US car workers hit by financial crisis
Al Jazeera English
Transcript
this is still all part of the plant here the view from Tom Bryant's pickup truck in Jamesville Wisconsin is Bleak going now with a you go by the parking lots and I got half of them blocked off and the weeds are going through there and it you know there's still people working now but the day when everybody does leave it's going to it's going to be hard to drive by her Brian worked here for four decades making trucks and SUVs for General Motors a good job with good wages enough to raise a family and live well back in those days it was kind of the American dream to be able to work for a corporation like General Motors but that was then now General Motors sales are plummeting and the Jamesville plant is going to be shut down in December just 2 days before Christmas Tom is near retirement so he figures he'll be okay good job Adam but his 40-year-old son Todd works at GM to and the shutdown announcement H him hard for sure people were shocked people were extremely sad you know I mean I think some people were mad but the people that I saw were probably more sad and scared than than anything married with 5-year-old twin boys Todd's worried about keeping his home and making ends meet like the Middle Class Manufacturing working family type jobs or um under attack or becoming you know rare extinct it's it's almost like a race to the bottom type of thing it's a concept at the heart of the American dream that if you work hard and play by the rules you'll have a comfortable life and that your sons and daughters will do even better than you did but now that dream is dying in the past 8 years manufacturing jobs the kind of good paying work that built the American middle class have declined by 3,820 or 22% in the same time period average hourly wages adjusted for inflation have stagnated while many companies have cut back on medical coverage paid time off and pension benefits union membership has fallen too author Tamara drought says younger workers today make less than their counterparts a generation ago if you look at polls now the for the first time in in really modern history the the majority of Americans don't think the next generation will be better off they don't think their kids will be better off Todd Brian believes his boys Tyler and Adam will grow up in a harsher world my concerns are is that they won't be able to have a comfortable lifestyle to be able to take care of their children and you know give them the benefits that I had when I was a child absolutely it's huge work for me pretty cool isn't it with their toys Todd's Sons play at building trucks like their father father and grandfather before them hey Granda look what I did three generations in a family that helped build America now facing an uncertain future Rob Reynolds Al jazer Jamesville Wisconsin
Fed Cuts Key Interest Rate Half-point to 1%
Associated Press
Transcript
the federal reserve lowered a key interest rate by a half percent wednesday the latest move by the government to try to keep the country from plunging into a deep recession the drop pushes the federal funds rate the amount of interest banks charge each other on overnight loans down to one percent the last time the rate was this low came during the 12-month period between june 2003 and june 2004 before that the funds rate had not been this low since the eisenhower administration 45 years ago wall street has been looking to the fed to help stabilize the tattered economy and today's cut is the latest effort in its ongoing campaign two key reports this week illustrate the gravity of the fed's task wednesday's showing on consumer confidence was the worst in its history tomorrow's report on gross domestic product is expected to show the economy shrank in the third quarter two consecutive quarters of contraction would meet the classic definition of recession mark hamrick the associated press
Governors Disagree on More Bucks for Meltdown
Associated Press
Transcript
we are cutting all we can and we will cut all that we are able to but inevitably the deficit is too voluminous for us to address therefore we feel that targeted uh uh sensible actions by the federal government could provide relief for us now this is why today I call upon Congress to pass a second stimulus legislation package before it jours at the end of the year we think that the most essential way that the House and Senate can help our country is to reinvest and reignite the engine of our economy which we see as our states I'm here to respectfully beg of this committee not to approve a $150 billion stimulus package going forward for the unintended consequences that I think it would bring to my home state of South Carolina to all states to the nation as a whole and for that matter to my boys uh uh y'all's grandkids your kids and I would say that um really uh I guess tied to five different points I would say one if you go ahead with this the question I think ultimately has to be asked who bails out the bailout tour and I raised that point because we need to remember we're not talking about taking money out of a bank in this case we're talking about borrowing more money from Social Security borrowing more money from Medicare borrowing indeed money from our kids and grandkids
Stocks End Mixed in Late Slide
Associated Press
Transcript
Wall Street got the interest rate cut it wanted but still turned in a baffling late day performance Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 280 points in the last 15 minutes of the session making for a two-day gain of more than 1,100 points then another bout of last minute volatility wiped out the advance after the bell the Dow finished down 74 points 2 8900 91 S&P 500 index fell as well dropping 10 points to 930 Nasdaq was able to eke out a small gain rising about eight points to finish at 1657 the Federal Reserve's moved to cut interest rates by a half a percentage point had little effect on investors Trading remained relatively flat following the announcement but analysts saw the move as a necessary one we've seen consumer spending look dismal we've seen consumer confidence dropped to record lows and so it really looked like the economy has weakened to recession levels and it made one good reason for the Fed to move another day of uncertainty is ahead tomorrow government's report on gross domestic product as expected to show the economy shrank in the third quarter two consecutive quarters of contraction would mean the economy has met the classic definition of recession mark Hamrick The Associated Press
Today in History for October 29th
Associated Press
Transcript
[Music] October 29th 1929 on Wall Street Black Tuesday descends upon the New York Stock Exchange stock prices collapse amid Panic selling wiping out thousands of investors as America's Great Depression begins 2004 in a videotape statement Osama Bin Laden Direct admits for the first time that he ordered the September 11th attacks the al-Qaeda leader warns the best way to avoid another Manhattan is to stop threatening the security of Muslims 1956 during the Suz Canal Crisis Israel invades Egypt Sinai Peninsula just Days Later British and French forces occupy the canal which Egypt had nationalized then both Cold War superpowers the United States and Soviet Union demand a ceasefire the crisis ends with un peacekeepers deployed in the Canal Zone 1901 in Upstate New York Leon chalos dies in the electric chair for assassinating President William McKinley in Buffalo 2 and 1998 booster ignition and liftoff of Discovery with a crew of six astronaut Heroes and one American Legend Ohio US senator John Glenn the first American to orbit the earth Roars back into space aboard Shuttle Discovery at the age of 77 today in history October 29th Tim Maguire the Associated Press
Fed cuts rate half-point; GM worldwide sales drop 11%
CBS
Transcript
Wall Street got just what it expected the Federal Reserve slashed its key interest rate by half a percent and left the door open for even more Cuts in the future the hope is cheaper loans will speed up the economy and prevent a recession a rally at the stock market fizzled in the final minutes and the DOW Industrials ended down 74 points the NASDAQ squeaked seven points higher the oil markets were paying attention because if a rate cut helps the economy it could increase the demand for energy crude surge by $5 over $67 a barrel the biggest percentage gain since June it's still less than half what it was a few months ago and that's giving drivers a break on gas the national average dipped to 259 a gallon that's a three-year low automakers hope that will encourage Americans to invest in new cars in the last 3 months GM's worldwide sales dropped by 11% the company is pursuing a merger with Chrysler that could save both of them from bankruptcy but eliminate up to 35,000 jobs and travelers certainly aren't getting a break on airf fars ticket prices are the highest they've been in the 13 years that the government has been tracking them that's your money watch log on to cbsnews.com for more at the New York Stock Exchange I'm Alexis christopherus
Pound Plummets, House Prices Sink
CBS
Transcript
the British had been riding a wave of wealth and prosperity for years now the country's battered economy has caused the pound to plummet against the dollar unemployment's up in property prices have plunged by thirty percent in some areas far faster than in the u.s. that I don't know what's gonna happen the Winfield's are literally counting down the days until they lose their london home after Steve lost his job I would never have a dream I soul being in the situation as we are in rano few could dream the tables would turn so fast just a few months ago 20 pounds got you about forty dollars now only about thirty gone are the days of Brits snapping up big bargains in America that when people go over there safe and Christmas shopping and some people go to New York and you know things are going to change like that this year wherever you go you're not going to win at the moment are you in the forecast is so grim even Britain's Prime Minister dropped the R word in Parliament for the first time we must now take action on the global financial recession which is likely to cause recession in America France Italy Germany Japan and because no country can insulate itself from it Britain to the wave of global recession may be headed to American shores but it's already started crashing over here Charlie d'Agata CBS News London
U.S. Automakers In Tough Times
CBS
Transcript
with Car Sales across the country slowing to a dead stop America's automakers could soon be running on empty by some estimates General Motors is burning through a billion dollars a month and both it and Chrysler could be broke by summer why is it so bad well so far this year Ford's sales are off 19% GMS are down 20 Chrysler's sales have slid a staggering 26% this year alone the three us automakers have had to cut more than 48,000 jobs desperate to stay afloat GM and Chrysler are now talking about merging and are asking for a big government bailout to help do it they will likely need to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy around mid to late 2009 if they don't get Federal help the estimated cost of that help $10 billion and a loss of 40,000 jobs that's 1/4 of the workforce neither company is talking publicly but the White House confirms they are talking the automakers have been in contact with us uh we've been talking to them at various levels the stakes for the economy are enormous 42 million people one in every 30 American workers is employed in the Auto industry in all 14 million jobs are in some way connected to the car business which means the big three may be just too big to let fail the government has stepped in before you may recall in 1979 it bailed out Chrysler giving the company time to develop what became its Cash Cow the minivan but today's Global Marketplace is much more competitive and understandably Auto Workers are on edge I understand that they're trying to merge um I don't know how is that going to benefit us the Auto industry has helped power the economy for a 100 years now but experts say it's been headed the wrong way for so long even with a bailout it could take decades to get back on the right track Cynthia Bowers CBS News Chicago
Wall Street Soars For A Day
CBS
Transcript
overseas markets posted some gains this morning after the Dow skyrocketed nearly 900 points yesterday joining us is Bloomberg TV anchor Dedra Bolton Dedra good morning good morning Harry the real magic the last 40 minutes of the session the markets just took off but one caveat there have only been 20 trading days so far in October there's only one day that has seen the dow move with less than a 100 Point swing there was actually something to smile about on Wall Street on Tuesday the Dow closed nearly 900 points higher it's the second biggest Point gain ever for the Dow but wild price swings are becoming standard and are not necessarily logical a consumer confidence reading fell to its lowest level since 1967 and in housing data showed the average price of a home fell nearly 18% in the past year to keep Wall Street and investors feeling good the bush Administration is pushing Banks to lend the money they received as part of that $700 billion rescue package what we're trying to do is get Banks to do what they are supposed to do which is support the system that we have in America and Banks exist to lend money that's how they make money speaking of the banks the central bank will make its rate decision today at 2:15 p.m. eastern time most expect the FED to lower its Benchmark lending rate to 1% If the Fed signals that they are further cuts to come you're going to have the FED funds rate at the lowest level since Dwight Eisenhower was President Harry back to Dedra thanks so much Dedra Bolton of Bloomberg [Music]