RPC Blog

I applaud President Bush’s announcement on Friday that he will step in to assist our automakers, and I support his efforts to protect this vital industry and American jobs. It is my hope that he will act soon to deliver support to the industry from the Wall Street bailout fund that Congress authorized in October. With three million jobs and the fate of the American manufacturing industry on the line, inaction is not an option.

We members from Michigan are often criticized for our strong defense of the domestic auto industry.  It cannot be denied that the domestic auto industry is crucial to the economy in Michigan, but others fail to understand how critical this industry is to our national economy and our national security.  Some say, ‘go ahead and let the car companies fail, let the market work’ or ‘they did it to themselves so let them fail.’  These ideas fail to take into account the impact on our broader economy, the impact on our national security and the human toll exacted by inaction.