Jack Welch for Car Czar

So once again we find ourselves at a crossroads in the much debated auto bailout talks. Conservatives in the U.S. Senate are threatening a filibuster, and may have the votes to derail the $14 billion in emergency aid that Democratic lawmakers and the Bush administration have cobbled together in the waning days of this Congressional session.

Without realizing it, this may provide those opposed to a Detroit bailout with the only opportunity they may ever have to actually avert a catastrophic bankruptcy of GM (GM), Chrysler and even the Ford Motor Company (G). That is the appointment of Jack Welch, the retired legendary CEO of General Electric (GE), who turned a so-so domestic industrial manufacturer into the largest and most successful industrial company in the world, as our nation's Car Czar.

If they can convince Mr. Welch to take on the job of Car Czar, which is contained in a provision of the emergency funding legislation, it would afford Detroit the best chance they'll ever have to overcoming the odds now stacked against them to becoming profitable enterprises once more. He would command the respect of management, labor, investors, bankers and the suppliers who comprise the stakeholders in this debacle. Moreover, his presence would assuage lawmakers, who are on the hook if this deal fails, the news media and a skeptical public that there may possibly be some light at the end of this dark tunnel.

Allow me to suggest that the President, the President-elect, and Senate leaders contact Mr. Welch to dertermine his interest in taking such a position. He certainly doesn't need the money (he would no doubt insist on working for "$1 a year" if he agreed to take the job), and he'd very likely enjoy taking on such a seemingly "impossible" challenge. He wouldn't even consider the idea if it only involved serving as a "figurehead" either, which is really what we need in such an individual, isn't it?

With the same type of talent and brains that T. Boone Pickens has brought to our nation's energy crisis, we should take advantage of this brief one-time opportunity to recruit another American icon to serving his country. So let's push to have Jack Welch named Car Czar. If ANYONE can turn this desperate situation around, it's him. And at the end of the day with Detroit at the end of its rope. what have we got to lose?

Disclosure: no positions

Comments

[D-D:]

The suggestion is nice. However, Jake Welch was young and energetic when he was running GE. Although I shouldn't make any assumptions, Mr. Welch may not be the right person any more. However, the real question is : who else can they find besides Mr. Welch? I guess, no one !

2008 Dec 12 11:08 AM

[sumosama:]

Bob Lutz, maybe...but I think he is as old as Mr. Welch.

Then again, we could auction the position off...

2008 Dec 12 03:57 PM

[Paul Killinger:]

D-D,

Very likely no one we can trust.

By the way, Boone Pickens is 84, and he doesn't look like he's slowed down very much.

There are other people out there who may be credible, but no one with Mr. Welsh's outstanding resume and sterling reputation that I know of.

2008 Dec 12 04:03 PM

[kurt walter:]

Neutron Jack Welsh would fire thousands of them. What would Mr. Neutron do about the GM "job bank", also known as the Rubber Room. 8,000 employees getting paid full salaries and benefits to sit in a room 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week not to work. Enough for anyone to drop a neutron bomb on GM. Finally, anyone taking only "$1.00" per year in salary is an idiot. This is not a charity. You are not some benevolent savior. Get over yourself. Take a normal salary and do the job.

2008 Dec 13 04:09 PM