"A new ultimatum for Detroit
.... Chrysler and GM can't be viable unless contracts with their workers and retirees are renegotiated. Likewise, the companies need their current creditors to write off debt or accept payment in stock instead.
How come that isn't good enough for you or me?
Some contracts with dealers and suppliers may be unsustainable, too. So far, the companies have not negotiated enough concessions to fix their balance sheets, but going into bankruptcy court would allow them to force the issue. Obama made it clear that bankruptcy need not mean shutting the companies down and selling off their hard assets, and the proceedings need not drag on forever....
Then why did they get $50 billion?
By rejecting the plans that GM and Chrysler submitted, Obama showed that there is a limit to his administration's patience. Both companies have been decades too slow in responding to competition and a changing energy market, and the auto industry in general has relied on its muscle in Washington to avoid pressure to modernize. Now GM and Chrysler need to show that they can change their cultures - and quickly.
--more--"
Never mind the fact that we need to change our slavish, war-worshiping, empire-building, Israeli-serving culture.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Globe was secretly wishing for the AmeriKan auto industry to die. It would weaken working people that much more. If the UAW can't survive as a union, you might as well join the baseball players because that's the only effective union left -- a MILLIONAIRES UNION!
