The plan, which has garnered comparisons to the New Deal, would consist of investments in infrastructure, green jobs and alternative energy development, in addition to a tax cut for lower- and middle-class workers.
On the future of the auto industry, Axelrod said Obama would like the Big 3 automakers to devise a plan to reform their industry before receiving a federal bailout. "We all have a stake in the survival and the prosperity of the auto industry. Millions of jobs depend on that," said Axelrod. "But in order to do that, they're going to have to retool and rationalize their industry for the future."
Axelrod said Obama would like to see the Big 3 automakers return to Washington in early December, "hopefully on commercial flights," with a plan. "If they don't do that, then there's very little that taxpayers can do to help them," he said.
Schumer agreed. "We first need a plan for future viability, then the money, not the money first, and then the plan," he said. "We can't put money into these problems unless there is a plan for the future. There can be. There will be. And then Congress will step up to the plate."
When asked if would support a rescue plan to save the Big 3, Shelby explained, "not a bailout plan, not taxpayers." Instead, he suggested the companies should be allowed to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"They've got failed models, failed leadership," he said. "I believe the companies could turn themselves around. With the proper management, proper leadership, they could get lean; they could get competitive. But I believe what they're interested in is getting on the taxpayers' relief fund. ... I don't believe $25 billion will be enough. I don't believe $50 billion will be. I believe it will take several hundred billion, and still, they might not make it. So I believe they've got an opportunity to go through restructuring in Chapter 11."
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