stbuch wrote:Three million jobs are attached to the auto industry. That's 3 million on unemployment.
Do keep in mind that bankruptcy is not the same as going out of business. A lot of companies, especially airlines, have gone into bankruptcy, and are still in business.
There would no doubt be a lot of lost jobs and pain. I don't want to see that. But, will the auto companies, as they are run now, use the $25-billion to turn around, or just waste it the way they have been wasting it for the last twenty years.
The American auto companies have been in trouble for 30 years. And what did they do? They put all their money into marketing low quality, high profit margin gas guzzlers, while the rest of the world's auto companies invested in high-quality, efficient automobiles.
I remember when Hyundai came to America. They sold cheap tin cans with wheels. Now, they are selling cars that compete with Lexus -- and win.
GM invested in Hummers -- Chevy pickups with GI Joe bodies and 30-percent markups. They can't give them away, now, so they want the government to bail them out.
It wasn't abunch of bank tellers who created the mortgage meltdown, and it's not a bunch of factory workers who made the decision to build Hummers. But, it's the bank tellers and factory workers who will pay the price for the decisions made by the executives who will float down in their golden parachutes after all the bailout money is gone.
CD