By now everyone has read about G.M.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing yesterday. Communites like Pontiac and Orion in Michigan and Spring Hill in Tennessee are going to be decimated by plant closings. G.M.'s plan to cut the workforce by 21,000 jobs in the near future (representing 34% of all employees). 2600 dealerships are going to be shut down. The UAW agreed to draconian cuts in work place rules and wage freezes. And the end result is that average people and families in average American towns are going to suffer the brunt of this. To those union members who will soon be out of work, I hope that you are able to find something to support yourselves and families. To those ancillary businesses that supplied G.M. or the tertiary businesses that supplied them, I hope the company emerges from Chapter 11 soon and continues supporting you. Family businesses in these towns will be run out of business. Local charities that relied heavily on the generous spirit of G.M. workers to make annual budgets will be less able to provide for the large influx of needy. President Obama says that this was a necessary evil, and it may well be, but the federal government has an obligation to help soften the landing for these folks who did nothing but what society has asked of them: work hard, raise your families, pay your taxes...There will be no excuse for members of Congress or the administration standing in the way of unemployment benefits, mortgage assistance, educational and retraining funds, and community at-large assistance.
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