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blog.glodb.com
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One country, so many clunkers: The U.S. government-sponsored “cash for clunkers” program has come to a halt after six short days of enticing car owners to sacrifice their gas-guzzling relics to the scrap-heap gods and drive off in newer, greener models.
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Flickr / Franco Folini
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What exactly does an executive have to do to not get a golden parachute? Former GM CEO Rick Wagoner ran the company into the ground, and will now retire with $8.6 million for his trouble. That figure was negotiated down from the $23 million the old pre-bankrupt GM would have had to pay Wagoner. Sorry Rick, but it’s a rough economy.
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Flickr / dok1
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The Supreme Court has put the brakes on President Obama’s plans to bail out the auto industry, ordering a stay of the sale of Chrysler to Fiat. Before the ruling, the administration said blocking the deal would have “grave consequences” for Chrysler. Also, it could threaten the government’s plans for the much larger and more complicated GM. Update
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By William Pfaff — I wonder what my father would have thought of the self-destruction of General Motors. We were a General Motors family, but not a happy one.
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By Eugene Robinson — With GM’s bankruptcy filing on Monday, we the people have become majority owners of a museum-quality piece of industrial history.
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Flickr / gotplaid?
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GM’s restructuring plan will make the Treasury Department the majority owner of the company, according to Bloomberg. The administration reportedly intends to take as passive a role as possible and will not appoint anyone to the automaker’s board, thereby avoiding the danger that something competent might happen.
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By Marie Cocco — This is how it ends. Or at least, this is how the latest, sad chapter in a story that has been ending for three decades is written.
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Flickr / alvy
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Here’s the thing about eco-friendly hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius—they’re quiet. Too quiet, if you ask the National Federation of the Blind. Luckily, Sens. John Kerry and Arlen Specter have penned the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 to address the problem.
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Flickr / Dr. Keats
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The Treasury Department has cut a deal with the United Auto Workers to send Chrysler into bankruptcy while protecting retiree benefits, The New York Times reports. Fiat would be in a more favorable position to take a cut of the company once it’s in bankruptcy. Chrysler’s equity stakeholders are shaping up as the big losers in all of this.
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Flickr / dogonthesidewalk
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GM has until June 1 to cut a deal with its workers and bondholders, but the Treasury Department is requiring the automaker to prepare for bankruptcy just in case, according to The New York Times. Newly installed GM chief Fritz Henderson is more receptive to the possibility than his predecessor, but warns, “If we need to resort to bankruptcy, we have to do it quickly.”
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Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons —
Posted on Apr 1, 2009
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Flickr / richardefreeman
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The Obama administration auto task force has sent both GM and Chrysler back to the drawing board, turning down requests for additional loans until the companies come up with more realistic restructuring plans. The government will prop up GM for two months while the automaker tries again. Chrysler has 30 days.
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Flickr / Smith
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If GM strikes out in Washington, the automaker could take its troubles to Europe, the second continent where it has asked for a bailout. That’s because GM operates plants in six European countries, to the tune of 300,000 jobs. The company is hoping for good news, especially since its auditors announced it may not survive much longer.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — It makes sense to prop up ailing carmakers. Allowing GM and Chrysler to go bankrupt could be a triggering event that might make a very bad economy much worse.
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truckend.com
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General Motors, recipient of the 2009 “Nation’s Most Resistant-to-Change Company That Still Gets Federal Assistance” award, wants more. The auto giant on Wednesday asked for $16.6 billion in loans, on top of the $13.4 billion already granted. All this amid GM plans to shed 47,000 jobs worldwide.
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Flickr/takomabibelot
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President Barack Obama called for tougher regulations on auto emissions on Monday, promising not to let a sour economy stand in the way of progress. “I want to be clear from the beginning of this administration that we have made our choice: America will not be held hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes and a warming planet,” he said during a meeting with environmentalists in the White House’s East Room.
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By Amy Goodman — Fifty million Americans are without health insurance, and 25 million are “underinsured.” Millions being laid off will soon be added to those rolls. At this perilous moment, we need sweeping New Deal-caliber changes, not the impotent tinkering that has been proposed.
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Flickr / tomsaint11
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Barack Obama wants to spend as much as a trillion dollars on the nation’s infrastructure, from roads to bridges. A video on his transition Web site even touts the economic advantages of fixing potholes. Why so car-centric? A new article in the Washington Monthly claims that spending some of that money on rail lines instead of roads could pay dividends.
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Aislin, The Montreal Gazette —
Posted on Dec 19, 2008
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By Eugene Robinson — Despite the popular myth, lemmings don’t really hurl themselves off a cliff to reduce their numbers. That sort of behavior is seen only among Republicans in the Senate, who gave us a demonstration when they torpedoed legislation to bail out the auto industry.
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By Joe Conason — Nearly every current poll shows that most Americans oppose federal assistance to the auto industry, but legislators should also consider how voters would feel if the nation suffered the full consequences of a cratering auto industry—and if those voters then found out that the facts were not quite what they seemed to be.
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New York Times / Stephen Crowley
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Agreement has been reached between the White House and congressional Democrats to offer the U.S. auto industry a $14 billion emergency package aimed at keeping the Big Three going until spring. Also, in the grand tradition of state socialism, the deal includes a new auto “czar” to oversee the restructuring of Detroit.
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By Marie Cocco — As Congress and the White House lurch toward possible approval of a loan package for the crippled auto industry, we are undoubtedly in store for more union-bashing.
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Flickr / Franco Folini
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As congressional leaders, the White House and President-elect Obama came to terms with a $15-billion loan package for the auto industry, Sen. Chris Dodd suggested Sunday that not all executives should stick around to spend that money. GM CEO Rick Wagoner “has to move on,” the senator declared on “Face the Nation.”
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Flickr / SteelCityHobbies
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The auto industry bailout would have no chance of passing without the muscle of the Big Three’s unionized work force. Yet you can’t turn around without hearing someone trash autoworkers for the terrible crime of trying to earn a decent living.
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By Eugene Robinson — The Big Three left Capitol Hill empty-handed, but they’re bound to get some kind of federal help, however grudging. In the end, I don’t think either George W. Bush or Barack Obama wants to be remembered as the president who lost the auto industry.
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Flickr / Center for American Progress Action Fund
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House Democrats are serious about going green. To prove it, they just ousted auto hawk John Dingell from his perch as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rep. Henry Waxman, a California liberal and occasional Dingell foe, supplied the boot.
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AP photo / Carlos Osorio
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By Titus Levi — There’s no guarantee that a bailout would save the incompetently managed American automobile industry. However, doing nothing may be worse, especially for the state of Michigan.
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washingtonpost.com
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Republican Sen. Richard Shelby seems to be one of the only real capitalists left on Capitol Hill. The Alabaman argued Wednesday that U.S. auto firms should be left to the realities of the market, letting companies like Ford, GM and Chrysler go bankrupt and forcing the failing industry to carry out what Shelby believes are much-needed reforms.
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Flickr / SteelCityHobbies
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The chief executives of the Big Three American car companies head to Washington Tuesday along with the head of the United Auto Workers to beg Congress for a bailout that seems less and less probable.
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Flickr / gmeurope
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Forget houses, John and Cindy McCain have 13 cars to Barack and Michelle Obama’s one. McCain would point out that most of the vehicles are in his wife’s name, but still, you can’t call the other guy an elitist when you sleep with one.
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Flickr / jslander
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Starting with 2009 models, new cars in California will sport a sticker that rates just how environmentally friendly they are, based on emissions and fuel economy. Not to be outdone, the European Union might require governments to monetize and budget for emissions.
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Flickr / BBQ Junkie
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Here’s a little something to get that dad or grad you may have missed these last couple of weeks: Honda is rolling out the first commercially available hydrogen fuel-cell car. They get great mileage, emit only water vapor and run real smooth, provided they don’t Hindenburg. True to form, some Southern Californians are already on the waiting list.
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Alen Lauzan Falcon, Cagle Cartoons —
Posted on Jan 22, 2008
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Alen Lauzan Falcon —
Posted on Sep 21, 2007
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theponderingamerican.blogspot.com
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The Vatican has come up with “Ten Commandments” for drivers, warning that cars can be “an occasion of sin.” The document recommends prayer for surviving the road in good physical and spiritual condition, especially saying the rosary while driving because its “rhythm and gentle repetition does not distract the driver’s attention.”
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autointell.de
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The higher cost of hybrid cars is worth it in the long run, according to a comprehensive new study. When considering not just fuel economy but insurance, maintenance, depreciation and other factors, a Toyota Prius owner can expect to save $13,408 over five years, compared with a non-hybrid in the same class.
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Illustration: Blair Golson
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The Brazilian city becomes the third at least the fourth worldwide (after Mexico City, Tokyo and Cairo) to mandate female-only cars during rush hour—to guard against gropers and harassment. But many consider the law a major step backward for women’s rights.
(thanks to reader Hilary Tate for the correction)
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Too Soon to Tell: The Case for Hope, Continued
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