Autoline #1245: Emotional Rescue

Emotional Rescue

"I will be your savior, steadfast and true."

It's pretty safe to say that the Rolling Stones and George W. Bush have little in common. But when it comes to the Big Three bailout, these Mick Jagger-penned lyrics sound like a sentence that might've come from the Oval Office as the President approved the $17 billion bridge loans. Ahhh, everyone in Detroit breathes a huge sigh of relief. But how much of a rescue -- emotional or otherwise -- are the loans? As they say, be careful what you wish for.

On this week's show we take a look inside the bridge loans from three different perspectives: players, participants and partisans. We start the conversation with Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a suburban Detroit Republican who had to balance ideology and reality throughout the crisis. Then John talks to a couple of automotive reporters, David Welch from BusinessWeek & Jeff Bennett of Dow Jones Newswire, who watched as Detroit nearly crumbled these last couple of months. We'll hear how the companies dealt with the ever-changing situation and explore their plans going forward. And speaking of plans, as part of the loan language the Big Three will have to restructure. What exactly does that mean? Joining John is an expert in the field, Bill Diehl who is the President & CEO of BBK, a company that specializes in doing just that.

Who would've predicted a few weeks ago that these late '70s Mick Jagger lyrics would seem appropriate?

With the long-awaited news from the White House last week, this line might've seemed natural coming from the President as it did when it was originally sung back in 1980 by the Rolling Stones.