which proposed requiring the employees of ford, gm and chrysler to compensation or nearly the same as nissan and volkswagen. it seems to me those who would sponsor this kind of legislation would find it in their heart to see if we can look into the type of legislation we are considering today. i have evidence of h.r. five which passed the house and 2005 which would have placed a cap on the percentage of damages lawyers can receive it would have kept them at 15% of the any fees over $600,000, lot of money, not nearly what others are making however. and it seems to me that if we can kappa or try to cap the fees of lawyers who represent consumers we can also look at lawyers represent corporations. those in who are not here today i just believe they want this said because there are people who are suffering who have had their salaries cut who work in the auto industry and these are people who are now getting bonuses they believe to buy second and third homes or to buy additional cars. what they lost less money for education, money to pay house notes, money to sustain themselves and i find quite f

requiring the employees of ford, gm and chrysler to receive the same compensation, or nearly the same, as nissan and volkswagen. it just seems to me that those who would sponsor this kind of legislation would find it in their hearts to see that we can look into the type of legislation that we are considering today. i have evidence of hr five, which passed the house in 2005, which would have placed a cap on the percentage of damages that lawyers can receive that would have capped them at the 15% of any fees over $600,000. a lot of money. not nearly as much as what some others are making, however. and it just seems to me that if we can cap or try to cap, and cap the fees of lawyers who represent consumers, we can also look at lawyers who represent corporations. those who are not here today, i just believe they want is said, because there are people who are suffering, who have had their salaries cut, who worked in the auto industry. and these are people who are not getting honors is that they could buy second or third homes or buy additional cars. what they lost was money for education, money to pa

as of the supply chain. when the supply chain goes down, you have ford and honda and nissan and connected to the same suppliers. we are deeply aware of the interconnected the of this and we are monitoring it closely. the fourth question is one that, again, we have looked at carefully. we have -- we believe that ford is a good and competitive company. we believe that they will be able to survive and thrive as the economy turns around, but obviously, we are in constant dialogue with them during i have also -- i would also say that they have chosen affirmatively not to participate in this program and that is their choice, but that was their choice. >> the center johns. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. bloom, reference was made in a previous question about barney frank. you can see why that leads to some much suspicion back home and even amongst members of this panel. i do not have that kind of power, and yet, dealerships were closed in the state of nebraska. were you aware of that? did the ceo or somebody call you and say, wow, what do i do with this?(%Ñbarney frank has ce this facility left open? >> no, sir, i ha

nissan plant. that was an arm's length transaction. it's quite another thing for me as united states senator and a member of the government, that on 60% of the company to urge g.m. executives to build cars in my state. i can pretend i'm making my case on the merits -- central location, right to work laws, four-lane highways, hundreds of suppliers, low taxes, a successful japanese competitor 40 miles away, a german company that's picked tennessee to make its north american cars. but my incestuous relationship as owner taints the whole affair. so i will continue to confer car czar awards seeking to end the incestuous nature of these meetings and time-waving hearings until congress and the president enact my auto stock for every taxpayer legislation which would distribute the government stock in general motors and chrysler to the 120 million americans who pay taxes on a april 15. such a stock distribution is the fastest way to get ownership of the auto companies out of the hands of me tkelg washington politicians and back into the hands of americans in the marketplace. it'