Deferred and Looking for a Project? Go Save the American Auto Industry
The big news story for today, as noted in Morning Docket, is the bankruptcy filing of General Motors. Developments on the GM front are being closely covered over at our sister site, Dealbreaker (which also welcomes a new writer today).
There are some legal angles to the GM story, of course. The bankruptcy will generate lots of work for several top firms, as noted by the WSJ Law Blog and Am Law Daily.
But you don’t need a law degree to play a major role in this drama. From the New York Times:
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. 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….“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.”
Maybe more than a little scary. But YLS grads students can do anything, right?
Find out how Brian Deese landed this gig, and take our reader poll asking what should be done with GM, after the jump.
Many lawyers who venture into the world of policy pay their dues at large firms first. But Deese took a different route:
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.
Whoops. Maybe it was loyalty to a fellow Yalie. But things worked out in the end:
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.
Good luck to Mr. Deese, as well as all of the lawyers working on different facets of the GM bankruptcy case. They’ll need it.
Fritz Henderson Sums It Up [Dealbreaker]
The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.M. [New York Times]
GM Falls; Weil to Stay Busy [WSJ Law Blog]
General Motors Files for Bankruptcy [Am Law Daily]
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Comments
I voted for "Let It Fail." It is time for us to stop sending good money after bad.
Sounds like a smart young guy, but his qualifications are what again? Its hard to tell from the description of his work but he seems to be a policy wonk, and not a business person.
God help us.
Expertise is overrated. "Experts" got us into the current mess.
I predict disaster - this person has never done anything other than be someone's assistant (i.e. the guy who holds the bag or makes appointments.) Yale or not, I don't care if he has all the connections in the world, this guy is a multi-billion dollar mistake waiting to happen.
Hopefully someone with more sense than him will see this and put him back at the reception desk where he belongs.
It's nice that the new writer at Deal Breaker made so much money from the banking collapse that he can afford to work for this site. Certainly, his writing style and content choice suggest that the position was otherwise up for grabs for anyone who wanted to work for free --
this guy's qualifications sound like those of Obama.
Why do you have the chic's pic on the home page? I thought the article was about something interesting
Love the smell of bankruptcy in the morning. Smells like . . .
Well #7, we need to know his race before we can compare
Stupid poll - like Walmart would take GM, even if offered for free, Time Warner on the other hand should be ready to make another earth- shattering deal....
11 - I think the poll options are tongue in cheek (certainly the last two).
Walmart would turn that place around in no time.
So let me see if I have this right. A policy wonk who hasn't even graduated yet and who couldn't tell the difference between a car and the southern end of a north bound horse is now in charge of GM. Good God, we're doomed!
A trained monkey could do a better job of turning around GM than so-called "experts." The latter has had 30 years to fix things with nothing to so for it except more tax payer $$$ being flushed down the drain.
The article still doesn’t say how he landed the gig. It leaves him driving to Washington with his dog and sleeping in factory parking lots. Since we know he was an unpaid campaign staffer, we can assume two things:
(a) He has no shame living off his parents as a 30 year old man.
(b) He landed the gig through political cronyism.
Thanks for the socialism Obama. Americans don't really want a better standard of living anyway.
#16
or (c) he has negatives of
- him in a three-way with BO and Michelle or
- Barry Franks banging a female page.
Change I can believe in: I will never again buy a GM or Chrysler product.
Remember, if a Republican president puts unqualified young people in charge of an important project, it shows incompetence. If a Democratic president puts unqualified young people in charge of an important project? The NY Times will do a puff piece about the kid.
He doesn't know anything. He doesn't even know what he doesn't know. And he's in charge of restructuring the auto industry. Hold on to your wallet.
Who will get the creditor committee spot? Milbank or Kramer Levin is my bet.
"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."
Sorry folks this doesn't pass the glurge test on Snopes, its just more NYT pimping a story.
How is one "stuck" in Chicago...because of the dog? Friends, neighbors, a sitting service much?
I would take the southern route to DC through Columbus (a little longer but zero traffic = quicker) rather than the northern Ohio turnpike, but who on earth stops and sleeps at the Lordstown parking lot? For those folks who have never been to northeastern Ohio, its not exactly the greatest area in the world. There isn't a lack of cheap places to stay on that route.
This story is so BS.
More people probably saw the article on this website than read the NYT in a week.
I voted for Obama, but this is a ridiculously stupid decision. I am sure that the guy is very bright, but it takes more than one bright, wholly inexperienced guy to salvage this poop sandwich. If we were going to spend billions on this debacle, we needed more people with more experience. This guy could have been on the team or been the White House's primary liaison, but how could this guy possibly understand all of the complexities of the legal issues, economic factos and other stuff he'd have to synthesize in developing a work-out.
The kids who left my V10 law school for political work were NOT the brightest kids. They were the idealists, but I wouldn't hand GM over to them. What a stupid, stupid, stupid decision by the Administration.
shame... I love pontiac.
Heckuva job, Deesey.
Romney 2012
I'm going to call bullshit on the sleeping in the parking lot thing.
I grew up in Detroit (well, the burbs), and at least once or twice a year drive past the Lordstown plant on my way home from DC. You can see the plant from the turnpike. My dad was an engineer for GM before he retired, so I usually notice the plant.
My recollection is that the entire facility is fenced in and that there are guardhouses at all of the entrances (which makes sense, since there are hundreds of new cars sitting in the parking lot & waiting to be shipped out at any given time). Like most auto plants, it is guarded to prevent theft & vandalism (the Jeep plant on Jefferson Ave in Detroit is the same way). It's not an area that you can wander in & out of at your leisure.
Leaving all that aside, there are numerous rest stops & service areas all along the turnpike, all of which are open 24 hours (and have restrooms, Starbucks, McDonalds, gas, etc.). They are infinitely more accessable, safe and inviting than a random factory parking lot, and have overnight parking (truckers do this often). You would have to pay the toll & exit the turnpike, and then wend your way over to the plant, versus hopping on a quick ramp to the rest / service area (and not pay any toll). The whole thing seems fishy to me.
Jesus Christ, they could have at least found someone who isn't one of the ubiquitous DC international relations/development starry-eyed idealists. I suppose it is to his credit that he moved on to real policy.
good point #27. Kinda sounds like Hillary Clinton dodging those bullets at the airport.
19 - I'm a Democrat myself, but I have to agree.
19:
"Remember, if a Republican president puts unqualified young people in charge of an important project, it shows incompetence. If a Democratic president puts unqualified young people in charge of an important project?"
It means CHANGE, and CHANGE IS GOOD. At least that is the party line of the liberal sheep. (Yes, a totally dumbass move. Although Detroit has been known for its incompetence for decades now, so it's the same old thing with a new coat of paint.)
19 is right. Hank Paulson appoints some random 37 year old former Goldman guy to be in charge of TARP and Bush gets flack for it. Summers and Obama put a 31 year old 2L in charge of GM and is lauded for it.
At least the 37 year old in charge of TARP graduated from the school he was in and worked for a couple years in the REAL WORLD. This kid has a bunch of college buddies working for Obama and suddenly becomes the de facto car czare cuz he mentioned towns going bankrupt in a memo????
This is bizarro world people!!!!
This tidbit of news does not shock me. The blind (Obama) leading the blind. This is change you can wipe yourself in the rectum with.
eeeek!
20-
Kramer's pretty tied up with Chrysler. Why not Akin Gump? Nortel is keeping them busy, but isn't I think WaMu and thier other big cases are wrapping up. And Milbank's on Lehman, not to mention it has lost everyone except Dunne.
On a side note, DPW's almost total lack of appearances in any bankruptcies this cycle should surely knock them down a rung. More than any other firm, they were tied to the big banks, who aren't making DIPs, leaving DPW out of the action. They have no hedge fund clients, and those are the relevant creditors now.
35 - Leehman is pretty much done with at this stage. And Milbank lost one major partner in the group -- Luc Depins -- and has brought in a few laterals to make up for it.
I still say Milbank or Kramer Levin will get the gig. How has this not been announced yet?
The REAL REASON for the BAILOUT is because Obama wants the government to control the auto industry.
With so much control, it would be easier for him to enable "environment-friendly" cars and to affect America's oil industry.
He's smart and ambitious. This is his hegemonic ideals. Anyone who thinks that the issue is really about some Ayn Rand-esque government struggle is not seeing the truth!
The REAL REASON for the BAILOUT is because Obama wants the government to control the auto industry.
With so much control, it would be easier for him to enable "environment-friendly" cars and to affect America's oil industry.
He's smart and ambitious. This is his hegemonic ideals. Anyone who thinks that the issue is really about some Ayn Rand-esque government struggle is not seeing the truth!
The REAL REASON for the BAILOUT is because Obama wants the government to control the auto industry.
With so much control, it would be easier for him to enable "environment-friendly" cars and to affect America's oil industry.
He's smart and ambitious. This is his hegemonic ideals. Anyone who thinks that the issue is really about some Ayn Rand-esque government struggle is not seeing the truth!
The REAL REASON for the BAILOUT is because Obama wants the government to control the auto industry.
With so much control, it would be easier for him to enable "environment-friendly" cars and to affect America's oil industry.
He's smart and ambitious. This is his hegemonic ideals. Anyone who thinks that the issue is really about some Ayn Rand-esque government struggle is not seeing the truth!
37-40...
sHuT uP! PeepZ, liKe mE, whO R aGenSt YouR viEwS haVe saym inTelligenz, sO I sPeeK 4 deM.
wE sAy STFU. ePic.
You like Deese nuts???
The story on this kid makes me laugh and cry about what is happening to this country.
No one can argue he has the qualifications for such a job. Total amateur political appointee.