Enterprise: We aren’t seeking a bailout
Enterprise Rent-A-Car spokesman Pat Farrell called me this afternoon to say that his company, and his industry, is not looking for a government bailout. He was responding, of course, to this post, which relied on a Wall Street Journal story.
The Journal, Farrell says, misinterpreted a letter that the CEOs of Enterprise and its competitors sent to House leaders. The CEOs weren’t asking for any special favors, he says, but merely asking that TARP money be used to revive the commercial-paper markets. By way of background, Enterprise is an A2/P2-rated commercial paper issuer, while other companies issue lower-rated asset-backed commercial paper. The Federal Reserve has been buying top-rated, A1/P1 commercial paper, but Farrell said that program hasn’t helped the rest of the market.
Here’s a relevant paragraph from the CEOs’ letter, which was addressed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner:
As Congress reviews large scale bailout options for automobile manufacturers, the car rental industry is seeking only a modest amount of support. We ask Congress simply to direct the Treasury Department to create a program similar to the Commercial Paper Funding Facility or the Term Asset Backed Loan Facility for which our companies can qualify and be deemed eligible participants.”
So, Farrell seems to be correct. The industry asked for a broader financial-market solution, not any special treatment. The actual TARP bill, though, does seem to single out the industry:
SEC. 140: CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY REGARDING AUTOMOBILE FLEET PURCHASE LOANS.
The authority of the Secretary to take any action under this title includes the authority to establish or support facilities to support the availability of automobile fleet purchase loans, including loans for the automobile rental industry and other fleet purchasers, including through purchase of asset-backed securities ….
I’ll leave it to legal scholars to decide whether that language, inserted by Rep. Barney Frank, gives the rental-car industry any status that’s different from other commercial-paper-issuing companies. At any rate, Farrell says, Enterprise itself definitely is not looking for a bailout:
We’re not in need of any money. We’re not even participating in any program if it should go through.
(4 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5)
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
The final paragraph is the root of our current problem. Why would anyone be willing to leave anything to Barney Frank and his gang of bandits….?
go to
http://www.InfoWars.com
http://www.PrisonPlanet.com
and get the truth
Gang? Jack Benny had a gang. Barney Frank chairs a committee. What’s this really about?
Part of TARP should have required bailed out banks to get money back into the economy instead of just dumping it into treasuries. Singling out a specific industry may not be the best idea, but starting to free up credit lines *is* the direction we need to be going in.
It’s funny, I don’t see any apology for posting inaccurate information which probably did harm to the reputations of the rental car companies. Maybe we should spread some rumors about STLToday not posting accurate blogs.
Richard, it was based on a Wall Street Journal story, which is probably one of the most accurate publications in the world. If you had read the previous blog you would know that.
Maybe we should all start spreading rumors that Richard talks out of his butt…
It’s pretty sweet, Sweetness, that your halfway house let’s you use computers. Probably still no sharp knives at mealtimes though, eh?
Tim, whether the source was wrong or not, this blog was still spreading inaccurate information which could harm reputations. There seems to be a lot of inaccurate information going around in the media today. The reason why is because people like you let them get away with it.
Arg, there was no intentional attempt to spread misinformation by David Nicklaus, and his information is almost always spot on. And, unlike some of his co-workers at the P-D, he immediately put up a correction when he found out the story he quoted was wrong. It’s not like one of us caught it, he fixed it himself and wrote this new blog. That is the kind of journalistic integrity missing from most of the rest of the P-D in my opinion.
Kudos to Dave for getting it right.
I would hardly call “Update: See this followup post for more information” a correction. He should change the title and specifically mention that his source was incorrect. Right now any reader who fails to foloow the link will have no idea that that entry is wrong. And we can see that readers continued to post commments based on the misleading entry. Sorry, but it *is* irresponsible jounralism.
Tim I think you need to stop giving lip service Dave’s male part. The fact is that it is terrible ‘but consistent’ journalism on his part. He didn’t call to confirm or as for a quote. He copy and pasted a story.
Tim in the future before you come on here and blast people please remember to take the knee pads off!