Huckleberries Online

GM, Chrysler Face Bankruptcy

Posted by DFO

March 30, 2009 2:01 p.m. • 11 comments

Item: Frustrated Americans cheer Obama’s tough auto moves/Reuters

More Info: Obama forced out General Motors chief executive Rick Wagoner, pushed Chrysler LLC toward a merger with Italy’s Fiat SpA, and threatened bankruptcy for both, marking an escalation in Washington’s involvement in rescuing the faltering economy. Skeptics asked whether it was an early sign of a more activist administration or an isolated example. GM shares tumbled 30 percent on the news and the Dow Jones Industrial average sank nearly 4 percent. Rxperts called it potentially the most significant presidential intervention in the private sector since Harry Truman tried to seize the steel industry during the Korean War in 1952, only to be rebuffed by the Supreme Court.

Question: Do you support President Obama’s get-tough approach to the auto industry, which could include letting GM & Chrysler go bankrupt?

11 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

JBelle on March 30 at 2:15 p.m.
One word on this development:

boorah!
moscow_minidoka on March 30 at 2:18 p.m.
I wish he’d gotten tougher on the financial sector, in all honesty. But I’m really taking a “patience” approach with everything that’s happening. Too many people are panicking, too many people are rushing to judgment.
hmoffsuite on March 30 at 5:11 p.m.
I support his approach and hope he carries it thru to the unions. Obviously, by getting rid of Wagoner, the automakers have been deeply affected and the unions should be also. I don’t like the signal it sets that the government can tell businesses who they can choose to run their businesses. But, in the case of GM, getting gov’t money, it is somewhat justifiable, I spose. Lets see if Gettelfinger gets the same treatment as Wagoner.
Nick_Adams on March 30 at 7:35 p.m.
I’m a little disappointed that Obama has taken such a tough stance against the auto manufacturers, whilst inviting Wall Street honchos to lunch. It feels like a double-standard. I’m not apologizing for the bad decisions that the GM & Chrysler have made, but I wish that Obama would take the same approach to the d-bags running the banks and investment firms.

Of course, when you have a bunch of Wall Streeters on your economic team—and a very few folks with a manufacturing background—I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise. Still it’s dissapointing and I expected more from a President whom I genuinely believe has an affinity for working class folks.

I also find it ironic that many of the folks out there who defend the AIG bonuses because “we’re a nation of laws and contracts are sacrosanct” are now encouraging the complete dismantling of labor contracts. Hypocrisy much?
hmoffsuite on March 30 at 7:44 p.m.
Nick. On that very subject …..

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Workers-say-Obama-treated-apf-14789941.html
cantyoureadthesigns on March 30 at 8:04 p.m.
Shuffling the deck chairs on the US of A Titanic.

“As GM goes, so goes the country.”

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.