wow..i would love for condition 3, and ESPECIALLY 2 to get into the finalized bill. Condition 1 is kinda a slap in the face of reality if you ask me.

1) we, just like everyone else, can't sell cars right now because there is no viable market. (IT has been reduced by almost 40% from normal selling volumes)
2) we have until march 31st to basically sell a boat load of cars, and repay the loans
3) there's very little likelihood the economy will recover that fast
4) i think we get the picture...back to where we are in December of 2008.

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It's a stupid plan, you don't cross the unions (mob) unless you want to end up dead.

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And We know what happened to THAT British Mess of a Car Company...

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This is a pretty good plan as it gives incentives for all parties to reach a deal. Just a few quick hits: The moment those parties agree to the equity part of the deal (bondholders, VEBA), they would have won already because the news will boost the stock value, and it would have fed unto itself. Debt for equity is a commonly used vehicle during a financial restructuring, and have great success track record. All parties now have huge incentives to ensure long term success. Lastly, it doesn't create all the other distractions (like green mandates, etc. etc) that a straight bail out will have.

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Is there anyone with 3 functioning brain cells who doesn't already believe that the Big 1.8 brands (omitting Ford here) aren't irreparably hosed by this muckraking?

I mean, car nuts already knew that, with few exceptions, the products were total crap. How do you think the average car buyer is reacting to all this. My gut says that Asian automakers have even brighter futures than they did before this began.

It is over! Only Ford survives as a viable maker of "American" autos.

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You bet your ass they will! I am a UAW worker at Chrysler. I went through the recession of 1979 & lost my job along with all my seniority. When I got called back 8 yrs later, I had to start all over again. They did not have 401k back then so alot of us don"t have much there. Now that I am reaching retirement age it looks as though it will all be pulled out from under me again. As for the idea of UAW members giving up concessions for this to pass is a stupid idea. You have no idea what we have already given up. $78 an hour?! No way! Our hourly wage is already the same as the foreign car makers. They figure our benefits in to come up with that $78 figure. We have given up so much of our insurance now that if they take any more we will not have any. My sister works for a little school corporation & has better insurance then I do. We think the CEO's should be giving up some of their wages, not the middle class worker who has already given up concessions til they bleed. Would Mr. Corker like to give up his retirement for the ailing economy? Didn't think so. Did you know that any new hire that comes into our factory in the future will only make $14 an hour with no pension? The foreign car companies pay $ 26 an hour. This is in no way in line with them. Further more this is a loan NOT a bailout! The auto companies have to pay this back. When Chrysler borrowed money in 1979 to avoid having to close it's doors, they paid it back early & the government made alot of money in that deal. Would I be willing to give anything up as a concession? Yes, but not my base pay or my pension or my insurance. We do have so called benefits that some of us are not even aware we have, don't use them & don't need them. Like our UAW lawyers for one. We can afford to have to pay for wills to be drawn & other small stuff that they do. And speaking of pensions, the idea to fund the Veba ( which is the retirement fund) with stocks instead of cash? How ludicrous is that!? Look what happened to the stock market! We could all lose that pension in a blink of the eye.Then we would be a burden on the taxpayers that have to pay for us to live. This man is a long way from smart! As for the post about UAW coming back down to earth where the rest of you are. With the cost of living that keeps going up, you should be outraged that the minimum wage is not being raised. Why would you want our wages to come down instead of your wages going up? You must also be from Tenn.

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@Richard

I was talking with my aunt and uncle at a family gathering this past weekend. My uncle drives a Chevrolet, and my aunt has both a Toyota and a Buick. Neither one of them are "in the know" as far as automotive things go. They, like alot of people, don't really do a whole lot of research when buying a new car. They just test drive a few different cars, and buy whichever one suits their fancy.

They were asking me about "this whole bailout thing", because they know I'm a car-nut, and that I follow this stuff. They have been watching the news, and they both said they had no idea that American cars had such a negative stigma attached to them, and asked me why this was so.

I proceeded to tell them that the "Big 3" made some questionable decisions in the past, and released a few turkeys. To which my uncle replied, "like the Vega?" (he used to own one). I then proceeded to tell them about all of the clueless lemmings out there that still believe that Asian cars are somehow far superior in every way, and still think that American cars are "crap". You know, the people who would trip over eachother to buy a Yugo if it had a Toyota badge affixed to it.

This got me to thinking. Ya know, if I didn't read all of these car magazines, and read all of these automotive related web-sites, I would probably have no idea that American cars were percieved to be inferior. I have had several different makes of cars, both Japanese and American, and, to be completely honest, none of them were better than the other. Oh yes, I will admit that the interior in my old Scion TC was MUCH better than the interior in my '82 Cutlass that I had in high school. As far as reliability is concerned, I really haven't had any major problems with any of my cars, and I tend to put ALOT of miles on my vehicles.

I know there are people that have had bad experiences with American cars, but I also know alot of people that have had bad experiences with Asian cars aswell, especailly Toyotas.

I will admit that there are some current new cars from the Big 3 that just don't stack up, like the Aveo, Cobalt (excluding the SST), American market Focus, and pretty much ALL of Chrysler cars, but none of these cars are inherently "bad" or "crap", they are just lackluster in their class, but still reliable transportation.

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the only way these can happen is through bankruptcy restructuring.

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"The "new Knight Rider" is horrible.

What I hope is that the production values will be just as good, or better.
Did you see the fox hunt on the last Top Gear?

(Above, I meant to say that Stromer was the one cast to get the women viewers. This concept already killed the "new Knight Rider" with its laborious melodramatic "overplot" having to do with "relationship issues". Does anything blow up, make a loud noise or go fast without a kiss a bucket of love sickness and a breakup anymore?).

John",

Are you just an addicted blogger or do you have a real concern for the workers in this country, besides actors?

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Workers are not served well by the UAW. Look at how it destroyed their future.
Note that the only workers with a future in the industry right now work for non-union plants; but I am sure that is "Bush's fault" or something like that.

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That big Dick, Shelby apparently wants to refight the Civil War. Maybe he thinks it will turn out differently now that the South has some factories. Well, just like 150 years ago the South doesn't really own factories, most of those plants are owned by foreign concerns, but they think they're an industrial power now.

It appears that big Dick is more of a pussy, since his threatened filibuster never materialized. Now that Corker (another southerner with foreign owned plants in his state) has proposed something that Detroit might be able to work with, the big Dick won't be able to foam at his crooked mouth about my supposedly lazy, incompetent neighbors.

The big Dick, Shelby is not to be trusted. He was a Democrat but switched parties out of political convenience when the Republicans took control of the Senate after the 1994 midterm elections, most likely so he could get plum committee assignments. So much for the will of the voters.

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Have these politicians ever run a business? If they pre-emptively repay their loans and bonds over the next few months, they are not going to have enough money to run the company. How would they convert that debt to equity? By issuing the creditors stock instead of cash payments?

What they are asking is really not possible; it puts them into a cash-starved situation that would possibly make them bankrupt. This only helps the creditors, who would be mostly paid off and thus have a much lower risk of losing their money.

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@Patrick:
yes, you'd issue equity in exchange for restructuring debt to bondholders. It's a very commonly used method. As a matter of fact, wholesale, whole company, debt for equity is outlined in section 363 of ch. 11, thus providing transaction speed, transfer of assets, contracts, etc. He is not proposing 363, but the plan would balance out the need to renegotiate debt terms, existing shareholders equity, company's reputation, and renegotiations of contract.

This is essentially as closed as you get to a government financed pre-packaged restructuring. My only concern is $15B only give them 3 months to renegotiate all this.

By the way, I do not buy for one second that the "stigma" of bankruptcy would drive customers away, if explained properly and the public is convince of the long-term viability of the restructured company. In any way, wouldn't the stigma of having to beg for a bail-out along with all its uncertain outcomes, as it's happening now, do more damage to consumer confidence?

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