Czar or bankruptcy for Big Three

Congress will vote as early as today on a $15 billion plan Democrats reached with the Bush administration to keep the Big Three afloat while forcing them to restructure. It is said that President George W. Bush wants strict conditions attached to any agreement to bail out the firms. This includes an appointment of a ÔÇ£Car CzarÔÇØ who will dictate how the companies are managed to ensure the money is accompanied by sound financial recovery plans. Approval of a bailout for General Motors and Chrysler LLC would put automakers under U.S. direction for the first time since 1980, when the former Chrysler Corp. agreed to federal oversight in exchange for $1.8 billion in loan guarantees.  ÔÇ£They either have to liquidate, or roll the dice and swallow whatever a government-run car company is going to look like,ÔÇØ said Clint Currie, a transportation analyst for Stanford Group Co. in Washington. ÔÇ£The only thing we can know for certain is they probably wonÔÇÖt like a lot of the decisions. They are going to lose control of their company.ÔÇØ ┬á General Motors CEO, Rick Wagoner, said bankruptcy would be a prelude to shutting the doors, and that General Motors could not reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy because buyers would shun an automaker┬áunder court protection. The company has agreed to give warrants worth 20 percent of the $10 billion being sought in loans and receive the appointment of a czar who would have to review and approve all large expenditures.  Although General Motors has agreed to the oversight, the company still has plenty to dislike. It would be barred from paying dividends under the appointed czar, and could be forced into bankruptcy if progress on restructuring has not been made by March 31st, according to a Bush administration official who requested anonymity.  ÔÇ£It will be a whole new ball game,ÔÇØ said Thomas Stallkamp, who came to Chrysler from Ford Motor Co. in 1980. ÔÇ£They are going to have a continuous battle between what the government wants and their plan in terms of investments, product choices and other issues.ÔÇØ ÔÇ£They have to thread the landscape between what the market wants and what the government sees for the future,ÔÇØ said Stallkamp. ÔÇ£They may be told to make cars that the public doesnÔÇÖt really want to buy and other companies that donÔÇÖt take the loans will be free to serve the market.ÔÇØ