Grand Theft Auto Bailout: Weekend Edition
While Mitch McConnell gets hearted by the Wall Street Journal, all eyes turn to the Bush Administration who signaled that they may tap into the existing TARP funds (i.e. the first bailout that caused all this). The reason the UAW refused to deal with Bob Corker is because a) they own the Democrat party, and b) they figured Bush would cave and show them the money.
That might not be the case. Take it away Larry Kudlow…
At a minimum, it’s going to take the Treasury several days to walk through the financial numbers and gather all the facts before it takes any action…And nothing will happen until these numbers are properly crunched. And the Treasury may well want to arrange for a built-in monitor – something that might even look like a car tsar – if any TARP money is dispersed.
Senate sources tell me that any TARP-money allocation might include the very same conditions proposed by Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker in legislation that broke down in a marathon session in the Senate list night.
Hopefully they can shed some light on some of my questions, like why we’re bailing out Ford which doesn’t really need the money (they’d just like a taste too), or why we’re bailing out Chrysler…a company that’s privately owned by a hedge fund that can bail them out themselves if they thought it was a good investment.
The – and I hate this phrase – “car czar” (is still prefer “Auto Grand Poobah”) is what makes this the most interesting, because if the Treasury Department is the one cutting the check we might get Jack Welch as a czar and not someone from the “public sector” that Nancy Pelosi would prefer so that she could walk all over them.
UPDATE: This isn’t aboot the auto bailout per say, but damn!
UPDATE DEUX: Relative to my point of who Nancy Pelosi wants for car czar. “Language in the House-passed auto bailout bill seems to allow the “Car Czar” to dictate to automakers what cars they can make and how much they can charge for them.“
UPDATE DREI: Not all auto companies are out of ideas.
UPDATE CUATRO: The President might be too busy for a bailout. I mean seriously, who throws a shoe?
