Comments on: Bailout Watch 250: Sound and Fury

By: Robert Schwartz

Robert Schwartz — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:32:04 +0000

SexCpotatoes: “RedStapler: I predict one day.”

That Long?

By: SexCpotatoes

SexCpotatoes — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:45:45 +0000

RedStapler: I predict one day.

By: RedStapler

RedStapler — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:01:37 +0000

I wonder how long it will take for the “secret” 80 page plan to leak?

By: TaurusGT500

TaurusGT500 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:01:01 +0000

(the joys of having a public turnaround plan and private for-pols-eyes only plan).

We had a public-private deal go down this past year here in Detroit. …didn’t turn out so well for everyone.

The former mayor had a public deal in a large whistleblower lawsuit settlement – as well as a private-hush money-bury the evidence kinda deal off to the side.

(…and for the literalists out there I do realize this isn’t exactly the same thing as Ronnie and Ricky are doing)

…but Kwame is in prison today as a result. ….just saying.

By: TexN

TexN — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:43:53 +0000

Ed,
I’m guessing you will hear the words “too big to fail”, “catastrophic”, and “3 million jobs will be lost” during the coming week. The fear-mongering coming out of Detroit is sickening.
Tex

By: Ed S.

Ed S. — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:35:34 +0000

It concerns me to hear rumors about likely D2.8 plans which do not include the words “pre-packaged” and “bankruptcy” anywhere. If it were a real option for them there is no way they could have kept it a secret, especially GM.

By: AndrewDederer

AndrewDederer — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:22:19 +0000

While it makes for nice headlines (especially if you want to bash the opposition’s base), the jobs bank is only a symptom not a cause of Detroit’s ruin.

Plenty of their competition have programs that pay core assemblers when the plant is idle. The problem with the jobs bank is that it is set up as if the 3 were still growing (and thus opening new plants). Instead of shuffling employees into new positions, it just adds cost to shinking capacity.

The problem with the “bank” is the same as having too many brands and dealers, it’s the result of a refusal to deal with market reality. Worse, because the 3 never shrunk to a sustainable size, they have never been able to stop the rot.