Panel I of a Hearing of the House Financial Services Committee - Auto Industry Stabilization Plan

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REP. TOM PRICE (R-GA): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Over the past year we have seen an unprecedented level of governmental intervention into the market, and there seems to have been enough time and enough pain to pose this question: How's it working? One does not have to be an expert to judge the efficacy of recent government bailouts.

Congress is appropriately in the position of asking some very difficult questions. One that must be addressed is whether or not the congressionally backed taxpayer safety net that has been case far and wide has only served to prolong and deepen our current financial downturn while at the same time burdening an inconceivable and enormous debt on our children, our grandchildren, and now, yes, our great-grandchildren. We're in real danger of politicizing our entire economy, and this is historic risk in that, for it has always been the absence of politics in the greater economy that has allowed more success for more people than any nation in the history of mankind.

In a political economy, Washington's the judge. Washington picks the winners and losers. Washington decides what products and services we need. We all want the American auto industry to survive and to thrive. My sense is that the concessions necessary by all the involved stakeholders to ensure a robust American automobile industry will require a legally expedited restructuring process. Now, I would ask our guests, what is it specifically that prevents you from supporting this more tried and true and, dare I say, American solution?

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