Republican Vows Fight Over Auto Industry Bailout Plan

November 16, 2008 1:15 p.m. EST

Washington, DC (AHN) - A high-ranking Republican lawmaker is vowing to fight a Democratic plan to bail out the struggling U.S. auto industry.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top ranking Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said using any of the $700-billion economic rescue package to help the American auto industry stay in business would be a mistake.

"I do not support using taxpayer dollars to save private companies. This is not a national problem, it's their [automaker's] problem," Shelby said in a statement.

He called the industry a "dinosaur" and said a federal bailout would only postpone its inevitable demise.

Democrat leaders want to use $25 billion of the economic rescue package to help General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

President Bush opposes the proposal and Democrats probably lack the votes to defend the plan.

Shelby said on a Sunday morning television news program that the companies would be better off declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reorganizing.

The president of the United Autoworkers union said the industry's problems are due to this year's gasoline price spike and the meltdown on Wall Street, not mismanagement or higher labor costs.

He told the Wall Street Journal that bankruptcy is "the worst possible route."