Yesterday the Big Three automakers returned to Congress to plead their cases once again for federal aid. In case you didn't already realize how much they suck:
GM said it needs an immediate injection of $4 billion to stay afloat until the end of the year, a fact it hadn't before disclosed. In total, the company said it needs $18 billion in loans -- $6 billion more than it said it would need just two weeks ago...
In a conference call with reporters, GM President Frederick "Fritz" Henderson said bankruptcy is not a viable option and the company is focusing solely on securing help from Washington. "There is not a Plan B," he said.
So, basically, the company needs $4 billion just to survive a single month. That must be some sort of record. And if for some crazy reason the government decides to put that money to better use, like say, by burning it, then GM's brilliant management team is out of ideas.
So what do regular ole Detroiters think of this plan? Apparently, they think it sucks, too:
John Raterink, a tool and machine maker who works at a small shop in Grand Rapids that supplies parts to the auto industry, opposes a bailout even though his livelihood is tethered to the car makers. Mr. Raterink, 46, points a finger at the Big Three for a lot of economic misery: "If I have to pull myself up by my own bootstraps, I hope G.M. faces that same reality."
In all fairness that dude is probably in the minority, but still. When even you think that you suck, it's time to move on.
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