Should the government prop up the auto industry or is that just throwing good money after bad? Can they survive bankruptcy protection? Why is the public so strongly against any sort of federal support? And is Barack Obama on the right track with his economic recovery ideas? Will a focus on public works and rebuilding infrastructure be the trigger for our fiscal comeback or is he just recycling failed ideas from the New Deal era? We ask Scott Hodge, president of The Tax Foundation.
Five detainees at Guantanamo, including 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are asking to plead guilty to their charges and in effect speed up their own executions. Why would they want to do this? Can they pass mental competency tests to make this happen? How does the election of Barack Obama factor into this? We ask Maj. Kyndra Rotunda, former member of the U.S. Army’s prosecution team at Guantanamo Bay.
Is it safer to use your cell phone while driving if you have a hands-free device? What are the statistics on how much more distracted a driver is while on the phone? Which group of drivers has experts especially worried? We ask Peter Kissinger of the AAA Foundation.
It’s been 34 days since Election Day, but we are still at least several days away from learning who will serve as a senator from Minnesota for the next six years. What is the latest in the political drama featuring GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken? How many challenged ballots still need to be resolved? And how important has it bee for Coleman to stay ahead in every vote count to bolster his case that he is the legitimate winner? We ask Kevin Duchshere, political report for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Did the CEO’s of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler make a compelling case to Congress for $34 billion in bridge loans this week? What are the reasons why many lawmakers see this as the wrong way to save the auto industry or any other part of the economy? What’s the alternative to rescuing the Big Three? We ask Georgia Rep. Tom Price, a member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Who besides the automakers and their workers will suffer if one or more of the Big Three collapses? Is Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a viable option? Will the $34 billion being sough now be all that is needed or is it just the tip of the iceberg for a sinking sector of the economy? We ask Jason Vines, former public relations expert for Ford and Chrysler and co-founder of The Engine of Democracy, a group urging Congressional passage of the bridge loans for the major U.S. automakers.
The U.S. economy lost 533,000 jobs in November – the worst performance since December of 1974. In the past three months, the economy has lost well over one million jobs. How bad is this recession? How long could it last? Is every sector being crippled by the lack of credit availability? Should Congress intervene with an auto bailout and other measures? We ask Rea Hederman, assistant director of the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation.
The Big Three and Congress are stressing about the future of the auto industry, so the Capitol Steps are here for some comic relief as the debut “Help Me, Honda.” Our guest is Steps impressionist Mark Eaton.
We have Thursday’s top news…What are executives from the Big Three automakers saying as they return to Congress to ask for $34 billion in loans? What are leading members of the Senate Banking Committee saying in return? What is President Bush’s position on all of this? What are the latest jobless numbers? And what happened Thursday on Wall Street? We answer all these questions as we being you the biggest stories for Thursday, December 4, 2008.
How significant is the win by Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss in Georgia this week? Is Barack Obama showing us he’s a moderate based on the members of his economic and national security teams or does it just give him cover to pursue liberal policies? And what should we make of the terrorist massacre in Mumbai a week later? We ask John Gizzi, political editor at Human Events.
