Detroit Three Loans

It was a different kind of auto show this year in Detroit. Gone were the celebrity presenters, the pyrotechnics, the herd of cattle escorting new pickups to the media pool. Those days are over.

Yes, there are management problems. Yes, the wage gap must be eliminated. But when it's all said and done, the product is what will make or break the Detroit Three.

Monday brought three conference calls, each about an hour, with executives from each of the Detroit Three announcing, dissecting and, most of all, spi...

The only other time the industry has seen a 3-million (or more) unit plunge was following the 1974 oil shortage.

Congress took a perverse pleasure in giving Detroit's CEOs and the UAW president the third degree -- unnecessary theater while our country suffers this economic decline.

This "agreement" is just another part of the recent "Bush/Cheney Revisionist History Farewell Tour." It was created to fail, just as long as that failure didn't happen while Bush was still president.

GM is selling off, one-by-one, piece-by-piece, memory-by-memory, the GM Heritage Collection. Finding out felt like I'd taken a punch to the gut.

Even Bush doesn't want to go down in history as the man who oversaw the destruction of GM, Ford and Chrysler (I hope), and I'd guess Obama wishes he could install his own new team now and fire Paulson.

This post has the latest news on the billions in subsidies which off-shore transplant carmakers have received from state and local governments.

Late last night, Senate Republicans derailed a bill, passed the day before by the House, to loan $15 billion to the Detroit Three, with 10 Republicans joining 40 Democrats and two Independents in favor.

And now, it's on to the Senate! The House today passed, 237 to 170, HR 7321, the automotive loan bailout bill, and has sent it on to the Senate. H...

Almost shockingly, I agree with Alabama Sen. Shelby for his warning that this $15 billion is just the "down payment" on the amounts of cash Detroit really needs, and they may all fail, anyway.

It's always nice to own part of any failing automotive giant from the last century, if the companies are still not viable three, six or even twelve months from now, what will taxpayers' ownership be worth?

Now that they have our attention, the Detroit Three, in plans submitted to Congress Tuesday, increased their appeals for federal loans from $25 billion to $34 billion.