"before the March 31 deadline, it might fall to the Obama administration to persuade Congress to release the second $350 billion of the Treasury’s huge financial system stabilization program — a request that the Bush administration is reluctant to make because it will face angry criticism by lawmakers. Without the release of those funds, $4 billion in additional loans for G.M. could not be made available in February." Let's see that business plan... You better bet Congress is going to have the big three at The Capitol again. "The loan deal also requires the companies to .. reach agreements on wage and benefit cuts with the unions by Dec. 31. According to the loan documents, average wages per hour and per employee must be “competitive with” the average wages per hour and per employee of Nissan, Toyota or Honda." .
Probably this first step was unavoidable. Whether it needed to cover Chrysler for political (Cereberus) reasons is debatable. As far as I am concerned, any money you send to Chrysler, you're never going to see it again.
They're already competitive. It's all in how the facts are presented. If they're trying to break the unions, wages look one way. Now that they have to prove they're competitive in order to get the loan, you'll be surprised how those very same numbers *will* prove they are competitive.
Canada has also announced funding, around four billion last I heard. Thanks to all the budget giveaways to keep the government propped up, Canada can now expect major deficits. So much for that healthy balanced budget
