The Congressmen Who Own Stakes in the Automakers

Now let's see how they vote. Of course the news will not publish that.

Just drives me crazy when some ;'expert' claims NAFTA is a treaty. According to that decaying, waning, limping old document known as the US CONSTITUTION, a treaty requires a 2/3 senate vote to pass which neither NAFTA nor any of the other faux sellouts of American markets and jobs referred to as 'free trade agreements' in the past 20 years. Gingrich and Clinton sold NAFTA as an agreement that could easily be gotten out of should the nation require it, at the VERY least it could be amended. The NAFTA AGREEMENT was 'passed' in the dead of night before the more conservative 1994 republican congress arrived to maybe take a second look at it. As it is, NAFTA was not as hard on US as it was on Mexico, destroying many parts of a subsistence ag economy leading to MASSIVE flood of migration northward. NAFTA, by and large has been used to bring CHINESE goods into the US under NAFTA statutes..look it up. Hundreds of thousands of jobs that went to screw driver economy Mexico ended up in CHINA. The port of Cardenas, however, and the crooks who now run multinationals and financials, used NAFTA to get Chinese goods into the US under NAFTA statutes. Just like BILL GATES used NAFTA to reup thousands of H-1B visas by going through CANADA and then to the US. Are WE a bunch of lame dummies or what??? The US has been used as a petri dish for corrupt, disconnected crooks on an international scale, who have absolutely NO long term interest in the viability of the US economy. IF they do or did... things are worse than I thought because they have proven to be the most short sighted clueless egg sacs since the 30s, when American multinationals saw no problem building up the Third Reich...business after all. Without ethics, without loyalty to one's nation and its systerm, its people, its cohesion and long term prospects, capitalism of the Anglo-American variety has proven to be just one more 'ism' that is destructive and dogmatic at the same time. Without ethical capitalism and loyalty to this nation...we are done for. At least FOX should include 'experts' who understand the US Constitution as well as power grabs by those who have no clue about the difference between a treaty and an agreement. As Professor Peter Morici and money guru Peter Shiff have repeated endlessly, the US economy will continue to implode until it figures out it can't buy stuff on credit and not produce anything in trade to the rest of the world- you can not remain a GREAT economy simply by consuming what the REST of the world produces wihtout producing and investing in capital plant and production, not to mention RandD -- HERE rather than in China or India. IF WE do NOT figure that out economy is paper and paper that is disintegrating at a rapid rate at that.

Wow, I would say Mr. Dingell really has a big conflict of interest, considering his investments and his wife being directly envolved with GM. "I wonder how he's voting?"

Everyone that's listed above should have NO SAY in whether the automakers are "loaned" the money. Let them claim bankruptcy like the rest of the businesses and individuals. The conflict of interest is just blatant. I'm disgusted (again).

Job losses and a possible depression for the economy is a reality we will have to face. If we bailout the auto industry, which needed to change their focus a decade ago, it will send the message to other big industries that they can make the case for themselves too. When does accountability and personal responsibility come into play? In the real world of joe six pack, managers are fired when they don't perform.

Diane - you missed the point. Businesses invested in Germany because the government thought it would be better to "invest" in rebuilding Germany than to give them handouts to rebuild what we had bombed to rubble. Businesses are what they are. You cannot change them. They build plants overseas because it is easier/cheaper to do business there. If we want them to build here (and I think we do) then we should make it easier and cheaper to do business in the United States, not harder. Don't blame the business man, blame our government for trying to manipulate businesses. It's like a woman trying to change a man. It seldom works and everyone just ends up unhappy...

Let them go down. No one bailed me out when I went down. There certainly is a conflict of interest.

Suggest a followup piece that shows how each of these representatives and senators voted in any future action by congress to "bailout" the Ford, GM, Chrysler cabal.

It’s a given that Rep. Dingell will argue for the interests of his Michigan constituents, however in saner times, his personal holdings in GM would have been considered a monumental, even outrageous, conflict of interest. Likewise for the other Congressmen who have more that a few thousand dollars of personal investment in the U.S. automakers. Presumably, this survey didn’t include ownership of shares of mutual funds that hold Big 3 equities. What I find most remarkable, though, is that SO FEW of the Representatives have a personal stake in the Big 3. Evidently, our Representatives are well aware of the past performance and future outlook of these companies. Perhaps the real story here is that Congress is preparing to push reluctant taxpayers into taking another huge investment risk... an investment risk that the vast majority of the individual members of Congress have personally avoided!

I agree that those with a direct financial tie to the automakers should recuse themselves from any hearings or votes on the matter. The only problem is that the "friends" of those who hold shares of the automakers will vote to help their friends. It's amazing to me that hardly any honest people run for office these days. It's time that government held itself to the same standard that the rest of us are held.

C'mon you must be joking. I have more GM Ford and Chrysler stock tied up in my 401K that I don't even know about. Except for Dingell, this is a non issue. I wonder how many own a piece of the big banks that get Billions over a weekend and have no plan. ??????????????????????

Diane. You are very passionate about NAFTA. You are right about NAFTA being an instrument to destroy the US economy. However, there are many American industrialist that have tried to keep production in America. However, things can be made much cheaper in China. Why? Because manufacturers are constantly attacked under the CWA, CAA, CERCLA, etc... Citizen suits by environmental organizations have placed a burden on legitimate manufacturers trying to care for the environment and make a desent product. Did you know that owners of manufacturers can be thrown in jail and fined up to 25,000 per day for a violation under the CWA? Yeah, so don't blame the capitalist trying to produce a product for moving to China. In the past I hated industrialist who left this country to produce in China. They showed no loyalty to this country. However, after learning a little about environmental laws and potential liability I was amazed some lasted so long. Look and see when manufacturing and production decreased and it follows the same time frame environmentalist groups highjack the courts and shut down real industry. We need regulations for the environment but cannot have regulations here and expect to produce anything when China has no regulations.

Nice Job on this reporting. I was so sick of these bailouts that I said to myself quit commenting because I started to sound like a moron. Your bringing this to light shows just how corrupt Washington is. Anyone who has an vested interest in these companies should disqualify themselves from voting on the issue of a bailout,bridge loan or whatever you want to call it. If they don't then we should seek ethic charges against them and kick them out of Washington.

I want to humiliate Congress for all of the limos, big dinners, vacations, etc. they’ve enjoyed with my tax dollars. What about their plans for profitability? Talk about waste!!! “Shame on you for coming here on a private corporate jet, asking for money we’ve stolen from you over the years” "I'm here to represent the tax payers interests." “Hey is my limo ready?” –Bernie Frank. Thanks for your service, now take your standard two month holiday.

US government is the enemy here. It's amazing businesses can even operate in this country due to the lack of support. UAW, give me a break, I've got a few better, OSHA, SEC, EPA, IRS.

Sorry, wasn't broad enough. Federal, State and City. Uphill battle

IT'S TIME TO REIN IN CONGRESS. I BELIEVE THE STEAL FROM US DAILY.THIS WILL BE NO EXEPTION.

Hey, were we not taught and encouraged to buy American. Especially to buy stock in a company you work for! Dingell'stock interest is not uncommon, especially since his wife works for the company. When I retired from my "American" company I had hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in my company. The REAL question here is how much stock and interest have these Representatives and Senators have in Southern Car Company's aka Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and German to name just a few. I'd also like to see how much money was contributed to these same southern lawmakers by the above Southern Car Company's. When the Big 3 go, it won't be long before your defense plants go, your avaition industry and manufacturing as we know it goes. Who will build our planes, tanks and military hardware, the Chinese? What will your police department and your local Guard and Reserve drive, Japanese, Chinese, Korean or German vehicles when they answer the call?

Incompetent management and greedy unions have caused this problem. Congress is simply out to protect their own interest. Every knows we have "the best congress money can buy" so why should we be surprised that they are looking after their own interests. The consumer and voter can have the final voice in this case if the want to. Vote the rascals out of office who vote for the bailout and don't buy any products produced by what used to be "the big three".

All of these economic problems have a root cause in the government trying to micro-manipulate every aspect of the economy, banking and business. The bailout should stop immediately. No new rules should be put in place. Everyday the playing field for business is changing. I would start by reigning in congress and the executive branch by making them live within the budget and account for all of the money they spend. They would be on much firmer ground if they could live within their own means like the families within country. Until they do that they should have no say in how the businesses and banking industries run their businesses. Members of congress and the executive branch should be made the first line of finacial responsibility for any deficits. It is time for them to face the reality that they are the root cause of the problem and to stop diverting attention and placing blame elsewhere.

Paulson and Bernanke should remove the middleman and cut checks directly to the 435 Potentates of the Potomac. It will eventually get back to them some way. New members haven't been sworn in and are already hanging out on K Street like campaign junkies looking for a fix.

I would like to see the auto cos change their duplicitous tactics with customers re warranties, dealer games , and stop selling unreliable junk that wont last . Ive had several cars, suvs ,etc and each have had far too many problems....always not covered under the extended warranty the dealers are so anxious to push.

I firmly believe that any member of Congress who owns shares in these companies, and who votes on the bailout legislation that will surely follow, should be brought up on charges and removed from office. Simple as that. Can there be any more blatant conflict of interest than a member of Congress essentially voting to enhance his own bottom line? Make no mistake, the vast majority of these members will vote on this legislation when it comes before them. And, if past performance is any indication, the majority of them will vote in favor of gambling with our money. Not because it will be in our interest, but because it will be in theirs. And absolutely nothing will be done. If anything, the Democrats will hold ethics hearings regarding the votes of a few Republicans, and will, in the end, decide that no rules were broken.

With a few exceptions, these are really odd lot investments in these companies. All members of Congress with any investment should of course recuse themselves from any negotiations or votes pertaining to this issue, but for the most part: much ado about nothing!

PLEASE PROVIDE THE LISTING OF ALL OF THE CONGRESS PEOPLE WHO HAVE FOREIGN AUTO TRANSPLANTS IN THEIR STATE. ie Senator Shelby offered upwards of $2-$3 BILLION to bring 4 Foreign Auto Transplants to his state. Senatory Shelby is the biggest critic of the US auto companies.Of course this is taxspayer money that was used to do this. Did you know that Foriegn Auto Companies are partially owned by their government? The government provides employee health care, employee pension, fund R & D, provided no cost or low cost money, have protectionist laws in the home country. USA BIG 3 PAY FOR ALL OF THIS OUT OF COMPANY REVENUES SO I GUESS IT WOULD BE SAFE TO SAY THAT USA COMPANIES COMPETE WITH COUNTRIES. And I think that Congress should work for $1/year. AND HOW COME NO ONE MAKES ANY NOISE ABOUT THE NANCY PELOSI PRIVATE PLANE MANNED BY GOVERNMENT MILITARY? She is part of the current adminstration that has bankrupt the USA. Why is she different than the Big 3 CEO's or any other CEO's. They need as much personal protection as she does and quite frankly they are responsible for an entity.