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The Detroit Free Press ran a story yesterday about the Chrysler loan guarantees of the early 1980s. The sub-head was "Like 1979, next auto rescue won't be easy." No kidding. Here's the lead from the story.

"In 1979, when Congress crafted the historic and controversial Chrysler Corp. Loan Guarantee Act -- which protected tens of thousands of jobs nationwide and gave the automaker another three decades of life -- political leaders carefully threaded the strings it attached to the $1.5 billion in federally backed loans."

When you're analyzing any historical precedent, it makes sense to figure out what's the same and what's different. Let's start with the same.

Times are tough. They were back then, too. Gas prices had skyrocketed. Gas lines were common. There was a recession, but not as nasty as this one is likely to be.

The process was and will be political. You can count on a large number of our legislators to take this as an opportunity for posturing and personal aggrandizement.

Some will offer surpassingly stupid ideas. Last time, Representative Pete Stark from California introduced legislation that required Chrysler to hire only minorities and women for new executive positions. This time around, expect a concentration on something labeled "green."

Some few will be statesmanlike. At least we hope so.

The ideologues will have a field day. Some will advocate creative destruction no matter how many other peoples' jobs it costs. Some will advocate putting the automakers on permanent economic life support because of those same jobs.

What's different? Start with the economy. It was bad back then, but it's on the rim of awful now.

Other differences are tied more to Lee Iacocca than to the economy or the Congress. Whether you like him or not, two things are worth noting.

First, he was actively out there looking for funds and making the case for Chrysler long before he went to Congress. Today there's very little case-making being done. Almost all of it is by PR folks.

None of the current CEOs seems to feel this is important enough to sully their well-manicured hands. And why should they? That's what they hire PR people for. Besides they're going to be rich by any standard no matter what happens to their companies and the people they employ.

Not one of them has to worry about making their mortgage if their paycheck stops. They seem to think that's for the little people.

There's one other striking difference with Iacocca thirty years ago. In a grand gesture, he reduced his salary to a dollar a year.

He wasn't working for free. But he didn't get paid until and unless the loans that were guaranteed by Congress were repaid. Chrysler did that, seven years early.

Will that happen this time? I doubt it. Instead I think we'll see bailout, bailout II, bailout the sequel, son of bailout, and bailout the bottom of the barrel long before this one is over.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of Wally's Special Report: Managing Headcount in a Downturn.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.