Hard Line On Auto Aid Puts Bailed-Out Firms On Notice

Washington Post:

NEW YORK, March 30 -- After ousting General Motors' chief executive, President Obama warned Monday that bankruptcy may be unavoidable for two American automotive giants.

The administration's display of authority sent U.S. stocks tumbling and raised questions about whether the government would take similar steps against top executives at U.S. banks that are also receiving government bailout funds.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[strangerinthenight]

"barely starting my life.

Gotta go . . . . 9:00 am @ work.

[DFL]

Watch out fat cats! Barack speaks softly but carries a big stick!

[jdw1981]

Which he loves to use on the American taxpayers (Bush taught him well).

[serialcoma]

You should just be quiet unless you have something in te ll igent to post.. which, given your track record, seems highly unlikely.

[OrbitOne]

. . . and wears an empty suit.

[ThunderclapNewman]

Still gazing fondly into the mirror, I see.

[LDnearthesea]

So, you want Bush back, and Repugnantcan control of Congress to further flush the country's economy down the toilet?

[strangerinthenight]

I just turned 27, barely starting my live. Already, I am very skeptical of the workings of the Government and Big Corporations. My Generation [Y], voted for a new change, but it's getting worse. Oratorical skills doesn't make you a President. I may have voted for A VERY GOOD MAN, but inexperience President. This is the 71st day of the first 100 days. Time is not on his side.

I am getting bailout stimulus and recovery bills FATIGUE - millions, billions, trillions like money is going out of style. In the meantime, 4.4 trillions [there goes that numbers again] jobs were lost, 650,000 more every month, 12 million home default, millions more in foreclosures, industries closing, and going bankrupt, companies are closing, 401 K gone, elderly losing their retirements and pensions ETC. Most predict recession will continue until at least 2010. The worst is coming. Many will perish.

I still have a job, after a massive lay off. I could be next. The vortex of this meltdown. Middle Class is being sucked into the Black Hole. On a brighter note, I just paid off my $400/mo student loan in 7 of the 10 years with credit for early payment, and unearned interest. No thanks to the Republicans and the Democrats.

Life could be better. The $400 extra disposal income will come in handy. Bur for the rest of the middle class, retirees and new grads, life sucks.

NOW, IF ONLY ORATORY COULD SAVE THE DAY !

[breakingnews]

Nervous after 71 days??? 71!!! Boy, you are young. And sorta silly.....

[etcetc]

stranger - since you are so young, your memory is short. obama inherited this mess, and you are impatient and unfair to expect he can change this is so quickly. This could tke years. If McCain were in office, we would be truly doomed.

[LDnearthesea]

yeah, McCain might want to send him off to Iraq for that 100 year stay.

[shellshock30]

You are right, you are just starting to live because you have no idea what you are talking about. You voted for change but have no patience. Did Obama not say things would get worst before they got better? Does generation Y have selective hearing? Does generation Y want INSTANT change with no for thought for reprecussions? Is generation Y that dumb enough to believe that 8 years of destruction can be reversed in 8 weeks?

Obama's bringing change...i­t may not be at the pace YOU want it he's always one step ahead of you and the rest of his critics.

[jrfunkenstein]

'Time is not on his side...'

WTF are you talking about? The guy has done more in just over 2 months than Bush did in his entire 2 pathetic terms. The volume of disasters Obama has been left to deal with is Herculean, yet his critics are infuriated that he hasn't solved in 60+ days what took 8 years to destroy.

Jesus, the hypocrisy of the Right is endless.

[LDnearthesea]

Yeah, it might just get worse, buddy! When I left college in the mid 70's for the corporate media trashed him because he was an "outsider.­" The crucifix was taken out after the three martini lunch bit. Suddenly Carter was anti-business! Booo... You can hear the same clowns going after Obama because he wants to reign in corporate greed!

[LDnearthesea]

Somehow half of what i just typed got deleted! I was mentioning how things were worse because of what Nixon had done after Vietnam and how the economy went downhill afterwards. Carter came in as a reformer and got trashed by the media for being an "outsider.­"

[strangerinthenight]

Cursing will not help. What do you believe the President has done successfully other than being elected ?

The 8-year-Bush Administration was indefensible. That blame is not for President Obama. But his own Party must own a huge part of that blame. No one can convince me Republicans alone voted for the war, or looted the National Treasury. Democrats either slept, looked the other way, just plain inept, or worst acquiesced to the looting. They had no balls to argue for the People. As Majority, they did worst - they gave away the store all together.

I have no political affiliation. Generation Y voted in droves for this President. OBAMA IS A GOOD MAN. We hoped for leaders with servant hearts. I struggled to cast my vote for Obama on experience issue ONLY. But for Joe Biden, I would have not voted for Obama.

Build us up, only to let us down more. Where as the economy was tanking during the Bush Administration, under this new Administration, we are on a MELTDOWN.

12 trillion after 750 billion, 787 billions Stimulus package - Generation Y will carry the brunt paying them back because of spent- spent- 0 saving-pas­t-generati­ons-shop-t­ill-you-dr­op-keeping­-up-with-t­he-Jones, and inept governance by BOTH PARTIES.

From that perspective, we are raising our voices. Dissenting opinions should not be considered treason. BEAR THAT IN MIND.

[bluguy8]

Yes , but the option was Mc Cain & Palin. we would have really been in trouble. Don't forget He said we had a good economy . And its doesn't pay to say anything about her

[chili111]

We may still be in trouble if McCain had been elected, but I can GUARANTEE you, not as bad as it is now under Barry's watch.

[leftLibertarian]

Come on Mr President - stand up to America's financial oligarchy!

[breakingnews]

familydamato See Profile I'm a Fan of familydamato I'm a fan of this user permalink
What criteria has the banks met?
Are they lending? Restructuring? Changing?
Or is it business as usual?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:17 AM on 03/31/2009
***********
Since I am from Michigan and involved in the auto industry, I can only speak to the GM and Chrysler programs.

[Gordon]

There isn't a single quote from a banking executive "wondering if they are next".

Stop with the li.es Words matter. Properly attributed quotes matter.

Makes me wonder if this site's "journalists" worked in the Office of Special Plans.

[Amalek]

The Chinese have a proverb for this: You need to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys. Fits the situation perfectly. The financial execs better get with the program or get packing.

[jdw1981]

Only part of the blame lies with the automakers themselves. Sure, they make crappy unimaginative, uneconomical vehicles compared to their foreign counterparts. But their foreign counterparts are also experiencing sales declines due to the global economy.

And a major reason US car sales are down is because of the bankers Obama has been lavishing money on. Most people buy cars through credit, and they've been restricting access to credit, while partying like it's 1929.

[DFL]

The big 3 have closed the quality gap and their cars are just as good as the imports, dont listen to these dummys that are still stuck back in the 70's and 80's

[jdw1981]

They still make big, ugly oversized pickups that most people don't have any use for as work vehicles.

[serialcoma]

Hmmmm... the mechanics I know all say that if you buy American you deserve what you get - junk. They all recommend Honda and Toyota when asked what to buy... and they're all good ol' Texas boys to boot....

[NedroidPrime]

Speaking as a person who has never owned foreign (until my current car), YES AMERICAN CARS STINK.

If they can make a car that doesn't require any major repairs in 120,000 miles, then we can talk. Every car I have ever owned (except my new one) has had problems with fluid leaks, transmission issues, and other just plain stupid problems.

Until that point, i'm a Toyota man

[bluguy8]

I've heard the same thing. Toyota's are the best all around .Everyone I know that has bought American cars has had big problems with them

[CatfishAndGrits]

By ousting Wagoner this will give Obama more leverage with financial industry. Besides there is still stress testing going on with the banks. And until that completes Obama should not make any irrational decision toward the financial industry.

[MaxBob]

Obama more or less admitted (his bailout mistake) as much today:

""Now, while Chrysler and GM are very different companies with very different paths forward, both need a fresh start to implement the restructuring plan they developed. That may mean using our bankruptcy code as a mechanism to help them restructure quickly and emerge stronger."­"

Translation: I've wasted billions in taxpayer dollars. We now see that those who argued that the only path forward lies in bankruptcy were right. To distract attention from that fact, I'll fire Rick Wagoner.

[OMG1109]

Great wisdom...s­o please tell me, who pushed through the FIRST auto bailout!!!

[bluguy8]

Bush & Paulson

[etcetc]

Obama was NOT president for the first auto bailou. how short your memory is. Let's not re-write history, ok?

[Mystic01]

Next in line? They should have been first in line.

[MaxBob]

His 'nucular' moments. Heh.

http://www.transterrestrial.com/?p=17709

[breakingnews]

heh....lik­e anyone would actually click on your links. Banned from Redstate, huh?

[mortrefuge]

The problem of being a troll... No credibility. Just annoying..­. At least MaxBob is a professional troll though...

[Didderbops]

Oh sure, I am sure the bankers are trembling in their boots at the thought they might be next. Please. This administration is in the pockets of the banking industry and this is PR spin in reaction to the criticism they are receiving for their double standard in regards to the auto industry and the banking industry. Obama, Geithner, et al. are nothing but stoolies for the rich greedheads on Wall Street, period. Once you accept that, everything they are doing makes sense.

[familydamato]

Geithner, Somers and the whole economic team should be asked to resign.
We need government representation for main street - not more taxpayer debt for Wall Street.
What a scam.

[OMG1109]

and where were you two on the BUSH watch.....­..sleeping like them!!!

[wagadog]

One thing was unmistakable when GM CEO resigned.

There is no doubt as to who the boss is. Obama.

He represents us, and the greater good -- not business interests.

We've seen where believing the elites of the corporations leads.

We don't have to go there any more. Of course they're squirming.

[MaxBob]

DA Comrade. He is for the little man. But, then again, he pissed off the UAW rank and file. What gives? Say it ain't so.

[missmaizeybelle]

Have you heard something from the UAW? From what I understand they are on board. Stop spreading b.s.

[breakingnews]

How many UAW rank and file do you know? 10? 20? 50? How long have you lived in Michigan and how long have you worked for one of the Big 3?

You know NOTHING of what you speak. Name your sources or shut your pie hole.

[nettyspagetti]

You reubs love quoting your idol Palin don't cha

[jeanrenoir]

This is right on target. Obama, not Rush, is the true American populist, the true representative of the interests of the mass of Americans, people like the good grandparents of Kansas who raised Obama. If Obama can actually right the American economy, his standing up to the auto industry--and the voting power of the unions in MI and OH, which have made these unions the center of the shift right in America from Wallace winning MI in '68 right down to the present--will make Obama as popular as Reagan's standing up to the Air Traffic Controllers made him Americans want real leadership in the White House. For the first time in a very long time, we've got it now. If Obama actually rights the American economy, he will be the most popular President in American history, dwarfing even the previous champ with the masses, FDR himself. Obama's sheer guts is as impressive as his sheer brains.

[McChimp]

So now the Republicans have the nerve to complain about President Obama spending money on the American people.

To quote President Obama, Show me YOUR budget!

Oh wait, you already did... the "fudgeit" that equates to nothing BUT tax cuts for the wealthy!

These Republicans need to shaddup, they spent our nation into a hole with those tax cuts for the wealthy and W's occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[MaxBob]

Your ignorant bias is showing. I know it's an oxymoron, but it fits you well.

[montecarlo408]

Forgive me if I seem a little peeved by your comments, but the GOP and their ideology has destroyed our economy and our foreign interests. They had their chance, and no one has to listen to them if they are going to spill out the same crap as a solution.

[ccpostman]

It is just the WRONG American people.

The Republicans want the "rich" American people to get ALL the money. Just like under Bush. Boy, those were the good'ol days!

[MaxBob]

The two previous Democratic President's saw their agenda swept aside early on in their tenure. Repubs grabbed power in both cases. Jimmy brought Ron and Bill brought George. Will Pres O follow the same path due to OVERREACH? We will see next year. But, Pres O's problem isn't the REPUBS, it's the DEMS in Congress. The REPUBS are irrelevant in the HOUSE and almost so in the SENATE. This will be an interesting 18 months.

[McChimp]

At least the Democrats in Congress are offering ideas to get us out of this mess, Republicans want more of the same failed economic policies that got us into this mess.

[MaxBob]

Yes. SPEND, SPEND, SPEND. As opposed to the REPUBS. CUT, CUT, CUT. A clear choice.