rssFor the Automakers, No Cash Until More Conditions Are Met
Monday, March 30, 2009 at 1:05 pm
- 4 Comments
President Obama today made official what had been leaked over the weekend: That the viability plans submitted last month by Chrysler and General Motors don’t go far enough to satisfy the administration, which is asking the ailing automakers for further restructuring as a condition of receiving more bailout funding.
We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish. [...]
But after careful analysis, we have determined that neither [plan] goes far enough to warrant the substantial new investments that these companies are requesting. And so today, I am announcing that my administration will offer GM and Chrysler a limited period of time to work with creditors, unions, and other stakeholders to fundamentally restructure in a way that would justify an investment of additional tax dollars; a period during which they must produce plans that would give the American people confidence in their long-term prospects for success.
Among those conditions, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner has been pushed out, and Chrysler will be required to finalize its plan to merge with Fiat — a deal that appears to be imminent.
Two notable elements of Obama’s speech today: First, the president did mention that the blame for the automakers’ troubles shouldn’t be pinned on the auto workers, but on “a failure of leadership — from Washington to Detroit — that led our auto companies to this point.” This was a not-so-veiled reference to the regional protectionism that found some of Washington’s most powerful Democrats literally defending Detroit’s automakers to death.
And second, he didn’t mention that the frozen credit markets that have largely contributed to the fall in car sales won’t be thawed without first stabilizing housing markets — a piece of the financial recovery that Congress seems willing to leave for last, despite the fact that it was the housing crisis at the root of the global economic meltdown.
Then again, consumers don’t have the lobbying prowess of Wall Street.
4 Comments
Comment posted March 30, 2009 @ 2:42 pm
One very real concern you are not deal objectively with, either: unions, in particular, how big unions currently operate in this country.
My favorite commentaries come from here, Bill Moyers & NOW, Krugman & Friedman. But all of these folks share one huge blind spot: the investigative eye and penetrating commentary they turn on every other aspect of American society they never turn on the union movement as currently run in this country.
I want no $$ to go to any companies that leave the same people/structures in charge that got us here. Waggoner was the best (meaning, worst) example: not a victim or sacrificial lamb, he has held the very top jobs at GM (CFO, COO, President, CEO, Chairman) since 1992 .
Of the almost two dozen auto companies making cars in this country only three failing companies have one thing in common: a monopoly politically connected auto union, Over decades the same inflexible work rules, pay levels, health and retirement levels, have been imposed via the allowance of a monopoly on workers across each of them.
Monopolies are almost always bad; whether Boeing or a single union. Leaving that union structure in place is doomed to fail long-term. Monopoly labor agreements and lack of freedom of workers to choose their own union hurts everyone.
Dave Huntsman
Cleveland
Comment posted March 30, 2009 @ 5:01 pm
Disasters. Fights are breaking out over Michigan in response to layoffs spurned by Obama's choice for bankruptcy above all other options:
http://tinyurl.com/hopelessobama
Comment posted March 30, 2009 @ 9:42 pm
One very real concern you are not deal objectively with, either: unions, in particular, how big unions currently operate in this country.
My favorite commentaries come from here, Bill Moyers & NOW, Krugman & Friedman. But all of these folks share one huge blind spot: the investigative eye and penetrating commentary they turn on every other aspect of American society they never turn on the union movement as currently run in this country.
I want no $$ to go to any companies that leave the same people/structures in charge that got us here. Waggoner was the best (meaning, worst) example: not a victim or sacrificial lamb, he has held the very top jobs at GM (CFO, COO, President, CEO, Chairman) since 1992 .
Of the almost two dozen auto companies making cars in this country only three failing companies have one thing in common: a monopoly politically connected auto union, Over decades the same inflexible work rules, pay levels, health and retirement levels, have been imposed via the allowance of a monopoly on workers across each of them.
Monopolies are almost always bad; whether Boeing or a single union. Leaving that union structure in place is doomed to fail long-term. Monopoly labor agreements and lack of freedom of workers to choose their own union hurts everyone.
Dave Huntsman
Cleveland
Comment posted March 31, 2009 @ 12:01 am
Disasters. Fights are breaking out over Michigan in response to layoffs spurned by Obama's choice for bankruptcy above all other options:
http://tinyurl.com/hopelessobama
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
