What is apparent about Pres. Obama's request for GM CEO Wagoner's Resignation.

[FrenchieCat]

is that President Obama means business and is serious like a heart attack.

Some may recall, but President Obama met with CEO Wagoner back on March 12.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/X6aMWjs1fqi/Obama+Speaks+Members+Business+Roundtable+Washington/PVBrEbmS8Q5/Richard+Wagoner
At that meeting, Pres. Obama also met with other CEOs with automotive ties, according to the list released by the White House, were George Nolen of Siemens Corp.; Dinesh Paliwal of Harman International Industries Inc.; Wilbur Ross of WL Ross & Co. LLC; Theodore Solso of Cummins Inc.; and Daniel Ustian of Navistar International Corp.

The Business Roundtable says it unites CEOs to work on solutions to some of the world's most difficult challenges and to "expand economic opportunity for all Americans."






2 days later, on March 14, it was announced that President Obama's White House Task Force
on the auto Industry had hired Bankrupcy attorneys to get advise on options.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29682657


2 days after that, on March 16, CEO Wagoner met with Obama's task force
http://www.zimbio.com/How+the+Wise+Decide/news/SA8kuNolElW/GM+CEO+Wagoner+Meeting+Obama+Task+Force+German

On Friday, March 27, President Obama said.....automakers need 'drastic changes'
http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20090327/Obama.Autos/

He added: "If they're not willing to make the changes and the restructurings that are necessary, then I'm not willing to have taxpayer money chase after bad money."

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have received $17.4 billion in federal loans since December and are seeking billions more to stay afloat. A task force created by Obama has been meeting with industry officials and studying restructuring plans submitted by the companies to put them on the path to long-term profitability through tough concessions.

"Everybody is going to have to give a little bit — shareholders, workers, creditors, suppliers, dealers — everybody is going to have to recognize that the current model, economic model, of the U.S. auto industry is unsustainable," Obama said.

The president said he agreed with a questioner at the town hall — a Maryland woman with family members who work for GM and Ford Motor Co. — that "there's been a lot of mismanagement of the auto industry over the last several years."


On Saturday, March 28, we got this.....
“The president’s autos task force is meeting today. I think they are winding down the decisions that have to be made and putting in place a plan that the president will announce on Monday,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told Reuters.
http://www.egmcartech.com/tag/barack-obama/

and so today, we get the word that President Obama as requested for the resignation of Mr. Wagoner.


So this allows me to believe that those Bank Presidents who met with President Barack Obama may have came out smiling from the meeting, but I'm not sure how long the smiles will be there.

Just sayin'.



Bank CEOs voice support for Obama's economic plans
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090327/bs_nm/us_obama_banks

ARRIVING THE WHITE HOUSE





LEAVING THE WHITE HOUSE

[saltpoint]

1. Recommended.

The parade of the smiling bankers.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Those are them....

[BeatleBoot]

2. Go do some homework on Wilbur Ross

and the Pittsburgh Steel industry.

Guys who were making $30 bucks per hour were literally making $ 10 per hour -- overnight.


Wilbur Ross is basically a hedge fund as is Cerebus who owns Chrysler, LLC.


Wilbur Ross took over after David Stockman (Ronald Reagan's former Budget Director) was ousted out of Collins & Aikman (see also Textron Automotive Company and the Becker Group) before Collins and Aikman filed for Bankruptcy back in 2005. His new auto supplier company is hoping for a governement bail out as well.

Just a bunch of corporate parasites.

I sure as hell hope Obama isn't doing business with the likes of these characters.

[FrenchieCat]

3. Those were CEO of Industry that he met with.....

To tell him what was expected of them in this economy.

I don't believe that one had to be loved by Obama to get face time in the meeting that I described!

It certainly had nothing with him "doing" business with them.

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/X6aMWjs1fqi/Obama+Speaks+Members+Business+Roundtable+Washington/PVBrEbmS8Q5/Richard+Wagoner


:shrug:

[BeatleBoot]

6. Understood.

I just hope he knows who these folks are - that was my point.


It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be tomorrow.

[Kdillard]

4. Yes he is serious and things will get very interesting tomorrow

when he lays out his plans for the auto industry. It is unbelievable how many fires he has to put out.

[Top Cat]

12. I agree.... The MSM will have a busy day tomorrow keeping up and spinning

[MadMaddie]

5. This is fine, I think the same requirement shold be applied to

the failed banks we are bailing out.

[FrenchieCat]

8. Perhaps that will be the case

as soon as the President believes he has the type of leverage he needs for all "Financial Institutions".

As spelled out here, the regulatory framework proposed that he has requested.....

On taking over institutions:

"Depending on the circumstances, the FDIC and the Treasury would place the firm into conservatorship with the aim of returning it to private hands or a receivership that would manage the process of winding down the firm. The trustee of the conservatorship or receivership would have broad powers, including to sell or transfer the assets or liabilities of the institution in question, to renegotiate or repudiate the institution's contracts (including with its employees), and to deal with a derivatives book. A conservator would also have the power to restructure the institution by, for example, replacing its board of directors and its senior officers. None of these actions would be subject to the approval of the institution's creditors or other stakeholders." (Among other things, the trustee can step in, sell or keep whatever he or she felt was best for the company, completely replace the BoD, eliminate any necessary executives, void contracts and do so without stock or debt holder approval.)

Hedge funds -(This has been a long time coming):
"U.S. law generally does not require hedge funds or other private pools of capital to register with a federal financial regulator, although some funds that trade commodity derivatives must register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and many funds register voluntarily with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, there are no reliable, comprehensive data available to assess whether such funds individually or collectively pose a threat to financial stability. The Madoff episode is just one more reminder that, in order to protect investors, we must close gaps and weaknesses in the regulation and enforcement of broker-dealers, investment advisors and the funds they manage."

Derivatives and swaps:
"In our proposed regulatory framework, the government will regulate the markets for credit default swaps and over-the-counter derivatives for the first time."

(This is just the first part of the proposals for the swaps, the others are well worth reading.)

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg72.htm

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg72.htm

[MadMaddie]

9. Thanks FrenchieCat

I think that by acknowledging that failure will not be rewarded this will have an impact on society as a whole.

[depakid]

10. Wall Street CEO's and lobbyests are an entirely different species

as I'm fairly certain you'll see over the next year or two.

[FrenchieCat]

11. I believe that the President has figured that out.

[Festivito]

13. Banks can be run by gov, auto Co's cannot. I see a BO mistake.

Not a big mistake. GM will survive. But, this is not the better move. It may be good from another perspective that it gives people a scapegoat, necessary for other actions to pass.

Cars need to compete for individual style, bank loans don't.

The really bad decisions made in auto companies are HOUSE LOANS or not. Ford did not, and Ford is fine. GM and Chrysler did, and they are in trouble.

The money supply (thanks to the FED) exacerbates the woes to the breaking point.

The only other bad decision by car companies is that they did not forsee that money supply dwindle.

[Kablooie]

14. I've always felt that Obama would be exceedingly tough when the situation requires it.

He is affable and open to ideas when developing a plan of action but if it isn't carried through effectively the mood changes and the iron fist comes down.

I would expect the same at the world economic summit.

[genna]

15. I think it is due process

BHO starts with an idea: we should help the auto industry.

BHO asks car makers: what are you prepared to do to exist?

BHO tells them get every interest who needs to be consulted to the table: work this out so you can show me you will survive.


Internally, BHO gathers together a panel of experts to tell him what this sector of the economy is doing. Then he requests feedback on what it will take for carmakers to make it.


At carmaker deadline, they have the option of giving BHO something he can work with (Did Congress just give the President power to administer the funds? A blank check? Or were there conditions on the purse?) or to accept an offer they can't refuse.


The patience required to let him work is enormous. We knew in December, maybe even earlier, that they were going to go bust BIG TIME. 4 months later, we have movement that people might have expected from the very first moment.


In my mind, each issue and every problem which sits in front of Obama might take this long.


How long did it take for Reagan to regain money from Chrysler once former Ford executive Lee Iacocca took the reign after Reagan gave federal money?

[berni_mccoy]

16. OBAMA HATES THE UAW!!!!11! NO SERIES!!1!

:sarcasm:
k&r

[ljm2002]

17. Waiting for him to demand the resignation...

...of the CEO of BofA, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, ...

Waiting...

...waiting...

Oh hell, I'm not holding my breath.

This is not a gratuitous attack on President Obama. I know it's tough. But the fact is, the financial sector is the primary villain in the current crisis, and they have most definitely not been held to account. Their cheerleaders in the persons of Summers and Geithner are right there, pulling the levers and trying to save a system that is utterly corrupt.

In the meantime, ordinary Americans are losing their homes and livelihoods, among many other ills. True, President Obama did not create the mess. And he cannot be expected to clean it all up in 60 days, 90 days, one year or even four years. But dayum, he might get tough on the evil cretins (aka "financial geniuses") who have brought down the world financial markets with their fraudulent financial dealings.

[ecstatic]

18. And it also shows that it was a thoughtful decision, not an erratic

one made for cheap points.

[Raine1967]

19. Chrysler just released a statement:

http://adjix.com/i973


Washington, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- Chrysler LCC released the following statement in response to Obama's announcement on the auto industry and immediately announced an agreement supported by the U.S. Treasuy.

Today marks an important milestone for Chrysler LLC. We are encouraged by the commitments of the Administration, U.S. Treasury and President’s Auto Task Force to the American automobile industry and Chrysler’s viability, with a Fiat alliance.

We are pleased that Chrysler, Fiat and Cerberus have reached agreement on a global alliance, supported by the U.S. Treasury. Chrysler has consistently said that the alliance with Fiat enhances its business model that expands its global competitiveness. We appreciate the willingness of the Task Force, along with industry and financial experts, to consult closely with us in order to achieve this significant step.

By providing Chrysler with product and platforms, technology cooperation and global distribution, Fiat strengthens Chrysler’s ability to create and preserve U.S. jobs; gives U.S. consumers more choices for environmentally advanced vehicles; gives its dealers more of the products they need to be successful; helps stabilize the supplier base; and allows Chrysler to pay back government loans sooner.

Chrysler has had a series of very constructive discussions since our plan was submitted February 17, including weekly face-to-face meetings with the Task Force. We have been impressed by their speed, diligence, good faith and strong grasp of the difficult issues our industry faces in this financial crisis. This is evidenced by the U.S. government’s initiatives to support consumer warranties and suppliers, as well as their appointment of Dr. Edward Montgomery, Director of Auto Recovery.

I want to personally assure all of our customers, dealers, suppliers and employees that Chrysler will operate ‘business as usual’ over the next 30 days. While we recognize that we still have substantial hurdles to resolve, Chrysler is committed to working closely with Fiat, the Administration, U.S. Treasury and the Task Force to secure the support of necessary stakeholders. If successful, the government will consider investing up to the additional $6 billion requested by Chrysler to help this partnership succeed.

He is as serious as a heart attack.