Public perception of the automotive bailout – one year later

Please vote in the poll at the end of this article.
Has it really been over a year since the first emergency loans were provided to General Motors and Chrysler? In fact, it was a year on December 19, 2009. It was then that President George W. Bush and his administration decided to give both automakers [...]

Toyota halts sales and expands recall

No, before you click off the page, thinking you have reached the wrong blog, this is still Political Realities. Before you get carried away with the leaving part, please read the article, as it is very important, especially if you own a Toyota or Lexus vehicle. Since I work in the automotive service industry, I [...]

President Obama wants new taxes on banks

Let’s see now, what is that old saying? Something about honesty being good for the soul. If that’s the case, then my soul should be in pretty good shape after this post. That is unless the mixed feelings get in the way because my feelings about new taxes are very mixed.
First of all, I have [...]

Bailed-out companies to receive pay cut orders

Here is a formula for you. Take greed and bad business practices in equal parts and mix it with companies who were deemed “to big to fail”. Once stirred together, combine the resulting mix with $700 billion in bailout money. After baking for several months, what do we get? Let’s see now, we have seven [...]

Senator Kennedy’s health care legislation

Over the past several weeks, the Obama administration has made it no secret that they believe now is the time to pass health care reform through Congress. The President believes he has a mandate to do so and while I agree the health care system certainly needs to be revamped with considerable changes, the first [...]

Were Chrysler dealership closings politically motivated?

The articles I have written so far about the troubles of General Motors and Chrysler have been posted in Economy, but this article belongs in the US News/Politics category. Since the announcement by Chrysler that 789 of their 3,300 dealers were going to be closed, there has been a growing hubbub of speculation about the [...]

General Motors near bankruptcy

In spite of everything the Obama administration has done towards keeping General Motors out of bankruptcy, in spite of the billions of dollars that the federal government has pumped into the company, GM has failed to reach an agreement with bond holders to swap their unsecured debt for a 10% equity share in the company. [...]

Chrysler close to deal with Fiat and UAW

It’s beginning to look like Chrysler may very well survive after all. For quite some time, it has looked like the smallest of America’s domestic automotive companies would have to declare bankruptcy and be sold at the auction block, but The Associated Press is reporting that it is close to a deal with Fiat. It [...]

Pontiac brand to be scrapped by GM

In a move that many have seen coming for a long time, General Motors is expected to scrap it’s Pontiac brand. An official announcement could come as early as Monday. From NPR:
The struggling automaker General Motors is expected to eliminate its iconic Pontiac brand, NPR has learned.
An official announcement could come as early as Monday, [...]

Obama’s attack on Detroit

The news from the weekend and then on Monday has been dominated by the announcement by the Obama administration that there would be no more chances for General Motors and Chrysler. I have already raised the question and asked why the Detroit automakers didn’t deserve the same bailouts that have been extended to companies such [...]

Next Page »