Romney op-ed - Doubles down on letting Detroit go bankrupt

[kpete]

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html

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Romney op-ed: Taxpayers should get GM shares' proceeds
BY MITT ROMNEY

I grew up drinking Vernors and watching ballgames at Michigan & Trumbull. Cars got in my bones early. And not just any cars, American cars.

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Managed bankruptcy may sound like a death knell. But in fact, it is a way for a troubled company to restructure itself rapidly, entering and leaving the courtroom sometimes in weeks or months instead of years, and then returning to profitable operation.

In the case of Chrysler and GM, that was precisely what the companies needed. Both were saddled with an accumulation of labor, pension, and real estate costs that made them unsustainable. Health and retirement benefits alone amounted to an extra $2,000 baked into the price of every car they produced.

Shorn of those excess costs, and shorn of the bungling management that had driven them into a deep rut, they could re-emerge as vibrant and competitive companies. Ultimately, that is what happened. The course I recommended was eventually followed.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120214/OPINION01/202140336/Romney-op-ed--Taxpayers-should-get-GM-shares%E2%80%99-proceeds

[strategery blunder]

1. Read as: "Screw the workers, the 1% must be paid in full" eom

[SmellyFeet]

2. Exactly!

His only reference to the worker is how they are a COST to the company.