Wall Street Journal — Auto Maker Bankruptcy Looms
It might be too late for GM and Chrysler, due to submit survival plans to the White House today. Bankruptcy may now be the only way put for the automakers who borrowed $19 billion from taxpayers last year in a bid to survive.
Writes David Stoll and Monica Langley explain how the Obama administration’s auto point man – labor negotiator Ron Bloom – will be wringing major concessions from workers but mostly management as part of a restructuring – perhaps the same kind of controlled-burn bankruptcy the Bush administration had discussed.
“On Monday, GM’s bondholder committee delivered a “framework” for a new debt structure, one person close to the committee said. Late Monday afternoon, talks between the UAW and both GM and Chrysler were also making some progress as the parties hammered out cost-reduction details. But people familiar with the talks said significant differences remain between the sides.
The car companies must submit their proposals by 5 p.m. Tuesday to James Lambright, chief investment officer for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.”
Car czar decision has critics revved up
s the survival plans from GM and Chrysler come in today, so is the political fallout from the head-fakes and delays from the White House – specifically Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Rust-belt Democrats and business leaders are mad because of the shifting priorities of the auto bailout which lost the czar concept in favor of a committee approach and late in providing promised new specifications for deal approval.
Writer Carrie Budoff Brown gives an insightful guide to how things changed.
“This was a different approach from what Obama had suggested. He began floating the idea of a car czar during his first post-election meeting with then-President George W. Bush. At the Nov. 10 meeting, according to a readout released by the transition team, Obama urged help for automakers that included ‘identifying someone in charge of the auto issue who would have the authority to bring about the reforms that would lead to an economically viable auto industry.’”
Wall Street Journal — Obama Strategy: Keep Lawmakers Close
It seemed that during the stimulus process, the Obama White House had simply turned the duty of bill drafting over to Congress, leaving the president to take responsibility for a bill he didn’t create.
Writers Jonathan Weisman and Naftali Bendavid, though, show us otherwise. In looking at the administration’s ties on the Hill, Weisman and Bendavid found that the administration had worked hand-in-glove with Congressional Democrats.
“Unlike Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both former governors, former Sen. Obama didn’t arrive at the White House with his own state government in exile, but with a staff and cabinet filled with congressional veterans. The style he employed to pass the stimulus emerges from the staff and cabinet he hired from Capitol Hill, with decades of combined congressional experience.
Politically, it might have been useful to blame congressional Democrats for the growth of the stimulus package as it wound through the legislative process. But senior White House aides said administration officials were present when most of those key decisions were made.”
Washington Post — After Stimulus Battle, Liberals Press Obama
Liberal Democrats are feeling pretty good today as President Obama prepares to sign a spending bill that rolls out more money for social programs, domestic works projects, and other favored causes than we spent on a decade of fighting Vietnam (inflation adjusted).
But they’re kind of maudlin too. After all, if much bipartisanship wasn’t possible, why didn’t Democrats go for a bigger package? Their friends in the White House tell liberal leaders that this is a start not a finish, but the old suspicions remain.
Writer Alec MacGillis shows what liberals wanted to see in this package and what they learned for the next round of Obama legislatio.
“Some say Obama must aim higher next time, so that compromises produce a more satisfactory result. Some say he needs to take greater control of drafting legislation, instead of leaving it to Democratic congressional leaders, and needs to adopt a harder line with Republican legislators. And some say liberals and pro-Democratic interest groups such as labor unions must do a better job of pressuring moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats to back the president.”
Chicago Tribune — Burris inquiries urged
Sen. Roland Burris’ evolving definitions of disclosure have so alarmed Illinois Democrats that they are joining the chorus of state GOPers calling for a further probe of the new senator’s relationship with Rod Blagojevich.
At stake is one of at least 10 Senate seats that will be hotly contested next year. If Illinois Dems can’t utrun the odor of Blago and Burris, it will give Republicans a chance to swipe the seat. Nor will a Burris breakdown help the Democratic brand in general since party elders embraced him as an appropriate pick.
Writers Rick Pearson, John Chase and Ray Long helpfully break down exactly where the Burris-Blago mess stands.
“Burris has maintained there was nothing inconsistent between his testimony before state lawmakers and a recently filed affidavit outlining more extensive contact with Blagojevich insiders than he had previously disclosed. But Illinois Republicans pressed their call for a perjury investigation by the county prosecutor in Springfield and on Monday, Democrats expressed increasing discomfort over Burris’ evolving explanation of efforts to get the seat.”
New York Times – Obama Gains GOP Support from Governors
Though she resisted mightily, write Jackie Calmes finally explained why it is that four Republican governors supported President Obama on the stimulus bill while no Republican members of the house did.
Sure, the front-page Times story makes you think that it’s a deep ideological split in the party. But then Calmes wipes it all away. It turns out that the governors want free money too.
“Utah’s Republican governor, Jon Huntsman Jr. sought up to $14.4 billion for roads, rail and sewer projects and for construction of a prison, courthouses and veterans’ nursing homes. Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama, another Republican, came to Washington to discuss transportation projects with his state’s Congressional delegation. ‘He’s going to make sure Alabama doesn’t miss out on the money we’re entitled to,” a spokesman said.’”
