The government would order a major restructuring of Detroit’s struggling Big Three auto companies in exchange for a multibillion-dollar bailout under a plan circulating in Congress.
Skeptical lawmakers are weighing whether to dole out as much as $34 billion in aid to the automakers as the once-mighty companies make their second round of pleas for government help to keep them from collapsing by year’s end and potentially deepening an already painful recession.
With several lawmakers in both parties pressing them to consider a pre-negotiated bankruptcy – something they have consistently shunned – members of Congress and the Big Three both were contemplating a government-run restructuring that would yield similar results, including massive downsizing and labor givebacks.
Obviously I haven’t seen the bill, but this story makes it seem like the worst of both worlds. Not enough money to effectively bailout three giant corporations, and seemingly unlimited oversight from 535 “board members” with no idea of how to run an automobile business.
And do you really see Congress axing thousands of dealers around the country, eliminating 8.5 car brands, or busting the UAW? Because until those things happen, Detroit cannot and will not recover, no matter how many billions Washington tosses its way.
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