Motown suffers from Wall Street envy

DETROIT

The Motor City, though still troubled by Wall Street envy, is embracing the Obama administration’s “tough love.”

Industry leaders voiced populist anger Monday over the tough treatment meted out by the White House to U.S. automakers - including the ouster of General Motor Corp.’s chief executive - when compared with the no-strings bailouts of the nation’s financial institutions.

But for most, the emotion was tempered by a determination to make the best of a bad situation.

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“It’s not a level playing field,” said Mike Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 652. He was referring to Washington’s response to the auto industry versus its handling of the financial industry. “You didn’t see AIG have to crawl through you-know-what to get the money. They just had their hand out. Wall Street took care of their own.”

Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, a Democrat, spoke similarly in an appearance Monday on NBC’s “Today” show and later at a town-hall meeting in suburban Detroit’s Macomb County.

“Many of us feel there is a double standard,” the governor said of the Obama administration’s refusal of requests by GM and Chrysler LLC for a combined $21.6 billion in loans because it judged that the automakers didn’t have viable plans for business success.

She said a similar level of scrutiny should be applied to Wall Street companies that have absorbed hundreds of billions of dollars in federal money dozens of times what Chrysler and GM were refused.

But through the disappointment, there was still plenty of Midwestern resolve to make good on Washington’s aid offer - which requires GM to restructure radically within the next 60 days and Chrysler to complete an alliance with Italy’s Fiat SpA in the next 30 days - as the last chance to save the industry long synonymous with the city of Detroit.

“The federal government recognizes the importance of the American automobile industry to our nation, to jobs, to our manufacturing sector and national security,” Mrs. Granholm said on NBC. “This industry has to survive if this nation is going to manufacture things. It’s the backbone of the manufacturing sector.”

Local officials, U.S. lawmakers and union leaders also warned that the stunning events of the past 24 hours - Sunday’s ouster of GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner and Monday’s announcement that GM and Chrysler must do more restructuring - meant that Washington and the Obama administration were now officially on the hook for Michigan’s economic fortunes.

“This is tough love for our favorite industry in Michigan, but it’s also a real opportunity and I’m heartened,” said Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, whose area has been hit hard by auto factory closings and the recession. Mrs. Granholm also used the “tough love” metaphor at her town-hall meeting.

“Some here look at this as an ultimatum, but sometimes that is what I think leadership is about,” said Mr. Bernero, who has lobbied Washington with a task force of mayors who have banded together to save the industry.

But, the mayor added, “I’m not going to stand by and let the federal government do it wrong.”

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