By DONNA LANGE-TUCKER

Copy editor

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days in our lives. Our Motor City lives, anyway. The clock is ticking and Obama’s imposed deadlines for the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler are only weeks away. As of March 29, GM had 60 days to further slash its costs and reach concessions with the UAW, and Chrysler was given only 30 days to make a deal with Fiat, according to mlive.com.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner has been removed from his position, auto manufacturing plants across the nation have closed, thousands of jobs have been lost and yet, more cuts are still necessary to satisfy Obama’s guidelines in order for GM and Chrysler to receive federal aid and avoid bankruptcy. How much more will it take? How many more jobs must be eliminated?

Ironically, amid all this uncertainty, GM has announced a new marketing phrase: “Total Confidence.” Advertising copy reads: “Now, whatever life brings, you can approach it with Total Confidence…starting now, you’re free to shop, own and drive GM with Total Confidence.” What doesn’t appear in the ad is the fact that the federal government is now guaranteeing the warrantees on new GM and Chrysler vehicles.

Obama wants both companies to hurry up and sell more cars, but now that bankruptcy is on the table, how many consumers will want to buy a car from a company that’s on its way out? Not many, I bet.

I truly can’t imagine a world without GM and Chrysler. In the 80s and 90s, I worked for over 10 years in the supplier end of the automotive design industry. Back in the day, you couldn’t do any better than an in-house job at one of the Big Three; you were set for life. Now every day brings us closer to an inconceivable reality. Ticktock.