11/20/2008

Bankruptcy - Auto Industry: Mitt Romney's NYT OpEd Piece Is a Must Read

In his op-ed piece today in the New York Times, George Romney's son Mitt lets it fly right with the title, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt". It's worth the read.

Mitt Romney points to how his dad George turned a dying American Motors around, back in the mid-'50s, and takes that history together with his own two cents worth to offer some solutions for the Big American Automakers.

He's blunt.

"Management as is must go." New labor deals so workers here have pay and benefits analogous to Toyota, Honda, and BMW. A long-term perspective on investments, no more "starving research and development." Do what it takes to keep your top sales people.

Meanwhile, there's lots more talk about conditioning any corporate bailout to a filing of Chapter 11 (reorganizational) bankruptcy -- particularly when those in D.C. already see outlines of the steel, airline, and retail industries on the horizon as the auto makers set before them, hat in hand, their private jets awaiting them over at the Washington airport.

Can you believe those CEOs had the nerve to fly their private jets to Washington? I loved the video of the Congressional hearing when they were called on it. Great stuff.

Nerve? Maybe stupidity. Either way, when Romney writes to throw the rascals out, his words sure resonate with me.