I was going to title this blog, "One Last Chance," but then I decided that even if General Motors and Chrysler don't give the feds a plan that passes muster, the two companies might still have a few of their nine lives left.

But Monday's announcement by President Obama sure sounded like an effort to jawbone the two companies, along with their unions, creditors, dealers, suppliers, bondholders, stockholders and more to find a way forward, and to do it now.

In other words, GM needs to cut deeply, and Chrysler needs to cut a deal with Fiat.  GM has 60 days to change things around.  Chrysler has 30 days for a merger.

I had some people express interest in one point, which was that the White House had rejected the restructuring plans submitted by the two companies.  What exactly did they say?  You can read through them while eating your cornflakes at

http://www.chryslerllc-info.com/docs/viability_plan.pdf

http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/eesa/agreements/auto-reports/GMRestructuringPlan.pdf

One thing that really struck me about the aftermath of the announcement by President Obama was the reaction from Capitol Hill and the Congress.

Or should I say the lack of reaction.

Don't get me wrong, there were lawmakers on both sides of the issue who were giving statements to the media.

But they were mostly written statements.  There were no angry news conferences.  No appeals for the administration to change its tune.

The Michigan lawmakers were all operating behind the scenes, talking on the phone with reporters and news organizations.  No news conferences.  No calls for action.

To me, that's telling.  Their industry is in decline, and in a sense, their power is too.