The Auto Bailout: A de facto Nationalization

General Motors and Chrysler have petitioned the government for another $22 B in loans to keep both companies solvent and running.  In exchange for the new money they have offered restructuring plans that, among other things, fire workers.  GM promises to fire 47,000 workers.  This makes it very tough for the President.  He justifies bailouts are to save jobs and a condition of the auto bailouts is firing workers??  The irony is thick indeed.  The details of the restructuring proposals show what insiders already know -- it is smoke and mirrors. The affected parties, shareholders, bondholders, the union, and management have not come to a workable deal -- they are waiting government direction.  Everyone was negotiating in anticipation of the government bailout, not in anticipation of Chapter 11.  The sensible negotiation strategy is not to put everything on the table until a huge uncertainty, the government's positions, is made clear.  There is no deal yet among affected parties; there is only posturing to government officials.  Treasury officials are pouring over books trying to figure out how many jobs GM should keep, what cars and lines of cars it should drop, how it should treat dealers.  What a mess.  Folks, we do not want Treasury in this position, in  de facto effect, running the auto companies.