You're forgiven if you think the Chrysler Bailout is a hot new car that competes with another model called the GM Rescue. Then there is the Ford Forgo, brought to us by the only Detroit auto maker to forgo government assistance, at least so far...You can see where this leaves us. Ford has about $26 billion in automotive debt -- about the same as GM's $27 billion. Ford's debt is secured by its assets. And secured lenders must be repaid -- unless they happen to be Chrysler lenders and get clipped by a company bankruptcy plan that's backed by President Obama.
So Ford is like a homeowner who planned prudently and can pay his mortgage, while his spendthrift neighbors get their mortgage reduced by some new federal program. (my emphasis)
What we need to see is Ford, which I like very much, be able to dump most of its UAW obligations without having to enter bankruptcy court. I don't think that Ford wants to screw its employees but they are the largest controllable cost the company has and being able to dump the UAW anchor would go a long way toward helping Ford reach full viability. With GM and Chrysler UAW gets a free ride at our expense.
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