Maytag and Whirlpool Problems (PROBLEM SOLVED)

Share prices fell, the AP reports, for both companies for fear that the FTC will challenge the merger.  Major customers are on record as not caring.  Perhaps competitors care, but our own guess is the FTC is doing the bidding of Whirlpool's smarter stockholders.
UPDATE:  Mar 21:  Correction.  Department of Justice (DOJ) not the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
UPDATE:  Mar 30:  And so it seems that the decision is made, and to be final on April 3, 2006.  The DOJ will step out of the way.  Coincidentally mirroring the current debate, Whirlpool succeed in slowing, but not stopping immigration into the United States with the takeover of Maytag.  100 years of history and brand equity and distribution bottled up by Whirlpool and not being used by Haier or some other Far Eastern competitor, to tear up the market loose-cannon like.
How much time has Whirlpool bought?  Is this part of a long term plan, or part of a sweaty underwear panic?  What are they going to do with those expensive manufacturing locations and class action lawsuits.  How will they reconcile Whirlpool's Sears gig with Maytag's Home Depot channel?  How are they going to defend their distribution channels?   
What happens to the employee mindset in a company that can only shrink?  Hiring freezes, layoffs, and political infighting with pointy knives in the white collar ranks.
UPDATE:  Apr 6:  However bad your day is, at least you don't work for Maytag or Whirlpool right now, unless of course you do, in which case the entire appliance industry wishes you the best of luck in the coming blood sports.