U.S. Pushed FIAT Deal on Chrysler ( WSJ ):  Chrysler execs were lobbying for an alternative merger with GM even in late stages, apparently. Obama's task force wanted FIAT. ... P.S.: You have to wonder if the Obama team knows the FIAT deal it promoted won't work, and arranged it simply as a way to delay the inevitable--while it actively avoided a merger that would foist Chrysler on GM, because GM does have at least a chance to survive after bankruptcy and doesn't need Chrysler's baggage. (Why make Chevy responsible for the Sebring?) ... P.P.S.:  Note that this isn't paranoia, but posinoia--the nagging suspicion that people in power are doing seemingly bad things for secret good purposes. ...  6:47 P.M.

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Gran Salida Update :   Also from the WSJ --

Emigration from Mexico to the U.S. dropped 13% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, with more Mexicans leaving the U.S. than coming in. ...  [snip]

In the case of Mexico, Latin America's largest supplier of new immigrants to the U.S., data released this week by the Mexican government shows emigration to the U.S. dropped 13% in the first quarter of 2009. In the same period, more people returned to Mexico than left Mexico for the U.S., about 139,000 and 137,000, respectively. ... [snip]

For now, Santiago, a 37-year-old Mexican migrant who declined to give his last name, is placing his bets on his home country. On a recent flight from the U.S. to Mexico City, Santiago wore a black leather jacket and cowboy boots ... [E.A.]

Hmm. Doesn't this violate Immigration PC 2.0, 2009 edition, in which it's acceptable to admit that levels of illegal immigration into the U.S. are falling but un acceptable to suggest that immigrants are actually returning home in large numbers (which would fit uncomfortably into the Comprehensive party line that illegal immigrants are here to stay and will never leave, and don't have much more in the way of active attachments to their home countries than, say, the Pilgrims did). ... See, for example, the notorious Nina Bernstein, "No Evidence of Return Migration is Found," NYT , January 15, 2009. ... 

P.P.S:   Always trust content from kausfiles . (The academics are always the last to know!) ... 6:43 P.M.

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"If you wanted to end it, this really wasn't the way to do it": Ever wondered what Eduwonk looks like? I know I did. Here he surfaces to explain  why Obama's decision on the D.C. vouchers program was "really subversive." ...  6:41 P.M.

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