Posted 8:01 PM by steve

Having given Chrysler and GM billions of dollars in bailout money, we're in the EXACT SAME POSITION we were a couple of months ago: Chrysler and GM are bankrupt in all but name, they are still bleeding billions of dollars a month and they still have no plan in place for turning things around (quickly or otherwise).

They still haven't reached agreement with their creditors to accept less than face value of the debt. They still haven't reached agreement with their unions to accept significantly lower wages and benefits. They still haven't figured out how to reduce the excessive number of dealerships. They still haven't told their shareholders that their equity stakes are worth absolutely nothing. About the only thing they've done is cut back on the number of times they use their corporate jets and to eliminate some of the promotions they usually do at sporting events (Super Bowl, Daytona 500). And they've announced plans to cut the number of non-union employees (which is something, but it's not going to get them back to break even).

They need to be put out of their - and our - misery. Force them into bankruptcy, wipe out the current equity, hand over the new equity to bondholders and other creditors, re-write the labor contracts, eliminate the marginal nameplates and 1/3+ of their dealer network and get back on solid footing... otherwise, just as the sun rises in the morning, we're going to be feeding money to the automakers while they refuse to take the tough steps to get themselves back to break even.