The folks at the Onion seem to never run out of people to lambaste. I somehow think this commercial is too close to the real thing, to be sure. who knows - with the auto industry in the condition it’s in, this could be the future of america.  in anycase I just wish I had known two years ago;  before I got rid of my 1993 taurus.

Boy Howdy – the more things change the more they stay the same; and joe jackson still wants money.. HA !

Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus

Joe Jackson seeks stipend from Michael’s estate

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson’s father is seeking an allowance from his son’s estate to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to court documents filed Friday.

The request seeking an unspecified amount for Joe Jackson was filed by lawyer Brian Oxman, who said there was no apparent reason for the administrators of the estate to not seek an allowance for the Jackson family patriarch.

Michael Jackson’s 2002 will, however, omitted any mention of his father.

The two had an often-strained relationship, and Michael Jackson said at one point that he would get physically sick — as a child and as an adult — at the sight of his father.

The singer’s private trust calls for money to be paid to his mother, Katherine, his three young children, and various charities.

A judge has approved more than $26,000 in payments to Katherine Jackson each month, and a $60,000 monthly payment for the care of the children.

The latest court documents said Joe Jackson receives a $1,700 monthly Social Security payment and had relied on his son for support for many years.

“He does not have a regular or steady source of income, and he was dependent upon the money provided by his son, Michael Jackson, through his wife, Katherine Jackson, for his support,” the filing stated.

“It was quite surprising to learn of the request,” Howard Weitzman, an attorney for the administrators of Jackson’s estate, said in a statement. “Mr. Jackson’s petition will be considered as are all requests for money from Michael’s estate.”

Joe Jackson suffers from diabetes and had a stroke in 1998, the filing stated.

A former steelworker, he managed and trained his children and organized the Jackson 5. He has been married to Katherine Jackson for 50 years, but he lists his home in Las Vegas. She lives at a family home in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles.

The filings are inconsistent in several places, listing Joe Jackson’s age as 80 in one place and 81 in another. A declaration states his monthly expenses exceed $20,000 a month, but an itemized list only includes slightly more than $15,000.

That list includes $1,200 a month on rent for his Las Vegas home; $2,500 to eat out; $1,000 on entertainment, gifts and vacations; $2,000 on air travel and $3,000 on hotels.

A phone message left for Oxman was not immediately returned.

A judge on Friday denied Joe Jackson’s petition for an expedited hearing on the matter.

A hearing is scheduled for early 2010 at which time the payments to Katherine Jackson may be re-evaluated.

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Singgggg T-Baby Siiinnnggg Girlll…

Detroit’s top lawyer resigns over ‘ghetto’ remarks

BY ZACHARY GORCHOW AND DAVID ASHENFELTER
Free Press Staff Writers

The City of Detroit’s top lawyer resigned Thursday, a day after she allegedly said the city’s predominantly black 36th District Court was “acting like a ghetto court.”

Deputy Mayor Saul Green accepted her resignation Thursday, the same day that 36th District Court Chief Judge Marylin Atkins sent a letter to Kathleen Leavey and other city officials protesting her alleged remarks.

Leavey said in an interview this morning that her remarks were taken out of context.

Leavey, who is white, said she got into a heated discussion Wednesday with a court administrator about the court’s handling of a lawsuit against the court in which it asked the city to pay the judgment of $400,000 against it without warning.

“I told her people regard this as a ghetto court because of the way they treat people,” Leavey said.

Leavey said she was referring to long lines and slow service at the court – not it’s predominately African-American group of judges and rejected Atkins’ labeling of her as a racist. The administrator contacted Atkins, who contacted Deputy Mayor Saul Green, Leavey said.

“In her mind it was racist, and the mayor and deputy mayor also felt it was racist and felt I had to resign,” she said.

Atkins said today her letter speaks for itself.

A letter she wrote to Leavey said the remarks came during a Jan. 14 meeting between Leavey, Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel Dennis Mazurek and members of the court staff. They met to discuss funding for the court.

Atkins said in the letter that Leavey told court staffers that “when the court stopped ‘acting like a ghetto court,’ the city would be more inclined to pay for our operations” – a claim Leavey denied.

The letter said Mazurek called the court a “part-time” operation because judges are unavailable in the afternoons and that the court is uncooperative with the city.

Atkins said in the letter that she was “absolutely offended by your characterization of this court as ‘ghetto.’ How dare you! Not only are your words insulting and racist to this court and the entire city, but they are highly unprofessional coming from the highest ranking attorney for the City of Detroit.

“This entire court has worked too hard under my leadership for the past nine years to be denigrated by you or anyone else. Our court enjoys a positive reputation in the city and we have the hardest-working, most dedicated judges and employees that you can find in any other court in the State of Michigan. Just because you cannot dictate your wishes to us is no basis for you to ignore your legal responsibility as our funding unit or stoop to racially charged insults.

“I am not asking for an apology because I know it would not be sincere,” Atkins continued. The letter was addressed to Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr., Green, judges and magistrates of the court, City Council President Monica Conyers and Council President Pro Tem JoAnn Watson.

Leavey said she will return to her former post as an attorney for the Law Department, a move allowed by union rules that let appointees, if they lose their mayoral appointment, revert to their previous civil servant position, if they had one.

Cockrel spokesman Daniel Cherrin said Leavey was asked to resign because her comments were “inappropriate.”

“It’s an unfortunate development in Kathy’s long and productive career as a city employee,” he said. “The mayor was disappointed by her comments, which were unacceptable and do not reflect the values and policies of the City of Detroit or his administration.”

Leavey, former head of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, was put in charge of the Law Department following the departure of John Johnson in the text-messaging scandal involving former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Contact DAVID ASHENFELTER at dashenfelter@freepress.com.

Contact ZACHARY GORCHOW at zgorchow@freepress.com.

Staff writer Joe Swickard contributed to this report.

The heads of the major car firms asked for a bail-out from Congress

More than 100 General Motors (GM) employees, dealers and retirees cheered and waved signs that said “Here to Stay” as the car maker showed off its latest offerings at the start of the 2009 Detroit auto show.

Even though it was carefully stage managed, the message was simple: GM plans to pull through its current troubles.

Whether after that shrinkage there is enough room for three US-based [carmakers], we’ll have to see GM boss Rick Wagoner

Like its rival Chrysler, GM got a helping hand from the US taxpayer in the form of a loan.

And its chief executive Rick Wagoner says the money is being used to “keep the business running during this difficult time”.

The loan is enough to keep GM going until Barack Obama is into the first few months of his presidency.

Mr Wagoner would not comment on whether the struggling automaker would go back to Congress to ask for more money on top of the $13.4bn (£9bn) it has already been pledged.

Instead he was cautious, saying only that “at this point the funding that we’ve got is going to be adequate”.

Collapsing demand

GM says that its sales have fallen sharply and inventories are high

It is struggling amid an economic meltdown that has curbed consumers appetites for new vehicles.

That made 2008 the worst year for new car and truck sales since 1992.

And Mr Wagoner is not upbeat for his firm’s short-term prospects.

“Eventually we’ll get some recovery, but for now we have to plan for low industry volumes and for cutting out our costs and capacity to be able to manage against that,” he says.

To try to shift the focus away from its survival plan and back to its carmaking – GM unveiled several new models, including an electric Cadillac concept car that uses the same technology as the Chevrolet Volt.

During the presentation, Bob Lutz, GM’s vice chairman, told the audience that he once accidentally ran out of power 12 miles from his house and had to call on a friend to come and pick him up.

GM is hoping its strength around the world, and its actions at home, will give it enough power to get through this crisis.

Union fears

Further job losses are causing despair for the industry’s workers

Just outside, members of the United Auto Workers union and their supporters held a small rally.

Among those braving the cold was Jim Reed.

He lost his job as a skilled tradesmen at Chrysler three years ago and with the recession deepening, he worries things could get worse.

“If the economy is bad there’s nobody going to buy a car because there’s nobody working, and it’s one vicious circle,” he said.

There is also anger at the extra concessions union members are being asked to make.

In exchange for receiving a government loan, GM and Chrysler must re-negotiate their union contracts by 17 February.

But even if they can reach agreement, that may not be enough to guarantee the future of Detroit’s big automakers.

Last hopes

Back inside the show, among the gleaming pieces of metal that represent the industry’s hopes for the future, motor analyst David Cole warned this could be the last show in which all of the “Big Three” take part.

“There is a possibility that a company like Chrysler will be absorbed or broken up, but we just don’t know,” he said.

Unlike General Motors and Ford, Chrysler doesn’t have an international base to fall back on.

And with sales falling in the US, there simply is not the need for so many cars to be made.

To adjust to this new reality will require a major overhaul of the industry, believes GM boss Rick Wagoner.

“Whether after that shrinkage there is enough room for three US-based [carmakers], we’ll have to see,” he said.

Ford, GM can crow about Detroit auto show

BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

Show far, show good.

Sorry for the silliness, but after the catastrophic tailspin of 2008, just reaching the midpoint of January 2009 without another major shock to the Detroit automotive scene feels like a giddy victory.

As the black-tie crowd shivers its way into Cobo Center tonight for the Detroit auto show’s Charity Preview, it’s clear that the 2009 show looks like a two-thumbs-up hit for Ford and General Motors, with even a few kind words from the critics for a concept shown by much-maligned Chrysler.

Yes, yes, there were low expectations for the Detroit Three and the Detroit show — with Nissan, Mitsubishi and others AWOL — and there’s a lot of treacherous terrain ahead. But let’s take a day or two to appreciate what went well this week.

The show goes on

First, Detroit’s not dead yet. Just as every morning we wake up is a good morning, it’s an accomplishment of sorts that the cars and trucks, the models, the thousands of journalists, converged upon Cobo on schedule this week, just as they do every January. At least we have a show, which may be more than you can say for Tokyo, where the big biennial motor show this October may be canceled.

Second, Ford and GM, two of Detroit’s walking-dead dinosaurs as described by southern senators in rescue loan hearings in Washington, D.C., have looked almost sprightly this week.

Ford took North American Truck of the Year honors with the 2009 F-150 and came within a whisker of winning the top car prize with the Flex. It might have won, too, except some judges don’t consider the family hauler to be a car.

Picky, picky.

The 2010 Ford Taurus looks to be exactly what recent impostors were not. Curvy on the outside and packed with edgy new technology and interior features, the 2010 edition looks like a worthy successor to the nameplate that saved Ford’s bacon in the 1980s.

Even Chrysler is praised

GM, though saddled with a heavier debt load than Ford and with $13.4 billion in new bridge loans from the U.S. Treasury, still managed to impress with new products, from the tiny new Chevrolet Spark micro-car aimed at U.S. shores in 2011 to the Cadillac Converj electric luxury coupe concept.

So lyrical were GM design chief Ed Welburn’s words describing the contours of the Converj that U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee critic of Detroit’s automakers, proclaimed Welburn “a poet” during the senator’s tour of Cobo Tuesday.

Chrysler LLC has abandoned the old mountain-and-waterfall Jeep display that had anchored the midsection of previous shows. And there were no outlandish antics, such as cattle drives and crashing vehicles through glass, which marked Chrysler media events at past shows.

Still, despite a consensus among the media pundits that Chrysler won’t survive the year in anything resembling its current corporate form, the carmaker won some praise for the 200C electric concept. Automotive Web site Jalopnik called the 200C “shockingly attractive.”

We’ll have to be happy with that, for now.

Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.

Barack Obama’s Cadillac Presidential Limousine revealed

With U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama’s inauguration just days away, General Motors has revealed the custom armored Cadillac limousine America’s new leader will soon ride in on a regular basis. The car first attracted a great deal of media attention when our spy photographers snapped images of a prototype undergoing testing and now we’ve learned additional details about the future president’s limousine.

Details on the GM-developed and Cadillac-styled limousine are understandably sparse given the main rider’s status, but the automaker has released some details and our spies have speculated the rest.

First photographed testing on public roads in July 2008, our spies noted this behemoth might actually be more of a truck than a limo. With so much armor being added, it appears GM may have needed a medium-duty truck chassis like the Topkick platform. Earlier, spies observed the limo testing along with two regular Topkick trucks and the wheels and tires on the limo appeared to be the same size as the Topkick. The tires on the limo are Goodyear Regional RHS tires, though we couldn’t tell if they are 22.5 inch or 19.5 inch wheels.

As far as powertain, all we can say for sure is that a very large motor was under the hood of the car early on in its development. The exhaust note coming from the back of the limo was quite similar to the medium-duty Topkick trucks, though previous speculation about a diesel motor turned out to be untrue.

Style-wise, we can see bits and pieces from a few different Cadillac models. Xenon headlights from the Escalade adorn the front while the rear seems to have some CTS and STS parts. We can also see holders on the top of the front fenders where two small American flags would traditionally go. The doors on this limo are absolutely astounding. We’d guess they are at least 8 inches thick.

GM ensures us that the basic vehicle isn’t much different than the one that ferries current President George W. Bush around. It’s roughly the same size, externally, as the current DTS-styled limo. The vehicle’s armor is reportedly 5 inches thick and it has tall run flat tires, thick bulletproof glass, and an entirely sealed-off interior to prevent a chemical attack from permeating the cabin. Those chrome wheels are functional, too, designed to withstand the heavy weight and to hold up well to potential attacks.

Curb weight certainly exceeds 10,000 pounds thanks to all the armoring. Inside, the Cadillac-badged limo won’t lack luxury; previous limousines have featured hand-stitched leather trim throughout.

To say that it’s the most armed passenger vehicle on the planet is probably an understatement. Don’t look for a Leftlane review of this Cadillac any time soon!

‘THREE WORDS AWAY FROM A DEAL’ – What the Ras Yuh a Talk..

The Washington Posse’s refused to see the light of better today, than tomorrow; on the Autoco Bailout.  So with that, we’re taking the day off in protest - and our response is to repost the same blog we posted earlier this week about the whole mess.

Hey Congress Bwoy, Mek Mi Tell Unnu one ting, Ya Heah Me ?

Betta Unnu gwan go pay dem bill today, cau tomorro unnu agwan walkfoot if dem all default from unnu foolish quarrelsome ignorance. amemba dem is ALL Votas Too, and the whola unnu a lame duck; So Fry Up Unnu Self.

UAW, Teamsters and AARP Voters all deh bout.

Mark Mi Words, Cau Mi Wan See Unnu Walkfoot, Fi Feel Real Man Life. com in like unnu Too Fassy Fi Penetrate The Drama.

Today We A Call In BRUK

Mama

_________________________________________________________

UPDATE – AS WE SUGGESTED IT WOULD HAPPEN

‘Our members wanted to know that the UAW was willing to be competitive.’

— Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

‘The auto industry around the world is in peril.’

— Ron Gettelfinger, UAW

Nissan has a manufacturing plant and its North American headquarters located in Corker’s home state of Tennessee.

Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.
Greg Robb is a senior reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.
Robert Schroeder is a reporter for MarketWatch in Washington.

_________________________________________________________

Auto bailout fails

By John Crawley and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A proposed bailout of U.S. automakers failed in the Senate on Thursday night, raising the specter of an industry collapse that sent Asian markets reeling and sparked fears it could deepen the recession.

“It’s over with,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said of congressional efforts this year just before the Democratic proposal to extend up to $14 billion to the stricken industry fell short of the needed votes on a procedural motion.

Pressure immediately shifted to the White House, with calls for President George W. Bush to consider intervening with emergency financing.

General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC have warned of near-term collapse if they did not receive a government bailout.

“I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It’s not going to be a pleasant sight,” Reid said.

Markets across the Asia-Pacific region fell more than 3 percent on the development, with Japan’s Nikkei average and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both down more than 5 percent.

U.S. crude prices fell by nearly $2 to $46.11 a barrel.

Because of their shared suppliers and vendors, industry observers fear the failure of one Detroit manufacturer could drag down the other two as well as other businesses.

BANKRUPTCY CONCERN

“It’s going to be very difficult for them not to file for bankruptcy,” Erich Merkle, consultant at Crowe Chizek in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said of the carmakers if they do not get help.

“GM has probably got until January and I would suspect the next step would be that GM will provide a date and say that at this date we will file,” Merkle said.

GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler employ nearly 250,000 people directly, and 100,000 more jobs at parts suppliers could hang on their survival. The companies say one in 10 U.S. jobs are tied to the auto sector.

The White House called congressional inaction a breakdown and said it would evaluate its options.

“It has now fallen to the president to take action,” said Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who has spearheaded efforts for a month to get help for Detroit.

Bush should “move now,” said Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, adding, “The dominoes are already falling” throughout the United States.”

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Bush to immediately explore short-term financial help, including tapping a $700 billion fund created in October for the Treasury Department assist the financial services industry.

The Bush administration has so far resisted Democratic appeals to take that step. Treasury declined to comment.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said it was possible Congress could take a “second crack” at an auto rescue in January when Democrats will have larger majorities in both houses. President-elect Barack Obama favors help for automakers.

‘THREE WORDS AWAY FROM A DEAL’

The late night development followed intense discussions on a possible 11th-hour compromise that participants said dissolved over proposed wage concessions by the United Auto Workers union.

“We were three words away from a deal,” said Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who proposed the alternative and led the talks.

Dodd said the main issue of disagreement was the date to require the Detroit autoworkers’ pay parity with workers at foreign auto manufacturers.

The UAW could not immediately be reached for comment.

The global auto industry is reeling from depressed sales, made worse by the credit crunch and the U.S. recession.

GM and Chrysler, which is owned by private equity group Cerberus Capital Management, sought billions in immediate aid to see them through March.

GM said in a statement it would “assess all of its options to continue our restructuring” and to “obtain the means to weather the current economic crisis.”

Chrysler said it would continue “to pursue a workable solution to help ensure” the company’s future viability.

Ford, in a better cash position, had asked for a hefty line of credit. It had no immediate comment.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed its version of a Democratic-sponsored bailout that was virtually identical to the measure that fell in the Senate. Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, which rejected the bill, 52-35.

“These companies could be saved. I’ve said I think they are bloated, their management is bloated. These companies either already failed or are fading and that is a shame,” said Alabama Republican Richard Shelby, who has opposed any bailout.

Polls show Americans split on bailing out the Detroit automakers, widely criticized for fighting tougher fuel efficiency standards and poor model designs that have left the companies gasping with a stable of products losing popularity with consumers.

Any failure of aid leaves several U.S. auto parts suppliers with deep exposure to the “Detroit Three” vulnerable, including American Axle, Visteon Corp and those with high debt levels.

(Additional reporting by Ross Colvin, Matt Spetalnick, Kevin Drawbaugh, Jeremy Pelofsky, David Bailey, Donna Smith and Richard Cowan; Editing by Eric Walsh)

GM, Chrysler Survival Options Narrow After Congress Vote Fails

By Jeff Green and Nicholas Johnston

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — General Motors Corp. may be in bankruptcy within weeks, followed shortly by Chrysler LLC, after the U.S. Senate rejected a $14 billion rescue plan and the companies’ options to avert bankruptcy dwindled.

“I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor in Washington last night. “It’s not going to be a pleasant sight.”

The Senate thwarted the bailout plan in a procedural vote after talks failed in a dispute with Republicans over how quickly union wages should be cut. Asian stocks and U.S. index futures fell after the vote. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 3.7 percent to 84.85 as of 4:03 p.m. Tokyo time, while March futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 4.1 percent.

President George W. Bush must now decide whether to let the companies collapse or find another way to channel government funds. Minutes after the vote failed last night, he was pressed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reid to tap funds from the Treasury’s $700 billion bank-rescue fund.

The Bush administration, which warned of a million lost jobs if the industry collapsed, will “evaluate our options in light of the breakdown in Congress,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said in a statement last night. The bill “was the best chance to avoid a disorderly bankruptcy” for the automakers.

The vote was a repudiation of Bush, who personally lobbied for the bill. Only 10 Republicans in the Senate voted to move forward on the auto-rescue plan. Vice President-elect Joe Biden was one of 12 lawmakers who didn’t vote. President-elect Barack Obama, who resigned from the Senate last month, had also urged lawmakers yesterday to pass the measure.

Cannot ‘Stand By’

“We cannot simply stand by and watch this industry collapse,” Obama said during a Chicago news conference.

GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner told Congress last week and has said repeatedly that the automaker is trying to avoid bankruptcy at all costs because it would lead to liquidation as buyers opted for solvent car companies. GM lead director George Fisher said last week that the automaker considered and rejected the option and it was “way down the list” of alternatives.

Pelosi and Reid have no plans to return until next year. Plunging markets may put pressure on Congress to return to Washington, “but there was lots of pressure on them now,” said Gary Jacobson, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego.

Wage-Cut Demand

Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd, who helped lead the negotiations, said the final unresolved issue in the Senate talks was a Republican demand that unionized autoworkers accept a reduction in wages next year, rather than later, to match wages of U.S. workers at foreign-owned companies, such as Toyota Motor Corp.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has committed all but $20 billion of the first $350 billion of bank-rescue funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

“I think that is where they go next,” Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said in an interview before the impasse, referring to TARP funds.

Treasury spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli referred questions to the White House.

Another possibility is seeking cash from the Federal Reserve. While Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke hasn’t ruled out using emergency-lending authority to aid carmakers, he’s said he’s reluctant to do so without Congress also assisting the companies.

Fed ‘Reluctant’

“The Federal Reserve would be extremely reluctant to extend credit where Congress has actively considered providing assistance but, after due consideration, has decided not to act,” Bernanke wrote in a Dec. 5 letter to Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman.

Pressure was already mounting on GM and Chrysler this week before the congressional failure as both faced demands from a small number of partsmakers for payments in advance because of the bankruptcy concerns, people familiar with the matter said.

GM said it will lack the minimum $11 billion it needs to pay its bills by the end of this month and Chrysler said it will run out of money early next year. Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said his company doesn’t need the loans, though he predicted last week that Ford could be dragged into bankruptcy by the failure of GM.

GM said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed that agreement could not be reached tonight in the Senate despite the best bipartisan efforts. We will assess all of our options to continue our restructuring and to obtain the means to weather the current economic crisis.”

‘Obviously Disappointed’

Chrysler spokeswoman Lori McTavish said the company is “obviously disappointed in what transpired in the Senate and will continue to pursue a workable solution to help ensure the future viability of the company.”

GM is reeling from almost $73 billion in losses since 2004 and a 22 percent plunge in U.S. sales this year. The automaker last month said it lost $4.2 billion in the third quarter.

Chrysler has been battered by a 28 percent plunge in U.S. sales through November, the steepest drop among major automakers. It ended the third quarter with $6.1 billion in cash and needs at least $3 billion on hand to operate, Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli told Congress on Nov. 18.

Job losses would total 2.5 million to 3.5 million from an automaker failure in 2009, including 1.4 million people in industries not directly tied to manufacturing, according to a Nov. 4 report from the Center for Automotive Research, which does studies for government agencies and companies.

‘Very Bad Christmas’

“This is going to be a very bad Christmas” for many people, Reid said on the Senate floor last night.

The Senate failure came when a bid to cut off debate on the bill the House passed Dec. 10 fell short of the required 60 votes. The vote on ending the debate was 52 in favor, 35 against. Earlier last night, negotiations on an alternate bailout plan failed.

A plan offered by Tennessee Republican Senator Bob Corker, which served as a basis for a possible compromise yesterday, would have required automakers to offer bondholders 30 cents on the dollar.

Automakers would also have had to convince the United Auto Workers to take half of the $23 billion it’s owed for health care as GM stock instead, and eliminate a program in which UAW workers are paid not to work if there are no tasks for them.

“We were about three words away from a deal,” Corker said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net; Jeff Green in Washington at jgreen16@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 12, 2008 02:06 EST

GM, Chrysler Face Immediate Cash Crisis As Senate Vote Fails

December 12, 2008: 01:09 AM ET

DETROIT -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC face an immediate cash crisis in the aftermath of the Senate’s rejection of a $14 billion emergency loan package, analysts said Thursday.

The auto makers, which said they will run out of money by year’s end without a government lifeline, will struggle to make massive payments to parts suppliers due at the beginning of January absent government assistance, said Gregg Lemos Stein, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.

“If anything, the automotive market has worsened since GM and Chrysler first said they may not have enough liquidity to make it into next year,” Lemos Stein said. GM and Chrysler warned last month that liquidity is running dangerously low.

The U.S. auto makers are dealing with the weakest domestic sales environment in a quarter century, as well as deteriorating conditions in overseas markets that had until lately helped offset weakness at home in recent years. Sales have plunged in recent months as the economic outlook worsens and credit conditions remain tight.

Buckingham Research analyst Joseph Amaturo said failure of the loan package could force GM into bankruptcy.

In a note published earlier Thursday, Amaturo said that if the bill failed in the Senate, “GM is in a very precarious financial situation and likely files for bankruptcy by year-end.”

The auto maker is trying to avoid being pushed into filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a move it contends will eventually lead to liquidation because consumers won’t buy vehicles from a bankrupt auto maker.

GM, which burned through $6.9 billion in cash in the third quarter, said late Thursday that it will assess its options to ensure it remains viable. The company is likely to renew its request to the Bush Administration to tap the $ 700 billion in funds made available to rescue the financial system or approach the federal reserve, according to several sources familiar with loan negotiations.

The auto makers and supporters of the bill to provide emergency aid to the manufacturers have argued that failure to provide aid could have disastrous implications, leading to the collapse not only of the auto makers but also the massive supply chain and dealers.

Lemos Stein said S&P is “very concerned about the spillover effects on suppliers,” adding, “in a worst case, Ford may have to utilize its liquidity to keep its supply base intact.”

Ford Motor Co. (F) didn’t ask for an immediate cash infusion but is requesting access to a credit line should the environment deteriorate further. Ford believes a failure of GM or Chrysler would ricochet through the U.S. auto industry and force a bankruptcy at one of both of the other auto makers.

Ford declined comment on the result of Thursday’s Senate vote, while Chrysler representatives weren’t immediately available for comment.

Shares of the auto makers and most suppliers plunged in New York trading Thursday as pessimism grew about the outlook for bill in the Senate.

-By Sharon Terlep, Dow Jones Newswires; (248) 204-5532; sharon.terlep@ dowjones.com

-By Stephen Wisnefski, Dow Jones Newswires; (312) 750 4142; stephen.wisnefski@ dowjones.com

GM says it “disappointed” and “betrayed” consumers

Circle Up the Matadors Y’all;

when the autoco’s stoop to this level you know some serious shiznit is hittin the fan, post haste.  So Rick Wagoner is Ousted;  it won’t make anybodys’ holiday any sadder from what we can see. he came in, and now he’s ridin his high priced ass out on a big cushion; while the retirees and employees are praying the feds come through and save their jobs. – Literally Layin Hands on SUV’s in the Same Pulpit where they laid Rosa Parks Out.

LAWD JESUS It Just Ain’t Right – It Just Ain’t Right

Rick You Ass – You knew this was commin so I hope you hid yo ducats in the right place.  the boy over at ford says he’ll take a $1.00 Salary; Suuuuuurrreee.. and you think our heads screw off too right ? we know bout ya stock options and ya golden parachute. Jesus Knows Your Address and Bank Acct Too Bro.

well anytime dealers are running promos where you buy one car and get another one free, to get you to buy one – you know you’re market is DEAD.

Y’all Asses Killed the Car Market – now Merry Fricken Christmas Ya buncha AMC Matadors.

DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Corp on Monday unveiled an unusually frank advertisement acknowledging it had “disappointed” and sometimes even “betrayed” American consumers as it lobbies to clinch the federal aid it needs to stay afloat into next month.

The print advertisement marked a sharp break from GM’s public stance of just several weeks ago when it sought to justify its bid for a U.S. government on the grounds that the credit crisis had undermined its business in ways executives could never have foreseen.

It also came as Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, who has led the automaker since 2000, faces new pressure to step aside as GM seeks up to $18 billion in federal funding.

“While we’re still the U.S. sales leader, we acknowledge we have disappointed you,” the ad said. “At times we violated your trust by letting our quality fall below industry standards and our designs became lackluster.”

The unsigned open letter, entitled “GM’s Commitment to the American People” ran in the trade journal Automotive News, which is widely read by industry executives, lobbyists and other insiders.

In the ad, GM admits to other strategic missteps analysts and critics have said hastened its recent decline.

“We have proliferated our brands and dealer network to the point where we lost adequate focus on the core U.S. market,” the ad said. “We also biased our product mix toward pick-up trucks and SUVs.”

But GM also says in the ad that it was hit by forces beyond its control as it tried to complete a restructuring earlier this year.

“Despite moving quickly to reduce our planned spending by over $20 billion, GM finds itself precariously and frighteningly close to running out of cash,” the ad says.

A failure of GM would deepen the current recession and put “millions of job at risk,” according to the ad, which also highlights the automaker’s pledged restructuring and intention to begin repaying taxpayers in 2011.

GM spokesman Greg Martin said the ad was an attempt by the automaker to present “a pledge directly to the public.”

“We believe we need to deliver this commitment unfiltered since quite a bit of media commentary has not kept pace with our actual progress to transform the company,” Martin said.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut who is central to the effort to craft an auto bailout bill, on Sunday said GM should replace Wagoner.

GM says Wagoner has the support of the company’s board.

(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

SUVs at altar, Detroit church prays for a bailout

By Kevin Krolicki and Soyoung Kim

DETROIT, Dec 7 (Reuters) – With sport-utility vehicles at the altar and auto workers in the pews, one of Detroit’s largest churches on Sunday offered up prayers for Congress to bail out the struggling auto industry.

“We have never seen as midnight an hour as we face this week,” the Rev. Charles Ellis told several thousand congregants at a rousing service at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple. “This week, lives are hanging above an abyss of uncertainty as both houses of Congress decide whether to extend a helping hand.”

Local car dealerships donated three hybrid SUVs to be displayed during the service, one from each of the Big Three. A Ford Escape, Chevy Tahoe from GM and a Chrysler Aspen were parked just in front of the choir and behind the pulpit.

Ellis said he and other Detroit ministers would pray and fast until Congress voted on a bailout for Detroit’s embattled automakers. He urged his congregation to do the same.

Other Detroit-area religious leaders — including Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders convened by Cardinal Adam Maida — have urged Congress to approve an auto aid package.

But the service dedicated to saving Motown’s signature industry at Greater Grace Temple was the highest profile effort to mobilize support yet.

“Everybody can’t live on Wall Street. Everybody can’t live on Main Street. But all of us have lived on the side street, the working class,” Ellis said. “I call it the working class because everything tells me there is no more middle class.”

Key Democratic lawmakers and the Bush administration were locked in negotiations over the weekend aimed at offering at least $15 billion in short-term loans to keep General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Chrysler LLC from immediate bankruptcy.

Automakers and their political allies contend a collapse by the industry would cost up to 3 million jobs as suppliers, dealers and companies in related industries were hit in turn.

Representing the 150,000 unionized workers at GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), UAW Vice President General Holiefield said the industry had made its case for emergency funding as strongly as it could.

“We have done all we can do in this union, so I’m going to turn it over to the Lord,” Holiefield told the congregation.

Ellis said he started to organize the service last week after hearing from auto workers, retirees and their widows who were all fearful of even harder times.

At one point, Ellis summoned up hundreds of auto workers and retirees in the congregation to come forward toward the vehicles on the altar to be anointed with oil.

“It’s all about hope. You can’t dictate how people will think, how they will respond, how they will vote,” Ellis said after the service. “But you can look to God. We believe he can change the minds and hearts of men and women in power, and that’s what we tried to do today.”

Michelle McDade, 50, who attended the service, said her late father had worked at GM for 30 years and her mother was now living on his pension.

“I pray in good times and in bad times, but I pray these days because it’s something that directly affects our lives. “Politicians forgot autoworkers for ages. You can’t just forget them. We’re also part of the country.”

Founded in 1927 when Detroit was an automotive boomtown, Greater Grace Temple is one the city’s largest and most influential black churches.

The church was the site of the 2005 funeral for civil rights figure Rosa Parks. (Editing by Leslie Adler)