"Managing a car company can't be that tough."

I'm still trying to get my jaw off the floor after reading that naive remark. I don't know where to start. I could start rattling off statistics about the complexities (1000's of suppliers, 100's of 1000's of SKUs, etc.) but if you can't understand why any company with nearly $200B in sales and 100's of pages of UAW work rules might be tough to manage, I don't know how to convince you.

I'm not saying the current execs are great shakes (how could they not see flying to DC in private jets as massively bad PR?? How??). But it's not an easy job.

In the abstract, I'd say let 'em fail. They sealed their fate in the early 1980's when they assumed cheap oil would last indefinitely and ignored JD Power (yeah, quality does matter after all).

In the concrete, I'd say DON'T LET THEM FAIL, at least not now. The compromise currently in discussion completely sucks, but the last thing we need is the failure of 3 (and it will be 3) huge companies. Bankruptcy sounds good in the abstract, but the comparison with airlines falls apart. A plane ticket is a 2 hour commitment; a car purchase is multiyear. And airlines' main purchase is fuel; auto companies purchase *everything*, there's no way there won't be huge disruptions under Ch11. If GM goes down, half its suppliers will fall down, and they'll take Ford and Chrysler with it.

So I support even the crappy compromise under discussion. I'd pay $25B (and it's less than that if they survive) to have then fail at a less sucky time.

Yes, it is that bad.

It's also a way to make a living.

People like stories. Lots of people make a living telling stories. Some of the supposedly non-fiction stories that people tell are, in fact, fiction. Like stories of why the squiggles squiggled down, again, today.

Obama seems to be choosing people that are competent and get things done.

Idealogically-driven leadership, left or right, sucks. Ideology is important, but it belongs on the side, influencing thought and debate, not running the show.

It has been clear to me for months that Obama is a pragmatist. That's a good thing. We need pragmatism (implemented by wicked smart people, which Obama has in surplus).

My message to progressives: Obama's the best thing to happen for progressives since, well, I don't know- LBJ? Don't get greedy. We may not be a center-right nation, but we aren't all that leftist, either.

Also, he's inheriting a big crock of crap that he has to get through first, and doing so is going to require skill.

I, personally, have been enormously impressed with Obama's recent stances on a progressive issue that is important to me- energy policy. His "shock and trance" characterization of US reaction to changes in oil prices was brilliant, as was his statement at Arnold's climate conference in CA- "Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response."

So far, pretty much everyone who has second-guessed Obama on something has been wrong. The man's not going to be perfect, but he has shown an insane amount of promise over the last few months. Let him, I don't know, govern first before passing judgment.

Sorry Pablo, I like your work but you need a fact-checker.

The CSX claim is based on total freight divided by total fuel used (I can't find the link that details this calculation, but it's out there).

The car comparison is off by a factor of 100.

The truck calculation assumes a truck weighs 80k lbs. But this is typically the maximum for a truck, and includes the weight of the truck, not just the freight. Trucks don't always weigh out (imagine a shipment of cotton balls), so the average weight per truck is going to be much, much lower than 80k. So this calculation isn't very accurate.

There's more and better info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_efficiency_in_transportation

Details about the CSX number:

http://lucididiocyblog2.blogspot.com/2008/03/423-miles-gallon.html

Something like "brought to you by the Onion", but it never came...

But if he wants legislation ready to sign by Jan. 20, his economic team will have to get to work on details sooner rather than later.

Sure, but I don't think they need to announce them to the public before running them by other experts, Congressional leaders, etc.

Get to work, Obama team, roll up the sleeves and go for it. Once you figure out some plans for dealing with the ClusterF@ck to the Poorhouse, do let us know.

But please *don't* through out a lot of ideas that may or may not work, that you aren't sure about, that will cost, say, $700B.

Let us know when you are ready.