Bailout Watch 47: The "battery-development Gap"
Detroit steadfastly refuses to call their $25b – $50b trip to the federal begging bowl a bailout. No suprise there. Any such admission would lead to a…
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Bailout Watch 46: "The Odds Against Automakers and Suppliers Getting Federal Low-interest Loans Just Got Worse"
So proclaimeth our good friends at Automotive News. They report that “The director of the Congressional Budget Office says the cost to taxpayers of a $…
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Bailout Watch 46: Lehman Brothers Goes Down
Think GM has it bad? Or that they’re too big to fall? Think again. Lehman Brothers has just announced it’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy prote…
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Bailout Watch 45: Automotive News Has a Plan!
It’s shocking to think that The Big 2.8 is lobbying hard and fast for $50b worth of low-interest federal loans without setting forth a coherent plan fo…
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Bailout Watch 44: Oh Ricky You're So Fine, You're So Fine You Blow My Mind
Not content with one cheerleading article telling the world that GM has what it takes to turn around the sinking ship, today’s Detroit Freep Press has…
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Bailout Watch 43: GM Calls This a Plan?
As GM has singularly failed to focus on a single plan to save the artist once known as the world’s largest automaker from bankruptcy, The Detroit Free…
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Bailout Watch 42: Ford's Mulally Says "It Wazzunt Us"
Ford CEO Alan Mulally may be a Detroit “outsider,” but the former Boeing executive sure knows how to tow the Motown party line– especially…
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Bailout Watch 41: Wagoner Calls for "an Amplification of Terms"
In case you hadn’t noticed, I hate weasel words. If GM needs federal money to stay afloat, GM CEO Rick Wagoner should say it. Of course, that would ope…
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Bailout Watch 40: An Op-Ed A Day Keeps The Bill Collector Away
Hey, GM’s stock price just bounced 11 percent! Are the leaked photos of the production Volt responsible for the vote of confidence? Maybe anticipation…
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No Minivan, No Chrysler?
Chrysler’s one-time bailout fodder, the minivan, gets no love this time around. Auburn Hills plans on idling its St. Louis South minivan plant on Octob…
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Bailout Watch 39: Greenwash, Rinse and Repeat
Chrysler’s Jim Press is refining the “not a bailout” argument today, calling federal loan proposals “an acceleration of technology in…
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Pension Guaranty Agency To Sue Delphi, GM
The Pension Benefits Guarantee Corp has had enough of Delphi’s ongoing pension debacle, and has warned the GM spinoff that it would file in court to se…
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Bailout Watch 37: Dealer Or No Dealer
Automotive News (sub) reports that the National Automobile Dealers Association will not be joining the Detroit Alliance to lobby congress for bailout loans.…
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Bailout Watch 35: We Have a Deadline! And a Plan!
Automotive News reports that “For automakers to get access to up to $25 billion in low-interest loans included in the 2007 federal energy law, Con…
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Bailout Watch 34: Where's There's A Pelosi, There's A Way
All this low-interest federal loans to Detroit (a.k.a. bailout) mishegaas started as a proviso of last year’s Energy Bill. That little codicil tabled $…
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Bailout Watch 33: What Do We Get For Our Money?
Just had a quick confab with TTAC’s Deep Throat. He makes an excellent point: against what can Detroit’s automakers secure their share of the $50…
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Bailout Watch 31: Ford: The Loan That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Last Friday, at the celebration of the Model T’s 100th anniversary, Bill Ford kept referring to the $50b federal loan guarantee proposal in the most ob…
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Bailout Watch 30: Nader Votes Nay, Dooms Opposition
Ralph Nader has plenty of good reasons for opposing the $50b taxpayer bailout, sorry, “low interest federal loans” for Detroit. Namely, “de…
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Bailout Watch 29: WSJ Votes Nay. Then Aye. Then Nay.
Paul Ingrassia, former Detroit Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal (and current biz guy for same) is not happy with “the Detroit situation.”…
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Bailout Watch 28: Warren Brown Votes Aye
When we last checked-in with Washington Post columnist Warren Brown, he was showing the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid some love. Before that, he was predicting a…
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Bailout Watch 27: Obama Slams McCain for Not Supporting Motown Pork From the Git-Go
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama is running the above ad, “Revitalize,” in Michigan. Obama hopes to win votes in the key battleground state by accusing of Senator John McCain of “selling out” Michigan workers. In other words, the republican nominee didn’t support $50b in low-interest federal loans. Before he did. Of course, neither that big ass billion dollar number nor the specifics of who might get what are part of the Obama spot. For his part, McCain said… nothing. Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that the Senator from Arizona brought his freshly-minted (and minty fresh) Veep babe to The Wolverine State for a 35-minute appearance. “Surprisingly, the question of whether the government should support General Motors, Ford and Chrysler with guaranteed loans for r&d efforts did not come up during the appearance.” Hey! What about you guys asking? Anyway, John’s nothing if not a seasoned politician. “We may not agree from time to time on a specific issue until I reverse my position,” McCain said. “But I will promise you this: I will never let you down and I will always, always put my country first.” Uh-oh.
Bailout Watch 26: Feds Take Over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The Washington Post reports that Uncle Sam is set to take yank the chain of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “The government has formulated a plan to put t…
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Bailout Watch 25: Jerry Flint Votes Aye
What did you expect? Jerry Flint has been a Detroit apologist since Kennedy’s Justice Department tried to force GM to spin-off Chevrolet (if only). Sti…
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Bailout Watch 24: "The Playing Field is Not Balanced"
So writes former Chrysler outside counsel Steven Roby in a rebuttal Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times today (the original LAT Op-Ed contended that the US gover…
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Bailout Watch 23: Get Your Snouts Out of the Trough!
In the run-up to a $50b taxpayer-sponsored handout, Detroit is beginning to fret about congressional oversight/investigation (as detailed in our latest Gener…
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Bailout Watch 21: Who's Your Obama?
Bailout bucks moved one step closer to Detroit pocketbooks yesterday, as Senator Barack Obama cozied-up to pro-taxpayer-tit-sucking organized labor. Harley S…
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Bailout Watch 20: Automotive News "Include Honda and Toyota"
For some reason, Automotive News felt compelled to write an op ed on Detroit's desire to hoover-up $50b in low-interest federal loans. As you might expect,…
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Bailout Watch 19: When Do We Want It? NOW!
According to Automotive News , Motown's plans to suck $50b from the public purse to retrofit 20-year-old plants to build fuel-efficient cars are "being over…
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Bailout Watch 18: The Great White Lobbyist Hunt
I'm not sure what's scarier: a lobbyist who's a Hunter S. Thompson fan, or a lobbyist who's a Hunter S. Thompson fan who thinks that bumping into Sean Penn a…
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Bailout Watch 17: Motown to Party Like a Barack Star
The Detroit News reports that democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has launched a TV campaign in Michigan "accusing" his republican competitor of no…
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TTAC Called It: GM Turns Down $56m Tax Credits for SUV Plant
According to the AP , GM has said "no thanks" to a $56m tax credit and grant package designed to save its Moraine, Ohio SUV plant. Ohio Department of Develo…
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Bailout Watch 16: How Much Was That Again?
As Farago reported, the amount of federal money Motown would need to turn its business around– if money was, indeed, the determining factor– far…
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Bailout Watch 15: GM Back in Black by 2010
The AP reports Bob Lutz' prediction that GM will be profitable by 2010. Well, almost. "Lutz stopped short of predicting when GM would return to profitability…
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Bailout Watch 14: "Accounts of Our Imminent Demise Are Not Only Premature, but Also Inaccurate and Unsubstantiated"
Speaking at a now-standard new model private press preview (our invite got lost in the mail), GM Car Czar Bob Lutz tried to put the kibosh on speculation tha…
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CarDomain Slams TTAC
After Captain Mike today posted that he was having a difficult time merely test driving a Challenger SRT8 before putting down his hard-earned cash to buy one…
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Bailout Watch 13: One Bailout to Unite Them All
Say what you want about Detroit, it still has some class. The media may already be counting the bailout billions, but the once-big three will be waiting unti…
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Bailout Watch 12: Ford Unsure on Bailout Price Tag– "We're Still Dimensioning"
Automotive News reports that Ford execs are prowling the halls at The Democratic National Convention, drumming-up support for "A Bailout Plan By Any Other…
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Bailout Watch 11: A Bailout By Any Other Name…
In Farago's editorial about the domestic automakers' attempts to get $25b in federal loans, he stated, "it's a prelude to a kiss: the REAL bailout (in for $2…
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Bailout Watch 10: TTAC Called It– Wall Street Journal Reveals Motown's $25b Bailout Plan
And so it begins. The Wall Street Journal' s lead editorial makes it perfectly clear that Motown's plans to tap your taxes is well advanced. And guess what?…
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Bailout Watch 9: DetN Buries McCain Op Ed– $5k Fed Tax Credit for Alt. Fuel Vehicles
I'm flabbergasted. Presidential hopeful John McCain (or someone on his staff) pens an opinion piece for The Detroit News and the paper doesn't make ANY menti…
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Bailout Watch 8: Senate Dems Back Bailout
When the new energy bill mandating higher CAFE ratings came out last December, it didn't offer automakers any kind of financial assistance to meet those goal…
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Bailout Watch 7: Will Ford Bailout Go Up In a Flash of Genius?
Ignorance is a bankable commodity. When Bear Stearns stepped-up to the federal begging bowl, the average U.S. taxpayer had no idea who the Hell they were, why they needed money, and whether or not they should get it. Still doesn't. But if/when Ford eventually asks Uncle Sam to open your purse, it may not have what you'd call a winning plot line. Ford's good will with the public has often gone up in smoke (Pinto) or rolled over and died (Explorer). There's another PR debacle looming over the horizon: Flash of Genius. The movie paints a bleak moral picture of the artist once known as the inventor of the working class hero-mobile. We'll be sure to explore whether or not it's accurate in future posts. Meanwhile, make no mistake: it doesn't matter. Except that it does. And will. [thanks to katiepuckrick for the tip]
Bailout Watch 6: Freddy, Fannie and Detroit
In his most recent GM Deathwatch, RF raised the specter of "Bailout Fatigue." The Detroit News' Gordon Trowbridge agrees. Their man in Washington says to the…
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Bailout Watch 5: Obama– "GM Would Thrive Under the Right Policies"
Does that include big-ass tax credits for Chevy's plug-in hybrid electric – gas Volt? Federal loan guarantees? I'm thinking… yes. But Barack ain…
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Bailout Watch 4: McCain on Detroit Bailout– "I'm Afraid Not"
Whatever else you can say about White House hopeful John McCain– and you're going to say lots– the guy's got a set. Followers of our E85 coverage…
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Bailout Watch 3: Hillary Offers Industry Bailout
The Toledo Blade reports that Hillary Clinton has gone on the record saying that "if confronted with the prospect of a bankruptcy by General Motors or Ford,…
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Bailout Watch 2: Energy Bill (a.k.a. The Great Detroit Bailout) is Good to Go
After stripping-out an alt energy directive to America's power providers, removing new taxes on oil companies and upping the ethanol mandate to 36b gallons b…
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Bailout Watch 1: Energy Bill Earmarked $25b for Big 2.8 "Re-Tooling"
Since the Energy Bill was first mooted, TTAC warned its readers to read the fine print. Detroit's support for the legislation was a sure sign it contained…
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