The Financial Bailout Fiasco

Declaring that the country had reached the end of the road with Detroit's automakers, President Obama on Monday mapped a new course for bailed-out General Motors Corp. and Chrysler in a series of moves designed to force the hands of workers, creditors and others with a stake in the companies.

Obama, using the threat of bankruptcy as a weapon, vowed to transform the U.S. auto industry by pushing GM and Chrysler to make major changes in exchange for billions in additional taxpayer money they need to survive.......

Administration officials said a quick, government-led bankruptcy would be a last resort. But if it comes to that, they said, the court process could be used to separate the companies' good assets from the bad. The good assets would form stand-alone companies to survive or be sold; the bad assets would be purged.
Obama also said he would seek ways to encourage consumers to buy new cars, sounding like a TV pitchman by promising that the government would guarantee the warranties of GM and Chrysler vehicles even as the companies teeter on the edge of bankruptcy. ....
More at: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gm-bailout31-2009mar31,0,6215566.s...