed, demand for Chinese goods have decreased, placing China in economic straits alongside the rest of the world.
And economists like Nobel Prize-winning economist and author Joseph Stiglitz have warned that it does not look as if the economy will start an upturn anytime soon. In fact, it could be years before the economy registers an upswing.
A Rasmussen Poll released on November 12 shows that while the consumer and investment confidence are at record lows, President-Elect Obama is enjoying higher approval ratings. Overall, 58% of Americans polled approve of President-Elect Obama’s handling of the transition to power, 38% loathe.
And although the new president will inherit a myriad problems upon entering the White House, it is becoming quite evident that the economy will be Priority One and remain so for quite some time.
Sources:
WashingtonPost.com
RasmussenReports.com
ABC Television
CBS Television
VOANews.com
Associated Press
Filed under Automobile Insurance Company Ratings by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment. 
There has never been a time when it has been easier for the regular person on the street to occupy a sports car but most people are put off by the maintenance and policy costs. Sports car insurance is a highly specialized position of automobile insurance specifically dealing with high performance exotic or sports cars. A comprehensive sports car protection will cover the car against many events such as property damage, medical costs, right expenses and liability.
When it comes to calculating the cost of sports car protection for a certain driver, there are many factors fervent as the risks differ from individual to individual. For example, every automobile has an insurance ranking which is mainly based around 2 areas:
- its power to weight proportion
- the price of replacing parts.
Here are other elements an insurance company considers when trying to decide a sports car protection cover premium:
- The driver’s age and sex
- The driver’s history
- The driver’s driving experience
- The type of profession
- The number of times the person has claimed on their insurance policy in the past.
- The cars ability to withstand collisions
- How effective it is against theft
- The area the driver resides
- The driver’s credit ranking
All of these can make a difference to the annual cost. It can affect the annual sports car protection cover premium.
It is only normal that sports car insurance cover companies charge sports car drivers more than a family car driver. They don’t drive in the same manner and many accidents take place with cars traveling at high speeds. Regrettably, insurance facts show that it is the luxury, high performance sports car sector that has the steepest risk of accident damage. These cars also have high probability of being involved in car insurance fraud. There’s a lot of those cases nowadays and it’s increasing.
Armed with these facts, a driver wishing to find a safe sports car protection cover premium must first look into the subject and search for a respectable specialist insurer. The truest long-term method of reducing money spent on your sports car protection is to be a safe driver and not do any policy claims. Another method used by many sports car protection cover companies is to place a limit on how many miles you can drive the car in a year. Alternatively, you can set a figure yourself providing it doesn’t conflict with theirs, which should help lower your yearly insurance expenses. If the car is of high value, the insurance provider may even specify that you fit an engine immobilizer and possibly even a car location system. If you are buying your sports car from either a specialist or main dealer, you may find they have made arrangements to provide their contain sports car insurance cover. But be warned, they may refuse if you have a poor driving history.
If you are fortunate, your search may lead you to a sports car insurance veil broker who will be able to find the best rate for you. Ideally the broker also has insurance policy claims and legal experience for when things go wrong. Sports car insurance policy supplies sports cars with standard insurance protection so it does not camouflage the car in case of changes to the body or its engine. So don’t go messing about there. And if you do any car modifications before application, they may reject you altogether. With sports car insurance cover, it is in your best interest to find a good broker who can deal with helping the customer choose a suitable policy, paperwork, negotiations with the companies, and later with possible insurance claims.
Filed under Automobile Insurance Company Ratings by on Feb 22nd, 2011. Comment.
