MORNING READ

by Chris Good - 12/09/08 9:38 AM ET

News that Democrats and the White House have reached a tentative agreement on $15 billion in emergency loans to the Big Three receives skeptical reviews from the left and right, while others blame Tribune Company Chairman Sam Zell for the company’s failings after it filed for bankruptcy.

The tentative $15 billion plan amounts to nationalization of the U.S. auto industry, the Drudge Report alleges in its lead headline, noting that the government could end up acquiring stakes in the automakers. The plan probably won’t give the Big Three enough time to recover, Steve Parker writes at The Huffington Post, raising concerns that stakes in the Big Three might not be worth much to taxpayers.

Zell ran the Tribune Company into the ground, Josh Marshall alleges at TalkingPointsMemo, agreeing with a scathing review of Zell’s company leadership by The Washington Post‘s Harold Meyerson. Zell’s financing put the onus of the company’s stuggles on its employees, Atrios writes at Eschaton, sarcastically praising Zell’s “innovation.”

And the decision by Minnesota’s canvassing board to stop searching for 133 missing ballots has bloggers speculating at what Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Democrat Al Franken will ultimately do about it. Franken could push for the ballots to be counted according to their Nov. 4 tallies, Power Line’s John Hinderaker suggests, while MyDD’s Todd Beeton says Coleman will likely sue if the board decides to do so.

FROM THE BLOGS:
On the Subject of Bailouts – mbacker908, RedState
Congratulations to Gregory – Jed L, Daily Kos
All Eyes Turn to Texas – vpltz, MyDD
Twilight of the Newspapers – John Hinderaker, Power Line
What Happened? – Andrew Stuttaford, The Corner
Immigration Reform Off the Table? – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
What Might Have Been – J. McCormack, The Weekly Standard
Fossella Gets Five Days – Jeralyn, TalkLeft
We’re Free of ‘Freedom’s Watch’ – Joe Sudbay, AMERICAblog
Money–and a Czar–for Detroit – Jonathan Cohn, The Stump