Rochelle Riley, DFP columnist: Can the auto industry borrow AIG's lobbyist?

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http://www.freep.com/article/20081111/COL10/81112001

Can the auto industry borrow AIG's lobbyist?
BY ROCHELLE RILEY • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • NOVEMBER 11, 2008
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WASHINGTON -- No governor could have gotten a tougher crisis to handle than Gov. Jennifer Granholm has.

The governors of Louisiana and Florida, where hurricanes have devastated the economy and lives, would disagree.

But if the American auto industry fails -- and many people amazingly still don’t believe it’s possible -- IT WOULD BE AN UNNATURAL DISASTER OF DEVASTATING AND INSURMOUNTABLE NATIONAL PROPORTIONS. (Yes, I’m screaming that part.) And the governor can’t seem to convince people of the urgency.

So this emergency couldn’t have happened to a nicer governor. And right now, Michigan doesn’t need nice: We need tough.

President-elect Barack Obama gets the urgency. He urged President George W. Bush Monday to support immediate emergency aid for the auto industry. Ironically, his request came on the same day that the government announced it would purchase American International Group (AIG) stock to relieve strain on AIG, which has received about $143 billion in aid since September -- without strings attached, without constant begging, without promises.

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