Why is our government supporting these bailouts? AIG, GM, Chrysler, Ford… The government didn’t ask for business plans as to what they would do with the money. They didn’t demand they fire the Board of Directors and executive management teams that created the situation. AIG has already burned thru their money and now want more. This is 100% unaccountable money. And what about the auto makers? The union gets 50% of the money. For what? Is this a union enrichment plan? I talked to my boss’s brother yesterday. He lives in Detroit and makes $82/hr ($170,000 per year) in an auto union. Know what he does? He sees to it nut C gets properly attached to bolt F. Who the hell negotiated that deal??? And people want to know why the automakers are bankrupt. It’s not enough they make bad vehicles, but the line workers make more than many doctors. I have come to the conclusion that our politicians are, literally, out of their minds.
I say let them go bankrupt, if any business is not successful that business doesn't belong to be bailed out. (at least not with our money (taxes))
1000% agreed. If they go under, others will rise to take their place. And probably do a lot better job.
Chapter 11 is there for reorganization purposes. It'd let the courts figure out what wages the companies can pay and that sort of thing. The downside is, "would you buy a car made by a company in chapter 11?" Your warranty might be good, it might not.
And then they're trying to make the point that many will lose their jobs etc, but didn't thousands of employees lose their jobs when many airlines bankrupted right after 9/11, yet the govt wasn't in the mood to bail them out and help the poor employees. I really don't understand why the auto industry is more important than the aviation industry. (or any other one)
They're not (of course). If there are no more big 3 autos to buy, people will buy from other companies. They will have to hire to meet the demand.
I'm all for saving AIG, because without bailing them out millions of Americans would go uninsured. But the Big 3 bailout is ridiculous, it's just a poorly run company. Are we going to bail out "mom and pop" stores when they go under cause of mismanagement and poor products?
I dunno, last time I checked there were hundreds of insurance carriers around. AIG's book would simply pass along to others. As would their empoyees.
That's the whole point of free market, if a business is unsuccessful, then the other business comes around and takes the customers, it's very simple.
We're creeping ever so slowly to Socialism. The idea of the Government owning a stake in our banks is ludicris. And we can't even blame Uncle Barak for it. It's the Republicans that are allowing it to happen.
I think Chapter 11 is the very best thing for the auto companies. The first thing that happens is that the UAW contracts get torn up. Unfortunately, the PBGC will have to take on a huge load, but that's better than the bailout. I'd like to see them step up and say all warranties are good; that's where the first bit of reorg would go. Bottom line, the Democrats are supporting a bailout for the Big Three because it helps the unions, not the auto companies. We can make good cars, but we start out something like $2,800 behind foreign makers and that has to be made up somewhere. Generally, it comes out in fit and finish items. As a result, our cars feel cheap by comparison.
According to both JD Power & Consumer Reports, Ford's cars have far surpassed the other US automakers in quality and are now on a par with some Jap companies.
