Like the Big 3, Detroit Is Dying

Chrysler, General Motors should never have been rescued, Mitt argued

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney's opposition to the Detroit bailout plan may come back to haunt him in the Michigan primary , the New York Times reports. Not only did Bain Capital, the equity firm he founded, refuse to pump money into a flailing General Motors—Romney himself wrote an op-ed for the Times arguing that automakers should go bankrupt rather than get bailed out. Feelings are still sore in the nation's auto capitol: "All of us in the auto industry ... were profoundly disappointed and, I would say, angry," says a former GM executive. More»

Parochial concerns results in a less-than-unified response

(NEWSER) - Republicans were caught off guard by Obama’s auto moves yesterday, and they responded in wildly different ways, Politico reports. Some complained the president hadn’t been hard enough on GM and Chrysler, while others groused that he’d been harder on them than he’d been on Wall Street. Still others, like California’s Darrell Issa, said he’d “struck the right chord.” The reason? Parochialism. More»

Americans will get back on board if auto giants prove they can make good cars again

(NEWSER) - With a $17.4 billion bailout in hand, Detroit must now turn toward restructuring and making the cars America needs, Mark Phelan writes in the Detroit Free Press. “To win back American buyers’ respect,” Phelan continues, “the automakers must show the aid package was a sound investment, not a handout.” That means smaller, fuel-efficient cars as good-looking as they are economical. More»

(NEWSER) - The defeat of the Detroit bailout bill by Senate Republicans is seen by some in Washington as a preemptive strike against organized labor, the Los Angeles Times reports. The GOP framed their opposition partly as a message to the United Auto Workers, claiming high wages were the cause of Detroit’s troubles. Many nay votes came from Senators in right-to-work states in the South and West. More»

Yes, there will be pain, but saving irresponsible companies bad for US future

(NEWSER) - Given the failure of the Wall Street bailout, to think doing the same for Detroit would help the auto industry and America in the long run is fantasy, Kevin O’Brien writes in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The only thing that will help is to feel the pain. “No more bailouts,” O’Brien writes. “Not for private industries. Not for states. Not for cities. Not for school districts.” More»