1. Sen. George Voinovich (Mo.) - With Sen. Kit Bond (below), Voinovich has put together a compromise auto-industry bailout bill that would provide up to $25 billion in loans to Detroit so they can meet their immediate payroll and cash-flow needs. Voinovich spokesman Chris Paulitz said, "It's a sensible compromise, and we feel that if there is a vote, it's going to pass."
2. Sen. Kit Bond (Mo.) - He pledged his support for an auto industry bailout after being assured that it would include taxpayer protections, executive accountability, and financial reforms. He said in a statement, "The idea of the government getting involved in the free market is very troublesome and potentially dangerous to the health of our system, but we have to act in unique times of crisis when tens of thousands of Missouri workers are in danger of losing their jobs."
3. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) - In a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, he recommended that any bailout should "include restrictions on executive salaries, compensation packages, and excessive internal spending," as well as pledge from automakers to create more fuel-efficient cars.
4. Sen. Richard Lugar (Ind.) - Through his spokesman, Lugar said that he would review the bailout proposal and said that he supported a similar deal for Chrysler in 1979 with protections for taxpayers and "serious concessions from the company, its dealers, and the United Auto Workers."
5. Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) - He said he was "prepared to consider" a bailout but wanted to know "whether the situation is so precarious that it would take more than what is proposed" to save the failing auto industry.
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Sources: Fox News, The Examiner, Associated Press, The Cleveland Plain Dealer
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