To Fix Detroit, Obama Is Said to Drop Plan for ‘Car Czar’

[Pirate Smile]

Source: The New York Times

DETROIT — The Obama administration has dropped the idea of appointing a “car czar” to oversee the revamping of General Motors and Chrysler and will instead put the politically delicate task in the hands of a presidential panel, a senior administration official with knowledge of the plan said Sunday night.

President Obama is designating the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and the chairman of the National Economic Council, Lawrence H. Summers, to oversee the group. Mr. Geithner will also supervise the $17.4 billion in loan agreements already in place with G.M. and Chrysler, said the official, who insisted on anonymity.

The official also said that Ron Bloom, a restructuring expert who has advised the labor unions in the troubled steel and airline industries, would be named a senior adviser to Treasury on the auto crisis.

The unexpected shift comes as G.M. and Chrysler race to complete broad restructuring plans they must file with the Treasury by Tuesday. The companies’ plans are required to show progress in cutting long-term costs as a condition for keeping their loans.
By naming a task force rather than a czar, the president is reserving for himself any decision on the viability of G.M. and Chrysler, both of which came close to bankruptcy before receiving federal aid two months ago, the administration official said.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/business/economy/16auto.html?hp

[Thrill]

1. I really don't know what to do about this industry

Are they just going to keep coming back every quarter for more money?

[OhioChick]

2. Likely so, as unemployment continues to rise. n/t

[Deja Q]

3. Wouldn't more living wage jobs and cars people want help?

The Chevy Volt is said to come out in 2010...

[Better Believe It]

7. People may want certain cars but they aren't going to buy many during this crisis

If Obama let's GM and/or Chrysler go down ( I don't think he will)that will mean the loss of several millions jobs almost immediately and will quickly turn this crisis into a second Great Depression.

[OhioChick]

25. I see your point..

However, people need jobs yesterday in order to make any larger purchases, whether they be cars, homes or whatever.

There's a good article "out there" which is quite a good read. It's called "No Jobs, No Recovery."

[Festivito]

14. Housing loan holding finance arms will. GM, Chrysler, not Ford.

Ford may need to BORROW money, especially since we don't have a banking sector worth spit. Mainly because too few people feel comfortably employed. (17% unemployed means 80% fearing unemployment.)

Also, American cars are of great quality, notice: people are still driving their OLD cars. Also better than Japanese cars by current tests despite people clamoring they're not, so get this, in twenty years the tests will be proven, but by then, they'll still be idiots.

1. For GM and D/Chrysler either give them money the way we give money to the big banks while watching Cerberus steal it, OR,
2. go through all the housing loans and dump the losses on the banks, OR
3. watch our nation's chances of recovering before Cern finds a bomb that makes H-bombs obsolete, drop by 50% at least.

[BlooInBloo]

4. It would be funny if, after GM's latest extortion attempt, Obama just said...

"Fuck it. I'm done with them".

[SharonAnn]

6. Or, the auto companies could just be nationalized until they're reorganized

the way they need to be (the way that management doesn't want them to be) and then privatized again.

It's the auto company management that's preventing things from being fixed.

So "F--- them." Why should the workers there lose their jobs because of it?

[BlooInBloo]

8. It's hard to picture a long-term fix that doesn't impact workers in the short-term.

[earcandle]

5. Aren' t they building an electric car and grids as we speak?

I think Obama's administration plan to buy a whole new fleet
of them, yes?
Or are they hybrids? 

[sam sarrha]

9. we cant lose that production ability. th Bu$h Family Mafia New World Order will succeed in this plan

this crash was PLANED, we better act like it was and redo things quickly AWAY FROM CORPORATISM, FASCISM .. but it looks like a done deal, we're toast.

Obama is acting like the people who did this can fix it.. he's Fucking VALIDATING THEM

I HAVE LOST ANY CONFIDENCE IN HIM, he lets them shit on him, laugh at him.

=====
1. we will have to restructure capitalism to be compatible with Socialism as tho our hair were on fire ...

2. a nationalized program of solar and wind.. use the money that saves for paying off what we owe the Chinese, after we recalculate what it is we really owe them. and start rebuilding our manufacturing base, and education base

we will have to restructure capitalism to be compatible with Socialism. we need to start creating a socialist government as tho our hair were on fire. enough of economic domination by a few rich privileged cleptocrats. who skim off 60% of the economy and only enrich themselves with wall street no-value added ponzi schemes

3. nationalize ALL THE ENERGY INDUSTRY, nationalized program of solar, algae oil ,hemp oil and wind.. to remove oil/coal as a fuel source in less than 20 years. use the money that saves for paying off what we owe the Chinese, after we recalculate what it is we really owe them. and start rebuilding our manufacturing base,from making our own shoes ON UP..only 3 shoe factories here.. . and education base, free education to PhD, bonus's for education and science ..

4, enough of economic domination by a few rich privileged schemes. who skim off 60%-70% of the economy and only enrich themselves with wall street no-value added ponzi schemes. A NO-VALUE ADDED TAX OF 99% FOR ALL HEDGE FUNDS, SPECULATION 99.9% FOR ALL DERIVATIVES. ELIMINATE ALL CORPORATE POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

SOCIALISM MEANS GOVERNMENT OF.. FOR.. AND BY THE PEOPLE

[stillcool]

10. So you think Obama could do that?

in this country? With 'our' government? What do you have a death wish for him?

[sam sarrha]

20. he has the ability to resend the constitution for 5 years and invoke the Articles of Confederation

[digidigido]

12. Do you really think that this crisis is going to be solved that quickly, with no real pain?

Any meaningful fix will take time. Someone once described the New Deal as a revolution by consent. I suspect that
is what Obama is trying to do. I don't think taking it to the streets is going to help anyone now. The BFM had 8 years
to set this up, and it's going to take time to undo it. It's going to be rough for a little while, and it sucks. But elections
have consequences, even stolen ones, and it will take some time to clean up the mess

[sam sarrha]

19. do whatever it takes or be extinct, any fix to the environment now will take at least 400 years

[rwheeler31]

11. The government should buy those new Fords, fix GM, and let

Chrysler go.

[Left Coast2020]

13. I'm not shedding much of a tear for GM and their short-sightedness.

After all, GM got themselves into this by insisting on building HUGE 8-cylinder gas guzzlers called, SUV's. All GM wanted was a quick profit to show the shareholders and investors.

If they were smart--which they were not--then perhaps they should cry in their coffee over GM's own shortsightedness.

Now if they had made fuel-efficient vehicles that perhaps were focused on long-term company viability, then thats a different story.

In the mean-time, GM has to deal with the outcomes of their greedy decisions-- sadly at the expense of the workers.

Thank you for the heart :hi:

[Kolesar]

16. what do you say for my neighbors and relatives who work for GM ?

[blue_onyx]

21. "Insisting on building HUGE 8-cylinder gas guzzlers"

Oh yes...how awful that they sold US consumers the vehicles they wanted.

[Romulox]

24. Are you more a fan of Toyota's 4.6L V8?

Oh, you didn't know they made those? :hi:

[backscatter712]

15. They keep talking about only two options, when the truth is that there are three.

The two options anyone in the Beltway talks about are either letting the car companies die, or throwing money at them.

I prefer option three, nationalizing them.

Just before GM and Chrysler declare bankruptcy, or after they declare bankruptcy, and as an alternative to the normal bankruptcy routine of nullifying contracts and auctioning assets, just seize the company. Throw out all the overpaid executive assclowns that drove these companies into the ditch, and make the companies government property.

Retool the companies to build green cars, force out the upper six layers of management that have been bleeding the companies dry, maybe even strengthen the unions, and implement a new health care system for them (preferably a universal health care system that's also available to the rest of the country) to get the expenses down, and make the auto companies profitable again.

Once they're making money, sell them back to the private sector. While we're at it, break up GM and Chrysler - they should become Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, etc. - that should make the American auto market far more competitive and dynamic. After all, if they're too big to fail, they're too big to be allowed to exist in such a big form. Break 'em up!

[backscatter712]

17. Glad to see Obama taking the buck instead of passing it.

To me, creating a czar is yet another Beltway trick for passing the buck that is useless for solving real problems.

Keeping the ball with President Obama himself does indicate to me that he's taking this problem seriously and looking for a real solution.

[onehandle]

18. Say goodbye to the mass production of alternative energy cars.

Oh, they'll make a few.

Big Oil wins again.

[Romulox]

23. What's stopping Tesla et al from rushing in and taking an early lead?

[Romulox]

22. Funny how this level of supervision and scrutiny isn't being proposed for the BANKS.

I guess everyone's gotta know which side their bread is buttered on.