If the Sierra Club wishes to run the automobile industry, this is the right way to go about it.

My advice to the Detroit Three automakers: Tell Henry Waxman to keep any and all federal money. File for Chapter 11 reorganization. Tear up the UAW collective bargaining agreement in Bankruptcy Court. Tear up your national dealer agreements at the same time, and reduce the number of vehicles and brands under your corporate umbrella. Then, focus on your profitable vehicles. Corvettes. Mustangs. F-150 pickup trucks. GMC light trucks and SUV's. Make profit your goal, and settle up your CAFE fines the same way that BMW and Mercedes-Benz do. And tell Michigan/Ohio/Indiana/Missouri voters exactly what you are doing, every step of the way, and why.

why is the lameduck Congress selecting/electing the new leadership positions and committee chairs now? - shouldnt the new congress-people get a say?

The Sierra Club could hardly do a worse job of running the automobile industry than the people who have been running it. You know, the ones who are now flying their corporate jets to Washington to beg for a bailout. Maybe if they'd started making the cars Americans need (like cars with good fuel economy) instead of the cars they want to sell them (like Hummers), they wouldn't be in this mess.

Then, focus on your profitable vehicles. Corvettes. Mustangs. F-150 pickup trucks. GMC light trucks and SUV's. Make profit your goal.

-- Elephantman

Yeah, brilliant strategy, genius! In case you've been too busy with your nose wedged up Bush's keister, this is exactly WHY the Big Three is bankrupt. They focused on high-profit vehicles, particularly big-ass SUVs, to the exclusion of a long-term strategy that focused on fuel efficiency, so that when gas started skyrocketing, they had effectively fucked themselves.

But sure, why not keep going over the edge of the cliff?! As Republicans know, just because a policy fails disastrously is no reason to change course. That's just a sign of weakness, after all.

That is, if you want the American auto industry to continue its nosedive into the planet!

How about instead bailing them--and their myriad workers--out with heavy stipulations to apply their expertise to making electric cars, new charging infrastructure, and even perhaps diversifying into light rail? That way they could grow while actually making the country a better place to live and raise families!

Good to see the value Conservatives place on a contract. Things don't go exactly your way? Go back on your word, ignore legal agreements, throw a tantrum and be more blatant about your "Me first" strategy.

But, be willing to pay the price at the polls.

In the meantime, the CAFE standards that people like Waxman want is nothing more than a tax and a hindrance on the U.S. automakers, and on them alone.

The Big Three have given up their worldwide leadership role when they stood in the way of innovation and instead opted for higher short-term profits. Dingell was more than willing to let this failure in leadership slide (considering he's married to a GM exec, not a big surprise); Waxman will not.

They -- and the UAW -- lobbied against higher CAFE standards which put them at a disadvantage when people realized they only sold low-efficiency vehicles when gas prices skyrocketed as opposed to foreign automakers; did not advocate for a national healthcare system which put them at a strategic disadvantage to foreign automakers who did not need to add $1000+ to each car to fund healthcare for their employees; let quality degrade; opposed tooth and nail every single regulation to come out of CA (and still oppose).

The tired excuse they have used: "we don't have the technology," "it will cost too much." Yeah, some leadership. Sounds like coward talk to me. Waxman will put those cowards in their place.

Shame you don't think Americans have the intelligence or ingenuity to develop cars that meet CAFE standards. Why do you hate America?

One of the problems with the New Majority is its age. I was rooting for the guy in his 60s over the octogenarian, although I have revered both Waxman and Dingell for decades. This is THE congressional story except for the run-off and recount in the Senate. The New Majority has to make choices and it appears it will not sweep real conflict under the rug. This is proof to me that innovation is going to come from Congress and not just from the Executive Branch. This is the kind of change that Obama has been talking about. As one reader put it: Hurray for Waxman. Hurray for the Dems. Hurray for the country. Forget red/blue, forget blue dogs. We need to try something new. This vote has really surprised me. This is not just YES WE CAN. This is YES WE ARE GOING TO DO THIS AND THIS IS THE FIRST STEP.

why is the lameduck Congress selecting/electing the new leadership positions and committee chairs now? - shouldnt the new congress-people get a say?

This weeks is the regular leadership election/freshman orientation week for both parties. New members are in DC and did get to vote on the energy and commerce chair. According to Politico, Waxman did a very good job of winning over the new members.

Gas is down 30% from ths summer. Tax it now - Americans ARE willing to pay. Use the money for incentives for alternate cars/energy. Let the big three hang themselves - They have put the noose around their own neck as it is. The unions will find other work, in a newly formed, non-oil based economy.

don't worry, the Democrats are coming with $25 billion in corporate welfare to give to your bosses so they can buy more corporate jets and continue building factories in Mexico.

What we have is the far left/green/"progressive netroots" side of the Democrat Party (Salon being the Chronicle of the progressive left netroots) waging war on the blue collar wing of the Democrat Party.

The matter of CAFE standards is a pure example of this. CAFE standards haven't curtailed gasoline usage, haven't done much of anything in terms of reduction of atmospheric carbon. (When you put people in highly fuel-efficient cars, they just care tha much less about the price of a gallon of gas.) What CAFE was designed to do was to make liberals and people like Waxman happy, without having to make any painful decisions. They put the pain, and the decisionmaking, on Detroit.

Small, cheap sedans were not good mony-makers. Low margins were not a problem for Honda and Toyota; they had lower caosts, no legacy costs like the Detroit Three, and all they wanted was "market share, baby." The Detroit Three built skimpy low-margin cars to satisfy CAFE, and they survived off of profits on superb, desirable light trucks, SUV's and higher-performance platforms.

That is how we got where we are. You all think Toyota engineers are too smart to build big cars? Well guess what. Exhibit A is the Toyota Tundra, designed and built at a cost of a billion or so, as a big ("light truck") vehicle for the American market.