Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, says he opposes President Bush's $13.4 billion bridge loan to the auto industry because he wanted the automakers to make concessions up front.
"I think most American taxpayers now are sort of scratching their head, wondering when all of this bailout stuff is going to end, and probably thinking: 'When is my bailout coming?'" Cantor said yesterday on CNN's "Late Edition."
Cantor, a Henrico County resident and the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, appeared on the program with Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
Cantor, who won a fifth term on Nov. 4, said the auto industry in Detroit has not been competitive and that its wage rates outpace those of its foreign competitors. Getting concessions up front would better protect taxpayers and help stave off significant job losses in the auto industry, he said.
"The bailout of a failed model is not, I think, what we owe the taxpayers," Cantor said.
The problem with the package that Bush announced Friday is that there are no binding requirements on the auto industry, only floating targets, Cantor said.
"So how in the world are we going to guarantee the taxpayers they're going to get their money back?" he said.
Host Wolf Blitzer asked whether Cantor and fellow House Republicans will support the incoming Obama administration's push for a new economic stimulus package that could reach $650 billion.
"I think it's incumbent upon the Republicans in Congress not to just be 'the party of no'" Cantor said.
He said the House GOP is concerned about the level of spending but will offer alternatives "so that we can work with the president-elect in trying to make sure we turn this economy around."
When the host asked where lawmakers will find the money for the stimulus package, Frank said: "I wish people had been raising that question with the war in Iraq."
Cantor's wife, Diana F. Cantor, is a member of the board of directors of Media General Inc., parent company of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Contact Andrew Cain at (804) 649-6645 or acain@timesdispatch.com.
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