Does the white house have a response to this?

Appoint Brownie...he did a heckava job with Katrina

Perfect choice !!

We don't need Bush appointing Karl Rove to this post !!

Give Volcker a mandate to 'green' the auto companies and well as making them viable

They should agree to raise CAFE standards
They should guarantee that autos will be produced in the US, not overseas


How about our Chinatown subway, Nancy ?
Are you gonna get that funded ?
How about extending it down Columbus Avenue and Geary Blvd ??
Green and job producing !!

Let's show America 'San Francisco Values' !!!

If I'm George W. Bush I'm going to go out of office surprising everyone with some of the most unbelievable moves made by a U.S. president on this planet.

Hey George, it's almost time to run the table on the Democrats. With Cheney at your side, certainly a gift of change would be welcomed by the Chosen One, but let's make this change one that will ruffle the feathers of Democrats forever, leaving Pelosi and Reid on medication and Barney Frank in jail. You do know where I'm going with this. I got the idea from Boston Legal last night. Reverse the tables and remember, YOU'RE still the leader of the free world, not Barack Obama.

The whole idea of a "Car Czar" is politically insane. The big banks or the large insurance companies did not need one! Then there should be a "Bank Czar," and an "Insurance Czar." So why does the auto indsustry need a czar?? The "double-standard" here is just an obvious joke! The big bankers are just so trustworthy, and they have great political "friends." Anyone continue to see a real economic "double-standard" here yet America?? I do.  

Before I forget - David Shuster did a great job last night on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Arianna Huffington - Love her.

Ron Howard - Looking forward to seeing his movie. Apollo 11 is in my top five movies of all time.

Paul Rieckhoff & Jon Soltz - no one has moved me more these past few years than these two gentleman. I'm so grateful MSNBC continues to have them on as guests.

I feel much more at peace knowing my very young family member, who is in Iraq, is being watched over by these two veterans and their organizations.  

Now that Governor Blagojevich is out of the running, I would suggest Al Franken, who I hope is available very soon.

Why Al?  Well, because he's good enough, he's smart enough and doggone it, people like him.

And he probably knows little or nothing about the car business.

Pelosi is right. We need the CAR CZAR in place before a dime is spent by the auto industry. Volker is as good as anyone for the position.

Paul Volcker would be a good choice...but isn't the real issue about the role of the Federal Government in the auto industry?  One one extreme is the Free Market approach...if they make poor quality cars, let them fail.  The other extreme is for the government to take over the auto industry.  No one likes either extreme to we are coming up with something that will likely be doomed for failure, even if we throw lots of money at it.  Nobel economist Paul Krugman is probably right, the auto industry as we know it will not survive. Can the government get those "shovel ready" jobs in place so auto workers can still find work?  Personally, I hope so, but realistically, I doubt if those shovel ready jobs will be ready in time.  

Maybe we should just appoint the war czar as the car czar.  It probably wouldn't make much difference, anyway, and since we really need to save money right now, we'd only have to replace one letter on the name plate.  

I love energy conservation and fiscal responsibility, don't you?

MSierra:

Thanks for confirming that San Francisco values require federal funding.

MSierra:

I forgot to add "from your homegrown Queen of Pork".

How about this?  Every "response" for every problem in the "big 3" for 30 - 40 years has been lay off Americans, out source, and send work over seas.  If this "bailout" crap is because these companies are "TOO BIG TO FAIL" and would crush the US economy. . . then the condition of the "loans" (ha ha, good luck getting it back, ever) should be: No US facility, or worker, can be idled, closed, or laid off as long as the company has a foriegn source, subsidiary, or source still active?

Tah-Dah a bailout that would ACTUALLY HELP OUR ECONOMY!  So you knwo there will be no action in that direction.

Good to see the "Corrupt Republicans" getting nailed, like barfojevik in IL and "cold cash" in LA.

Yikes! I meant Apollo XIII.

Whether Volcker or some other person it is time that there be some accountability for any entity that receives money from the taxpayers to bail them out. "Accountability" has been poorly lacking not just in private enterprise but in government as well. I for one want some accountability for the auto makers, banks and insurance companies who are using a portion of my money to stay alive. If you borrow money there are stipulations you have to meet with the lender. By God it is time that those borrowing money from you (the taxpayer) have similar stipulations or accountability. This should not just apply to those in the private sector receiving taxpayer dollars but the federal government as well where millions of dollars are wasted in various poorly run government agencies and programs. Volcker can be hired to watch over the auto industries but who is going to be hired to watch over Congress and the various federal programs. Who is going to say NO to wasteful government spending? We need a Federal and State Government Czar as well.  

AUTO INDUSTRY ‘Car Czar/Bridge Loan’ 1) In ALL the coverage, I never hear anything about the Japanese car-makers’ (possibly others) enjoying government subsidized R&D for decades, while the domestics fully carried this burden as well as healthcare costs for employees! 2) The notion (advanced by media pundits) that the transplant factories will “absorb lost GM/Ford/Chrysler jobs” in the event of a bankruptcy is absolutely FALSE and historically inaccurate. The anti-union transplant corporations routinely opt to train ‘new employees’ at considerable expense; while  experienced/already-trained (former) UAW applicants are NEVER considered for these employment opportunities. 3) Mandatory! (UAW President) Ron Gettlefinger’s recommendation -- moving forward -- is that before an ‘auto-czar’ intervenes, there MUST BE an opportunity for ALL “players” [corporate/dealers/supplier industry/labor], to work together, setting new goals and an agenda, pursuant to re-structuring for future success in the domestic auto industry. 4) As a self-professed “car guy” it has been gut-wrenching for me to watch 79-year-old Robert Lutz (our industry’s foremost “car guy”) forced to his knees in interviews with news people who “haven’t a clue” about cars OR the industry -- trying to explain/defend GM’s recent engineering advances and decision to bring to USA showrooms, GM-Opel’s world leading product line of sporty and fuel-efficient passenger cars. Think: Chevy Malibu or Saturn Aura. 5) Any legislation that obligates taxpayers to help the domestic Big Three (particularly GM), SHOULD BE contingent on ‘investment’ being 100% restricted to concerns within the continental US -- NOT overseas operations; NOT supplier or assembly operations in Mexico OR Canada!

CZAR?  This is not mother RUSSIA, so drop the CZAR label.

Paul Volcker? You mean to tell me he knows the auto industry??  Yeah right!!! I work at GM and I trust Rick Wagner.  Keep all the pot licking donut breath guys in the cigar room. We need car people! Rick is one of the best ever..

GM has more fuel effiecient cars that TOYOTA or HONDA!!! The Cobalt XFE gets 37 MPG highway fully equipped at under $18 thousand. HHR 30,Malibu hybrid 34,Grand Prix 30,Impala 30,Aveo 30, etc.          WHEN YOU BUY AMERICAN YOU SUPPORT AMERICA!!!!
After the 9/11 attack the American Auto Industry and Harley Davidson donated $40 million in vehicles.  How much did the Japs and Europeans donate??  0 nothing NADA zilch.

My question is:  Will the company who doesn't take/need the government's loan suffer (competitively) somehow because they are running a more successful business than the other two?  In the world of free enterprise, the one "successful" company (if you can call it that in this case) would survive and the other two would perish, making the survivor even more successful.  It kind of seems like a monopoly game in which the loser keeps getting free money from the bank to stay in the game.  That is what business is, really, a big game - some win and some lose based on their decisions and a bit of luck.
Others would have you believe that if any of our auto companies go out of business our "National Security" would be in jeapordy because the military needs vehicals produced by these companies.  Trying to scare us Americans once again into submission.  They should look up companies like Force Protection Inc. and BAE Systems Land and Armaments, just google them for fun.  These are a couple of the companies that make REAL military vehicals.  A Hummer is a vehical made by our auto industry, but could easily and quickly be replaced by one of these companies, making them even more successful.  GM doesn't make tanks, after all.
Don't appoint a Czar, don't give them money - let the chips fall where they may.  Use the money to develop green energy and give the auto workers jobs in an industry that has a real future.  Make the US the leader in green energy and people will finally buy something from us!

What's Lee Iacocca doing these days?

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