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Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), the top Republican on the
Banking Committee, said Friday that the auto industry executives asking
Congress for money this week were “arrogant.” “They seem to be three of the most arrogant, you know,
non-repentant people I've ever seen to be running three losing companies,”
Shelby said on MSNBC.
He added that he would make the firing of management a
precondition for any federal auto industry bailout.
“They’ve failed in running these companies. They’ve
burned hundreds of billions of dollars if you tie it all together,” he said,
adding, “I believe one of them made $28 million last year. I'd be ashamed of
that.”
The senator opposes giving the auto industry more money
and also was one of the most vocal opponents of a $700 billion bailout of the
financial industry.
Asked how Congress passed such a massive bill without
much oversight or guidance, Shelby argued that it was “near election time.”
“People panicked. They didn’t understand how complicated
it was or how uncomplicated it was,” he stated. “They gave the secretary of the
Treasury more power than [a] Treasury secretary has ever had, and look what’s
happened. He hasn’t done much with it.”
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