Commander-Less-Chief
Today the heads of the US auto companies will grovel before Congress in hopes of securing Government financing. The rhetoric leading into today’s testimony was not very promising as political “leaders” were positioning themselves like Pontius Pilot is said to have once done. Where is our President in all this mess? It looks like we have a “commander-less-chief” in charge.
There are certain traits about the Big 3 crisis that are similar to other Bush leadership demonstrations. He started the Iraq invasion and occupation and has left it for his successor to extract the US from this dead end street. He has opened the torture can of worms and doubled down with Guantanamo (the US version of the old Soviet Gulag), and has left both for the next President to figure a way out. And with similar “what me worry” style, Bush has driven the US economy into its worst state since the Great Depression, and, yes, is leaving it for the next President.
The automotive industry is simply too important to the overall US economy to be left to go bankrupt. At a very minimum there should be a “bridge loan” until the Obama Administration can factor automotive help in with all the other needs. What is needed now is some creativity on where the money will come from and what collateral should secure the loan.
While I maintain that any path forward should involve
- GM – new chairman and CEO, new Board, new Union contract, new Dealer network.
- Ford – new Board (elimination of Ford family influence), new Union contract, new Dealer network
- Chrysler – forced orderly sale of business should financing not last.
I am comfortable with these steps being imposed in January or February when the Obama Administration begins. It is time, however, for President Bush to report for duty, and ensure that the automotive companies survive until the next Administration takes office.
This entry was posted on December 4, 2008 at 11:40 am and is filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, George Bush, Politics, Republican Party. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: automotive industry, bail out, big 3, chrysler, failed presidency, ford, general motors, rick wagner
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