I also like;  “Baby you can build my car” as a subtitle.. 

When you read the article note; one of the largest “debts” that GM has is a Union Contractual obligation.  Now, do you think that the Dems want GM go bankrupt and break the union? NO WAY.  While I do believe that GM is a bureaucratic nightmare and needs a huge overhaul, do you believe that Congress is the best business advisor for them?  Try to think of any of their successes managing anything.    I’d probably say no, get a court appointed manager and get the federal administration out of it. FF

GMs CEO Wagoner Forced to Resign

By TOM KRISHER and DAN STRUMPF, AP Auto Writers Tom Krisher And Dan Strumpf, Ap Auto Writers – Mon Mar 30, 5:26 pm ET

DETROIT – Time and time again, General Motors Corp.’s board of directors reaffirmed its support for Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, even as the company piled up billions of dollars in losses and begged for government loans to stay alive.

But Wagoner is now a high-profile casualty of government intervention, forced out as part of the Obama administration’s sweeping last-ditch effort to save the century-old auto giant.

Wagoner, 56, who spent 32 years with GM working all over the world, stepped down effective immediately, the company said in a statement early Monday. He was replaced as CEO by Fritz Henderson, the company’s vice chairman and chief operating officer.

GM board member Kent Kresa, a former chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corp., was named interim chairman and said new directors will make up the majority of GM’s board when a new slate is nominated for election at the company’s annual meeting in August.

“The board has recognized for some time that the company’s restructuring will likely cause a significant change in the stockholders of the company and create the need for new directors with additional skills and experience,” Kresa said in a written statement.

GM shares tumbled 92 cents, or 25.4 percent, to $2.70 Monday. That is down 89 percent from their 52-week high of $24.24 on April 30, 2008.

The management shake-up, according to several industry analysts, shows that the administration is serious about forcing GM to change more quickly and dramatically than it did during Wagoner’s nearly nine-year tenure as CEO.

Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the automotive Web site Edmunds.com, called the move “political theater” to appease an increasingly bailout-weary public.

“American taxpayers are not happy,” Anwyl said. “But this way you’re able to point to Rick and say he’s gone, and that creates an environment where the loans become politically palatable.”

By all accounts, Wagoner made progress in fixing GM. While CEO, he cut its U.S. work force from 177,000 to roughly 92,000 today.

Wagoner also closed factories; shed the unprofitable Oldsmobile brand; globalized GM’s engineering, manufacturing and design to save billions; and led a resurgence in quality and performance of its long-neglected cars. In 2007, the company reached a landmark agreement with the United Auto Workers that shifted massive retiree health care costs to a union-run trust and ushered in a $14-per-hour wage for new hires, about half that of a current laborer.

But critics, including many members of Congress, say Wagoner moved too slowly, failing to cut enough of the company’s huge health care and pension costs, and relying too long on high-profit pickup trucks and SUVs as gas prices rose and the market shifted toward smaller vehicles.

In the past four years, GM has piled up $82 billion in losses.

Still, Wagoner had the company moving in the right direction, Anwyl said.

“Was he moving fast enough or bold enough? Obviously, in light of what we know today,” Anwyl said, “the answer would be no.”

While ousting Wagoner, the Obama administration made no management changes at Chrysler LLC, which also is getting government loans. Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli has only been in charge there since August 2007.

Wagoner said in a statement early Monday that he was asked to “step aside” during a meeting with Obama administration officials on Friday, and he consented.

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Face Fwd Comments:

This should scare the holy heck out of everyone that is willing to put some thought to it.  In essence our President fired the CEO of GM.  Yes,  I know the news release said he “steped aside”.  I have been in those “step aside” meetings.  I am pretty sure Rick and Obama’s meeting went something like this.

Obama: Rick come into the office I want to talk about your performance.

Rick: I think we are making progress as we have cut staff and closed plants.  I believe that we are going to turn the corner.

Obama: Well that’s real nice but I don’t think you are turning corners fast enough for me.

Rick: What do you mean?  We are making progress.  I have done everything that you asked when I took the money.

Obama: Yeah well see, it’s not about you Rick it’s about a dream of a government owned car company and I don’t think we’ll need you as I will be assuming control.

Rick: What the….

Obama: Now Rick easy…  I don’t want to fire you and ruin your life and you wouldn’t want your family embarrassed, right?

Rick: I guess, that’s right

Obama: Then why don’t we do this.  I’ll tell everyone it was your idea and you can walk away like a hero.

Rick: but I don’t want to quit I know we can turn the corner.

Obama: Rick, remember your reputation and family.  You wouldn’t want very in depth Tax audit would you or an investigation of anti American activites by every member in your family would you?

Rick: No, I’ll step down.

Obama:  What do think of the name President Goodwrench?

Please consider this:

Barney Frank wants to control salaries and bonuses at companies he choose to control. Tha’s even if they did not take any of the bail out money.  He used the “Working Families Party” (an Affiliate of ACORN) to organize bus loads of paid protestors to visit and harass the AIG executitives families. 

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Obama has said on numerous occasions that there needs to be a level economic playing field for all classes.

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Pelosi in a recent exchange had this to say (she) attacked House Republicans who have criticized President Obama’s proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund his health care plan. If anything, Pelosi said, Obama was being generous. “Quite frankly, I would have done it faster,” she said, noting that the phaseout of top-tier tax breaks will take years to complete.

Salary controls, redistribution of wealth, nationalization of industry all sounds like socialism to me.

Tags: ACORN, Administration, Barney Frank, Chrysler, GM, Jobs, Nancy Pelosi, obama, President Goodwrench, Rick Wagoner, Union, Working Families Party

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 10:06 pm and is filed under Current Events, Just Plain Stupid. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.