Getbig Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Forums
Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Soul Crusher on June 01, 2009, 09:32:06 AM
-
The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.M.
Published: May 31, 2009
WASHINGTON — It is not every 31-year-old who, in a first government job, finds himself dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism.
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
Brian Deese, who interrupted his law school career, is the little-seen force behind the revamping of the American auto industry.
But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry.
Nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to what ailed an industry that had been in decline ever since he was born. A bit laconic and looking every bit the just-out-of-graduate-school student adjusting to life in the West Wing — “he’s got this beard that appears and disappears,” says Steven Rattner, one of the leaders of President Obama’s automotive task force — Mr. Deese was thrown into the auto industry’s maelstrom as soon the election-night parties ended.
“There was a time between Nov. 4 and mid-February when I was the only full-time member of the auto task force,” Mr. Deese, a special assistant to the president for economic policy, acknowledged recently as he hurried between his desk at the White House and the Treasury building next door. “It was a little scary.”
But now, according to those who joined him in the middle of his crash course about the automakers’ downward spiral, he has emerged as one of the most influential voices in what may become President Obama’s biggest experiment yet in federal economic intervention. While far more prominent members of the administration are making the big decisions about Detroit, it is Mr. Deese who is often narrowing their options.
A month ago, when the administration was divided over whether to support Fiat’s bid to take over much of Chrysler, it was Mr. Deese who spoke out strongly against simply letting the company go into liquidation, according to several people who were present for the debate.
“Brian grasps both the economics and the politics about as quickly as I’ve seen anyone do this,” said Lawrence H. Summers, the head of the National Economic Council who is not known for being patient whenever he believes an analysis is sub-par — or disagrees with his own. “And there he was in the Roosevelt Room, speaking up vigorously to make the point that the costs we were going to incur giving Fiat a chance were no greater than some of the hidden costs of liquidation.”
Mr. Deese was not the only one favoring the Fiat deal, but his lengthy memorandum on how liquidation would increase Medicaid costs, unemployment insurance and municipal bankruptcies ended the debate. The administration supported the deal, and it seems likely to become a reality on Monday, if a federal judge handling the high-speed bankruptcy proceeding approves the sale of Chrysler’s best assets to the Italian carmaker.
Mr. Deese’s role is unusual for someone who is neither a formally trained economist nor a business school graduate, and who never spent much time flipping through the endless studies about the future of the American and Japanese auto industries.
He lives a dual life these days. He starts the day at a desk wedged just outside of Mr. Summers’s office, where he can hear what young members of the economic team have come to know as “the Summers bellow.” From there, he can make it quickly to the press office to help devise explanations for why taxpayers are spending more than $50 billion on what polls show is a very unpopular bailout of the auto industry.
Several times a day he speed-walks to Treasury, taking a shortcut through the tunnel under the colonnade, near the kitchens. The other day he talked about how sharply perceptions of the industry’s future changed after Mr. Obama’s election.
“At the first meeting with Rick Wagoner,” he said, referring to G.M.’s recently deposed chief executive, “they were in a very different place. He said publicly that bankruptcy was not a viable option. It’s been a long process getting everyone to look at the options differently.”
In fact, from before Inauguration Day, few in Mr. Obama’s circle saw any other choice. Every time Mr. Deese ran the numbers on G.M. and Chrysler, he came back with the now-obvious conclusion that neither was a viable business, and that their plans to revive themselves did not address the erosion of their revenues. But it took the support of Mr. Rattner and Ron Bloom, senior advisers to the task force charged with restructuring the automobile industry, to help turn Mr. Deese’s positions into policy.
“The president’s instruction to us was that we had to come up with a solution that would work on a commercial basis, that didn’t involve indefinite federal financing,” Mr. Deese said. “But we didn’t want liquidation, which would have even worse effects. So the question was how do you design a very substantial restructuring, and do it fast.”
Mr. Deese’s route to the auto table at the White House was anything but a straight line. He is the son of a political science professor at Boston College (his father) and an engineer who works in renewable energy (his mother). He grew up in the Boston suburb of Belmont and attended Middlebury College in Vermont. He went to Washington to work on aid issues and was quickly hired by Nancy Birdsall, a widely respected authority on the effectiveness of international aid and the founder of the Center for Global Development.
But he wanted to learn domestic issues as well, and soon ended up working as an assistant for Gene Sperling, who 17 years ago in the Clinton White House played a similar role as economic policy prodigy. Eventually, Mr. Deese headed to Yale for his law degree. But his e-mail box was constantly filled with messages from friends in Washington who were signing up to work for the Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns. Mr. Deese chose Senator Clinton’s.
“He was pretty quickly functioning as the top economic policy staffer through her campaign,” Mr. Sperling said. “He could blend the policy needs and the political needs pretty seamlessly.” On the day that the Clinton campaign ended, Mr. Deese left her concession speech and received a message on his BlackBerry from a friend in the Obama campaign urging him to sign on immediately to Mr. Obama’s team.
He resumed his policy work there, and found himself stuck in Chicago — unable to fly to Washington with his dog — as the economic crisis deepened. Finally, one night, he decided to get into his car with his dog and just started driving back to Washington. Tired, he pulled over to catch some sleep in the car.
“I slept in the parking lot of the G. M. plant in Lordstown, Ohio,” he recalled. The giant plant, opened during G.M.’s heyday in the mid-1960s, is where the Pontiac G5 is produced. Under the plan Mr. Deese worked on when he arrived in Washington, Pontiac will disappear.
“I guess that was prophetic,” he said, shaking his head.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified the Center for Global Development as the Center for International Development.
Sign in to RecommendNext Article in Business (6 of 39) » A version of this article appeared in print on June 1, 2009, on page B1 of the New York edition.
________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ______
This is literally mind blowing. I dont know where to start how insane this Admn is.
This 31 y/o punk never even has held a job in the private sector and is now responsible for GM????
Additionally, this story proves Obama LIED the first and second time they gave GM the cash regarding the bankruptcy situation.
I dont know what to say anymore.
-
how about posting links with your stories
-
how about posting links with your stories
Its from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/business/01deese.html?_r=2&emc=eta1
I simply cannot comprehend the nonsense that comes out of this Admn.
-
Its from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/business/01deese.html?_r=2&emc=eta1
I simply cannot comprehend the nonsense that comes out of this Admn.
Additionally, does not this story prove that Obama and the govt lied about GM and the bankruptcy situation???
-
Wow, That kinda gives me a little inferiority complex right there....
Dudes younger than I are in charge of GM?!?
-
Wow, That kinda gives me a little inferiority complex right there....
Dudes younger than I are in charge of GM?!?
This guy probably never even changed the oil or a tire on a care and now runs GM????
Welcome to Obama land!
-
This guy probably never even changed the oil or a tire on a care and now runs GM????
Welcome to Obama land!
I 'Hope' he knows how to 'Change' a tire! :D
-
I 'Hope' he knows how to 'Change' a tire! :D
You simply cant make this up.
I sent this article to all my lib friends and not one has responded. I am sure they are all still in denial.
-
I guess my question to this is, what difference does his age make? He's obviously a smart and talented guy...
Are you sure you're just not hating on smart people?
I'm just trying to figure out where the story is really.
-
I guess my question to this is, what difference does his age make? He's obviously a smart and talented guy...
Are you sure you're just not hating on smart people?
I'm just trying to figure out where the story is really.
Ha ha. This is great. Has this guy ever:
1. Met a payroll
2. Designed a car
3. Fixed a car
4. Have an accounting degree
5. Any experience in auto or union issues?
6. Run a business
7. Held an executive position in any company
8. Run an organization
9. Know bankruptcy laws
10. owned a car
By your defintion a kid who scores high on a SAT is qualified for this job. This is pure insanity at its best.
-
Ha ha. This is great. Has this guy ever:
1. Met a payroll
2. Designed a car
3. Fixed a car
4. Have an accounting degree
5. Any experience in auto or union issues?
6. Run a business
7. Held an executive position in any company
8. Run an organization
9. Know bankruptcy laws
10. owned a car
By your defintion a kid who scores high on a SAT is qualified for this job. This is pure insanity at its best.
Do any of those things mean he can't do the job?
Seriously... I'm just trying to figure out what this "kid" (and I hardly think a 31 year old person is a "kid") has done to make you feel he isn't capable.
How old are you? If a 31 year old man... and he is a MAN. Not a "punk" as you put it. Is basically a child in your mind. This does make a lot of things clear now.
-
No need worrying about the age of the person who will DISMANTLE GM...it was a bunch of old fogies who destroyed it anyway. I say good riddance. This will open up a door to new automobile companies who will make better cars that are more fuel efficient, attractive and safe.
-
No need worrying about the age of the person who will DISMANTLE GM...it was a bunch of old fogies who destroyed it anyway. I say good riddance. This will open up a door to new automobile companies who will make better cars that are more fuel efficient, attractive and safe.
This is a valid point... The downfall of them was made by men who were all well over the age of 50 who weren't smart enough to look into the future. Instead, they squandered all of the good away.
-
Do any of those things mean he can't do the job?
Seriously... I'm just trying to figure out what this "kid" (and I hardly think a 31 year old person is a "kid") has done to make you feel he isn't capable.
How old are you? If a 31 year old man... and he is a MAN. Not a "punk" as you put it. Is basically a child in your mind. This does make a lot of things clear now.
Im 34 and went into my own business at 26 y/o. I started my operation on literally $700.00 and school loans. I do ok for myself and will be the first to admit i am not qualified to run a 1000 lawyer law firm or major corporation. However, I have met payrolls, payables, deal with receivables, clients, sales, etc. and have collected literally millions and millions of dollars for clients in construction, medical, insurance, and all sorts of matters. no one ever handed me shit. I did it on my own and know a ton more about most subjects than this kid can ever even dream of, whether it be bankruptcy laws, workers comp issues, UCC laws, etc.
Look at this kids background - NOTHING! This is the typical Obama garbage - a 31 y/o punk who has no experience in anything other than talking shit about things he has no personal experience in running massive operations in our govt.
TU - come on - you are on of the better posters on Get Big - you cant fall for this insanity.
This kid did not even finish his law degree. I had mine by 24 y/o. I have had a lot of successes and a lot of failures. This kid had not even had a real job in his life from what i can tell.
Tell me from my article just what qualifies him for this position???
-
This is a valid point... The downfall of them was made by men who were all well over the age of 50 who weren't smart enough to look into the future. Instead, they squandered all of the good away.
My God, the brainwashing is truly complete. Regardless of age, what in this guys' background qualifies him for this position?
Additionally, would you be singing the same tune if this were Bush hiring some 31y/o from Texas whose parents were oil people????
-
"3. Fixed a car"
i'm guessing most successful bankers and CEOs can't fix cars. You undermine your position by saying a guy can't run a spreadsheet because he can't fix a car. Do you think jack Welch or a 50-year old mechanic would do a better job here?
Going by the facts - he doesn't look all that experienced, but hey, by age 31 a lot of people have made their impact.
Brian Deese works at the National Economic Council and is special assistant to the president for economic policy. Previously, he served as a member of the Economic Policy Working Group for the Obama-Biden transition.[1] He emerged as "one of the most influential voices" in the Obama Administration relative to the auto industry, and specifically the Chrysler and GM workouts.[2] He has appeared in videos posted on change.gov by the transition team.[3] Before joining the transition team, he was deputy economic policy director for the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign[4] and, before that, for Gene Sperling in the 2008 Clinton campaign.[2] He graduated from Middlebury College in 2000 with a degree in Political Science[5] and is now on leave from Yale Law School.[6] Previously, he was a senior policy analyst for economic policy at the Center for American Progress.[7] Brian also worked as a research assistant at the Center for Global Development[8], hired by founder Nancy Birdsall, according to The New York Times,[2], where he co-authored the book Delivering on Debt Relief.
-
Im 34 and went into my own business at 26 y/o. I started my operation on literally $700.00 and school loans. I do ok for myself and will be the first to admit i am not qualified to run a 1000 lawyer law firm or major corporation. However, I have met payrolls, payables, deal with receivables, clients, sales, etc. and have collected literally millions and millions of dollars for clients in construction, medical, insurance, and all sorts of matters. no one ever handed me shit. I did it on my own and know a ton more about most subjects than this kid can ever even dream of, whether it be bankruptcy laws, workers comp issues, UCC laws, etc.
Look at this kids background - NOTHING! This is the typical Obama garbage - a 31 y/o punk who has no experience in anything other than talking shit about things he has no personal experience in running massive operations in our govt.
TU - come on - you are on of the better posters on Get Big - you cant fall for this insanity.
This kid did not even finish his law degree. I had mine by 24 y/o. I have had a lot of successes and a lot of failures. This kid had not even had a real job in his life from what i can tell.
Tell me from my article just what qualifies him for this position???
I'm not saying he's overly qualified... But I'm not saying he can't do the job... That's all.
He may have enough knowledge to deal with this... I don't know, but I'm not going to say he's incapable just because he isn't some high powered corporate suit.
I mean, what if someone had told you that you were going to fail just because.
-
My God, the brainwashing is truly complete. Regardless of age, what in this guys' background qualifies him for this position?
Additionally, would you be singing the same tune if this were Bush hiring some 31y/o from Texas whose parents were oil people????
No, I wouldn't, because the people Bush put in IN THE PAST fucked up a lot of stuff... Iraq, FEMA, among others... Bush had his guys in there and they PROVED themselves to be morons.
This guy deserves the chance just like everyone else does... If he fucks up, I guarantee I will call him and Obama out on it... GUARANTEED... but so far, they haven't.
I was always on the fence about the government getting into the car business anyway... So this seems like small potatoes in the bigger picture.
-
Tell me from my article just what qualifies him for this position???
He convinced the most powerful man on the planet (Obama) to place his faith in him to save the backbone of American manufacturing.
Whatever skill set he has/does not have, he sure must be a hell of a job interviewee!
-
He convinced the most powerful man on the planet (Obama) to place his faith in him to save the backbone of American manufacturing.
Whatever skill set he has/does not have, he sure must be a hell of a job interviewee!
Fine, let him start by selling cars and let him work his way up. He obviously sold himself to Obama - let him help the company by selling cars since they need revenue and sales, not more geeks, dweebs, and "experts" who have never worked a real day in their lives.
-
OMGWTF???? :-\
-
OMGWTF???? :-\
I cant tell you the smile I had emailing this to all my Obama-loving lib friends.
-
Fine, let him start by selling cars and let him work his way up. He obviously sold himself to Obama - let him help the company by selling cars since they need revenue and sales, not more geeks, dweebs, and "experts" who have never worked a real day in their lives.
So let's get this straight.
Obama was shrewd enough to convince the world and the american populace that he was the best man for this job.
Obama was shrewd enough to defeat the Rove and Clinton war machines, with decades more experience and way more $ and connections than he had.
And you want to judge the capability of a 31-year old man, before he starts his job, and second-guess Obama's judgment?
I'd say we let the guy screw up before we shit all over him. His resume is light but he had to have something going to be awarded the job. I'm sorry, but your belief we need a person who knows how to fix a car at the moment is wrong. We need a person who can organize a large firm and make decisions based upon $, demand, limited resources, etc.
-
So let's get this straight.
Obama was shrewd enough to convince the world and the american populace that he was the best man for this job.
Obama was shrewd enough to defeat the Rove and Clinton war machines, with decades more experience and way more $ and connections than he had.
And you want to judge the capability of a 31-year old man, before he starts his job, and second-guess Obama's judgment?
I'd say we let the guy screw up before we shit all over him. His resume is light but he had to have something going to be awarded the job. I'm sorry, but your belief we need a person who knows how to fix a car at the moment is wrong. We need a person who can organize a large firm and make decisions based upon $, demand, limited resources, etc.
Fine, what in this guys' background gives you any indication whatsoever he can do that????
This is the Obama philiosphy in action - no one starts in the mailroom, they all start as CEO.
Unreal.
-
Fine, what in this guys' background gives you any indication whatsoever he can do that????
This is the Obama philiosphy in action - no one starts in the mailroom, they all start as CEO.
Unreal.
He's been in politics for years... He started in the mail room a long time ago.
-
He's been in politics for years... He started in the mail room a long time ago.
People in politics know politics and talk shit about things they really dont have a clue about. This guy is the classic example of that.
He has never even run a yard sale, but now we are led to believe by our dear Messiah that he can run GM???
Come on TU - you would not even hire this guy to run a car wash, let alone GM.
-
Research assistant then policy analyst.
Special Assistant to the President of National Economic Council.
Obama's right-hand man on the auto industry.
Sounds like a bright guy.
Do you have any alternatives? Maybe we hire guys from GM to do it, so they can hand golden parachutes to all their friends? No, this guy has zero hooks in him, unlike most of the fruitcups on Wall Street. He crunches numbers and offers scenarios and solutions.
You can suppose to know he's unqualified, but that means you must know more than Obama on this topic. Do you?
-
People in politics know politics and talk shit about things they really dont have a clue about. This guy is the classic example of that.
He has never even run a yard sale, but now we are led to believe by our dear Messiah that he can run GM???
Come on TU - you would not even hire this guy to run a car wash, let alone GM.
Possibly not... but I'm not hiring him, nor have I worked with or around him like Obama has.
-
Ha ha. This is great. Has this guy ever:
1. Met a payroll
2. Designed a car
3. Fixed a car
4. Have an accounting degree
5. Any experience in auto or union issues?
6. Run a business
7. Held an executive position in any company
8. Run an organization
9. Know bankruptcy laws
10. owned a car
By your defintion a kid who scores high on a SAT is qualified for this job. This is pure insanity at its best.
I agree. Some kid fresh out of school with little or no life experience should NOT be given this kind of responsibility. Crazy.
-
Research assistant then policy analyst.
Special Assistant to the President of National Economic Council.
Obama's right-hand man on the auto industry.
Sounds like a bright guy.
Do you have any alternatives? Maybe we hire guys from GM to do it, so they can hand golden parachutes to all their friends? No, this guy has zero hooks in him, unlike most of the fruitcups on Wall Street. He crunches numbers and offers scenarios and solutions.
You can suppose to know he's unqualified, but that means you must know more than Obama on this topic. Do you?
240 - thank you for your post. You perfectly demonstrated why we have ZERO as President.
-
He has never even run a yard sale, but now we are led to believe by our dear Messiah that he can run GM???
He wrote the auto bailout plan, and rallied for it when everyone else was shitting on it. He knows it inside and out, as well as all the raminifcations of a pass/fail on the auto industry, which many here can't grasp.
This man has trumpeted from Day 1 the need to cut up GM and control it's assets, and said that bankruptcy was inevitable. He was right.
-
Possibly not... but I'm not hiring him, nor have I worked with or around him like Obama has.
Yes you have hired him!!!! Your the taxpayer and this guy is getting hired and paid by your taxes.
-
He wrote the auto bailout plan, and rallied for it when everyone else was shitting on it. He knows it inside and out, as well as all the raminifcations of a pass/fail on the auto industry, which many here can't grasp.
This man has trumpeted from Day 1 the need to cut up GM and control it's assets, and said that bankruptcy was inevitable. He was right.
OMG - are you serious????
This guy is the one behind the lies???
I thought bankruptcy was not an option in September 2008 when this jerk was coming up wirth this????
This little punk literally cost the taxpayer 30 billion of unnecessary $$$$.
He is already a failure.
-
Yes you have hired him!!!! Your the taxpayer and this guy is getting hired and paid by your taxes.
So I'm going to have to let him do the job.
Again... As 240 mentioned... The guy was right when everyone else (including the GM leaders) said they didn't have to file for bankruptcy... So who's the smart one?
You mentioned that the 30 billion was unnecessary... Had they not gotten it, they would have been sold to a foreign entity and our manufacturing would be DONE. Is that what you want?
-
So I'm going to have to let him do the job.
Again... As 240 mentioned... The guy was right when everyone else (including the GM leaders) said they didn't have to file for bankruptcy... So who's the smart one?
You mentioned that the 30 billion was unnecessary... Had they not gotten it, they would have been sold to a foreign entity and our manufacturing would be DONE. Is that what you want?
Come on TU - the govt and GM was lying and everyone knew they had to go bankrupt. They simply said that to stall the situation and get more $$$$ out of the idiots taxpayer and payoff the unions.
Anyone with a brain knows that.
-
Come on TU - the govt and GM was lying and everyone knew they had to go bankrupt. They simply said that to stall the situation and get more $$$$ out of the idiots taxpayer and payoff the unions.
Anyone with a brain knows that.
They couldn't just let them collapse at the time... They had to do it gracefully to make sure it stayed in the US man.
-
They couldn't just let them collapse at the time... They had to do it gracefully to make sure it stayed in the US man.
Correct.
333386 likes the idea of 4 million americans losing their jobs in a single month. Lots of additional work in the collections field. Plus he is thirsty for gun battles and looks fwd to increased crime and poverty in the USA.
-
Correct.
333386 likes the idea of 4 million americans losing their jobs in a single month. Lots of additional work in the collections field. Plus he is thirsty for gun battles and looks fwd to increased crime and poverty in the USA.
We are heading there anyway as far as UE goes.
-
With our Federal Govt. owning 70% of GM, this can be nothing less than an utter disaster.
The French failed at it.
The British failed in grand fashion with British-Leyland.
The U.S. w/ G.M. will be the next name etched into the gravestone of industrial policy.
And it will be laid totally at the feet of Barack H. Obama.
-
With our Federal Govt. owning 70% of GM, this can be nothing less than an utter disaster.
The French failed at it.
The British failed in grand fashion with British-Leyland.
The U.S. w/ G.M. will be the next name etched into the gravestone of industrial policy.
And it will be laid totally at the feet of Barack H. Obama.
Not exactly the same. The US government's goal is not to get into the car business, but to stabilize the economy and get the hell out of the car business.
This dude is ONE of several members on the task force and more experienced members make the most important decisions. In that sense, the headline is misleading. Just reading the article, it's evident that the reason he's become so influential is because he is a bright guy with a solid understanding economics and policy. 31 is young, but some guys are just phenoms.
-
Not exactly the same. The US government's goal is not to get into the car business, but to stabilize the economy and get the hell out of the car business.
This dude is ONE of several members on the task force and more experienced members make the most important decisions. In that sense, the headline is misleading. Just reading the article, it's evident that the reason he's become so influential is because he is a bright guy with a solid understanding economics and policy. 31 is young, but some guys are just phenoms.
Hysterical. Just like Turbo Tim right????
-
Not exactly the same. The US government's goal is not to get into the car business, but to stabilize the economy and get the hell out of the car business.
This dude is ONE of several members on the task force and more experienced members make the most important decisions. In that sense, the headline is misleading. Just reading the article, it's evident that the reason he's become so influential is because he is a bright guy with a solid understanding economics and policy. 31 is young, but some guys are just phenoms.
Believe me, I know what this scenario entails, the govt. did something remotely similar with a gigantic rail company a few decades ago and it eventually was bought by another US rail corp. and is now CSX. This would be the dream end to it all.
But you can't tell me that you aren't worried that there is going to be all sorts of meddling and politicking and outright control by the govt. during its tenure as the majority shareholder. I know that BK was inevitable, it has been the endgame for several years and that the govt. loans were to allow GM to get their house in order in prep. for a BK.
But this whole scenario smells real bad to me. GM will need a U.S. total auto market at over 10 million units to break even, the total market is around 9 million right now, I believe. They will also need to sell a lot of vehicles as well. How will they meet this goal if they are cutting 1/2 their divisions, bad press, a well publicized BK and the shedding or relinquishing of Opel and the like? I remember reading in the WSJ and I believe Bloomberg or something that it was going to be a long shot to become profitable and that they have given up so much sales through bad press and cutting of production/divisions and the actual car market being crap that it really isn't all that probable that it could happen. Plus Ford is already gearing up production to fill the void left be GM.
I want it to work and I would love to believe that the U.S. Govt. means what it says about getting out ASAP, but all the real Lefties and Socialist boyscout's in the vicinity of this can't wait to get their grubby little hands on this pet project. It just gives me a REAL bad feeling.
Of course CEO Obama said "If all goes according to plan" they should become profitable in the future....So nothing to worry about, nothing at all.
-
I guess my question to this is, what difference does his age make? He's obviously a smart and talented guy...
Are you sure you're just not hating on smart people?
I'm just trying to figure out where the story is really.
I got a Masters at a much harder trade than GM, I owned a business, I come from a family that founded companies and dealt with the stock market and management issues daily I have been around that shit all of my life and I can go on....all of this still doesn't means I have even 1% of the skills necessary for such a mammoth task.
Being smart and talented is great but there are people who are just as smart and talented and actually know what to do and been there and in similar situations.
Putting some newbie on this is absurd....Obama is an idiot....
-
I got a Masters at a much harder trade than GM, I owned a business, I come from a family that founded companies and dealt with the stock market and management issues daily I have been around that shit all of my life and I can go on....all of this still doesn't means I have even 1% of the skills necessary for such a mammoth task.
Being smart and talented is great but there are people who are just as smart and talented and actually know what to do and been there and in similar situations.
Putting some newbie on this is absurd....Obama is an idiot....
If you have a Masters "from a much harder trade than GM", you've owned a business and come from a family with a strong business background, why would you believe that you don't even have 1% of the skills necessary to join a task force to downsize and liquidate a corporation? Yes, it's a large corporation, but at its core, the task is basically crunching numbers and trimming the fat. These old dudes who run large corporations aren't superhuman machines with advanced skillsets in management, engineering, accounting, and operating production machinery.They are just men who went to good schools and usually start in pretty cushy positions.
-
If you have a Masters "from a much harder trade than GM", you've owned a business and come from a family with a strong business background, why would you believe that you don't even have 1% of the skills necessary to join a task force to downsize and liquidate a corporation? Yes, it's a large corporation, but at its core, the task is basically crunching numbers and trimming the fat. These old dudes who run large corporations aren't superhuman machines with advanced skillsets in management, engineering, accounting, and operating production machinery.They are just men who went to good schools and usually start in pretty cushy positions.
My Masters is at a harder trade that law , I was referring to the 31 year old education.
I think that way because GM is a company with 250K employees with a world wide market , it's unbelievably complex.
I might be talented enough but I'm not experienced enough, don't under estimate experience.
-
Ha ha. This is great. Has this guy ever:
1. Met a payroll
2. Designed a car
3. Fixed a car
4. Have an accounting degree
5. Any experience in auto or union issues?
6. Run a business
7. Held an executive position in any company
8. Run an organization
9. Know bankruptcy laws
10. owned a car
By your defintion a kid who scores high on a SAT is qualified for this job. This is pure insanity at its best.
A kid with a high SAT score? No. This guy was at Yale Law School. Yale Law and the SATs are two entirely different beasts.
Maybe an outsider with a different set of skills is what that shitty company needs.
-
The new boss at Old GM
by Patricia Sellers
You might call Al Koch the world’s biggest trash collector. As bankrupt General Motors (GM) splits into two parts — New GM, containing Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC, and Old GM, containing designated bad assets such as Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Saab — Koch is the hired gun who’s supposed to create value from that latter lot.
Bringing “New GM” out of bankruptcy will be difficult enough. Why would anyone take the tougher slog at “Old GM”?
This is what Koch does — the toughest turnarounds. He’s vice chairman at restructuring consultancy AlixPartners, which works on saving sick comapnies globally but has been a Detroit mainstay for decades. AlixPartners’ clients have included DeLorean’s creditors in 1984, Detroit (the city itself) in 1994, and Kmart in 2002.
Koch, now 67 and a 14-year veteran of the firm, has served as interim CEO of crippled companies such as video-game distributor Handleman (HDLM) and manufactured-home builder Champion Enterprises (CHB). But his most memorable job was at Kmart in 2002. Kmart was the largest retail restructuring in history and, as it turned out, one of AlixPartner’s big successes.
As Kmart’s interim CFO through its bankruptcy, Koch got lucky. When I interviewed him in late 2005 for a story about investor Eddie Lampert, he said that he and his restructuring-expert colleagues had never heard of this young investor who had swooped in and bought Kmart bonds at 40 cents on the dollar. “To most people, Kmart looked like a pile of trash,” Koch said. “We were told that this hedge fund guy had bought a huge portion of Kmart and wanted to get it out of bankruptcy fast.”
Lampert pressed Koch and the other restructuring pros, who were earning $10-20 million a month during Kmart’s bankruptcy, to exit Chapter 11 quickly. Lampert argued that neither customers nor management talent would be attracted to a bankrupt Kmart. The company emerged from bankruptcy in May 2003, a year ahead of schedule. Lampert, who had invested some $800 million for a 54% ownership stake, merged Kmart with Sears two years later to form Sears Holdings (SHLD).
Old GM won’t be as smooth or as quick as Kmart was. As my colleague Alex Taylor notes, “new GM” will have an incentive — from the U.S. government, new owner of a 60% stake – to exit Chapter 11 rapidly, possibly in 60 to 90 days. The Old GM restructuring, meanwhile, could take years.
As Old GM’s chief restructuring officer, Koch will be negotating separation agreements with New GM and commandeering efforts to unload or liquidate those dud brands such as Saturn and Hummer.
His influence could turn out to be broader than his marching orders designate. After all, he’s worked with GM several times over the years. These past few months, he’s helped negotiate the sale of New GM assets to the government. Now he’s reporting to CEO Fritz Henderson and to GM’s board as well. As a guy who lives and dies by finding value in junk, Koch surely won’t take his shot at making history lightly.
http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/06/01/the-new-boss-at-old-gm/
Looks like it's Koch running the real show anyway.
-
LOL I CALLED THAT GM WOULD GO INTO BANKRUPTCY TOO WHEN DO I GET A HIGH PAYING GOVERNMENT JOB :D
in all seriousness guys this isnt about ppl showing that he isnt capable, this is about him showing that he is. You dont go into a job interview and go tell me why i shouldnt get this job you go in and tell them why you should get the job.
If he is one of the ppl who put together a bail out plan while saying that bankruptcy was enevitable should he really be given this position...he basically knowingly just wasted billions of tax payer money...
-
LOL I CALLED THAT GM WOULD GO INTO BANKRUPTCY TOO WHEN DO I GET A HIGH PAYING GOVERNMENT JOB :D
in all seriousness guys this isnt about ppl showing that he isnt capable, this is about him showing that he is. You dont go into a job interview and go tell me why i shouldnt get this job you go in and tell them why you should get the job.
If he is one of the ppl who put together a bail out plan while saying that bankruptcy was enevitable should he really be given this position...he basically knowingly just wasted billions of tax payer money...
No Tony... He knowingly kept a foreign entity from coming in and buying out GM and taking the last of US manufacturing overseas.
I'm surprised you guys don't see that in the long run, 30 billion dollars is a small price to pay to continue to receive money from that manufacturer over the rest of time, instead of it getting bought by another company and us losing what little manufacturing money we have left.
-
The new boss at Old GM
by Patricia Sellers
You might call Al Koch the world’s biggest trash collector. As bankrupt General Motors (GM) splits into two parts — New GM, containing Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC, and Old GM, containing designated bad assets such as Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Saab — Koch is the hired gun who’s supposed to create value from that latter lot.
Bringing “New GM” out of bankruptcy will be difficult enough. Why would anyone take the tougher slog at “Old GM”?
This is what Koch does — the toughest turnarounds. He’s vice chairman at restructuring consultancy AlixPartners, which works on saving sick comapnies globally but has been a Detroit mainstay for decades. AlixPartners’ clients have included DeLorean’s creditors in 1984, Detroit (the city itself) in 1994, and Kmart in 2002.
Koch, now 67 and a 14-year veteran of the firm, has served as interim CEO of crippled companies such as video-game distributor Handleman (HDLM) and manufactured-home builder Champion Enterprises (CHB). But his most memorable job was at Kmart in 2002. Kmart was the largest retail restructuring in history and, as it turned out, one of AlixPartner’s big successes.
As Kmart’s interim CFO through its bankruptcy, Koch got lucky. When I interviewed him in late 2005 for a story about investor Eddie Lampert, he said that he and his restructuring-expert colleagues had never heard of this young investor who had swooped in and bought Kmart bonds at 40 cents on the dollar. “To most people, Kmart looked like a pile of trash,” Koch said. “We were told that this hedge fund guy had bought a huge portion of Kmart and wanted to get it out of bankruptcy fast.”
Lampert pressed Koch and the other restructuring pros, who were earning $10-20 million a month during Kmart’s bankruptcy, to exit Chapter 11 quickly. Lampert argued that neither customers nor management talent would be attracted to a bankrupt Kmart. The company emerged from bankruptcy in May 2003, a year ahead of schedule. Lampert, who had invested some $800 million for a 54% ownership stake, merged Kmart with Sears two years later to form Sears Holdings (SHLD).
Old GM won’t be as smooth or as quick as Kmart was. As my colleague Alex Taylor notes, “new GM” will have an incentive — from the U.S. government, new owner of a 60% stake – to exit Chapter 11 rapidly, possibly in 60 to 90 days. The Old GM restructuring, meanwhile, could take years.
As Old GM’s chief restructuring officer, Koch will be negotating separation agreements with New GM and commandeering efforts to unload or liquidate those dud brands such as Saturn and Hummer.
His influence could turn out to be broader than his marching orders designate. After all, he’s worked with GM several times over the years. These past few months, he’s helped negotiate the sale of New GM assets to the government. Now he’s reporting to CEO Fritz Henderson and to GM’s board as well. As a guy who lives and dies by finding value in junk, Koch surely won’t take his shot at making history lightly.
http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/06/01/the-new-boss-at-old-gm/
Looks like it's Koch running the real show anyway.
This article is about the two new divisions of GM and it sounds like Koch will run the component that is not owned by the government. However, you are right that Deese isn't running the show; that much is made clear in the NY Times article.
This article also brings up a point I deleted from my last post: failing companies are restructured all the time. More often than not, these companies are restructured by people who are not experts in the field in which those companies operate. Just reading the article in the opening post, it's pretty evident that Deese's job has more to do with policy than the minutiae of restructuring.
-
My Masters is at a harder trade that law , I was referring to the 31 year old education.
I think that way because GM is a company with 250K employees with a world wide market , it's unbelievably complex.
I might be talented enough but I'm not experienced enough, don't under estimate experience.
How did you manage to acquire a Master's for a trade? Aside from internet millionaires, Master's are usually reserved for professions.
-
He convinced the most powerful man on the planet (Obama) to place his faith in him to save the backbone of American manufacturing.
Whatever skill set he has/does not have, he sure must be a hell of a job interviewee!
QFT!
-
I agree. Some kid fresh out of school with little or no life experience should NOT be given this kind of responsibility. Crazy.
Is that what you said about all those snot nosed Regent grads,
...the very ones who made hiring & firing decisions based on facebook? ???
-
The man sure does look like he knows his way around a water pipe.
Inexperienced & stoned. Fantastic. I can't wait to see GMs interpretation of the VW Beetle...
-
Is that what you said about all those snot nosed Regent grads,
...the very ones who made hiring & firing decisions based on facebook? ???
That's fine, please show me where in this persons' background he ever produced, created, invented, improved, innovated, or has done anything related to accounting, autos, law, etc????
-
How did you manage to acquire a Master's for a trade? Aside from internet millionaires, Master's are usually reserved for professions.
Should I remind you again that English isn't my first language? I build the sentence in other languages in my brain and than translate so some times it doesn't get out perfectly.
If you want to know, Electrical Engineering.
-
The man sure does look like he knows his way around a water pipe.
Inexperienced & stoned. Fantastic. I can't wait to see GMs interpretation of the VW Beetle...
He looks a little light in the loafers too.