Levin: Big Three CEOs should resign

Sen. Carl Levin on Meet the Press

As Congress prepares for a vote tomorrow on government assistance to the ailing auto industry, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is insisting that the CEOs of the Big Three automakers should offer to resign if it will help get the rescue package passed.

On Sunday, Levin was asked by Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw whether Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors who has led the firm to the brink of bankruptcy, should resign. Levin replied:

And if it was the difference between getting this kind of support or not, obviously the management should consider resigning. If the government wants to intrude that much into the operations of a company where it can decide who is the right management and who isn’t, then I believe they should consider resigning.

Levin appeared on the program with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) to discuss the proposed rescue package. Many prominent Republicans have expressed opposition to the plan, many of whom say that the automakers should be allowed to go into bankruptcy so they can restructure their operations.

Democrats, on the other hand, are arguing in favor of a rescue package to help the Big Three avoid bankruptcy, but they want conditions attached to the package that will provide more oversight of their operations and an equity stake in the companies in exchange for the infusion of taxpayer dollars.

Shelby agreed, however, that top executives from the Big Three should resign if a rescue package is passed:

We all care about our jobs, we care about tomorrow’s products. But if we let the money go to General Motors, for example, with the same management, the same ideas, it’s money wasted.

The leaders of the Big Three automakers are on Capitol Hill today to testify on the need for a rescue package. The Washington Post reports that House Democrats are demanding a number of conditions on the money, including a ban on bonuses for employees making more than $200,000 a year and the establishment of an oversight board that can veto decisions made by corporate management.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has submitted a bill in the House that would do the same; Levin is expected to submit a similar bill in the Senate. Both bills would appropriate the money for this rescue package out of the $700 billion already appropriated for a bank bailout package. The White House opposes the bill.