What do you do when you’re in a boat that’s sinking? You bail for all you’re worth, and you patch holes, or you jump ship and swim for the nearest distant shore – and possibly drown in the process.
Are we sinking? I don’t know about the rest of you but my feet are somewhere past damp.
Aaron’s question brings home a point, though. There are how many hundreds of thousands of people employed by the auto manufacturers? Not CEOs, bigwigs, but ordinary people. Retribution (and make no mistake. It would be retribution.) is all fine, well and good except for the negative impact it would have on the ordinary man or woman whose job it is, every day, to fasten a right fender on a Ford Fusion once that job is gone. Half a million, or more, people out of jobs all of a sudden would be a pretty big rock to throw into the pond. The ripples could very well swamp the boat we are all rather precariously sitting in.
I’m not happy about bail outs, either. I totally agree that the average citizen is getting the short end of the stick here. But the short end is better than no end, especially when that stick might be all that’s keeping the water from closing completely over your head. My feeling is that we do what has to be done to keep that very large component of our economy going. Then we look very, very, very hard at what got us here, and make damn sure it doesn’t happen again.
Bottom line is that we are all pretty much in the same boat. I keep thinking of what Ben Franklin said… “We must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.” Yeah, he was talking about the revolution. But, in a way, so are we.
Jacy pretty much hit the nail on the head in my ideas for this. Our local newspaper (for the best coverage on this Bailout and why it's necessary more than anything, check out some articles on Freep.com) has made some calculations and statements many people might not think about.
450,000 people are employed by Ford and GM dealerships. Not plants, not companies. Dealerships across America, if the Big 3 went bankrupt, those are instant job losses.
1 out of 10 people in America would indirectly go on a path to losing their jobs if the Big 3 go bankrupt.
1 out of 5 Americans jobs would be affected by the bankruptcy.
It's not something I think we should make a standing of, but the Big 3 ARE adapting to the changing views on Economics, Gas (and alternative fuels), as well as trying to make money.
(Not to mention, the Senate's proposal would take the 25 billion from the 700 billion given to the Banks...)
Also, can we blame this crisis entirely on the car companies? How badly has the credit crunch and the bank forclosures affected them, leading to Malor's points. Is this completely their fault?
I come from a family that has lived and breathed Ford, GM and Chrylser, so I'm obviously a bit biased. Ford has put food on my table for twenty years, and I can't help but wonder this as well:
Is it our fault they've failed? I've heard hundreds of arguments: They make gas guzzlers! Why wouldn't I buy foreign when it saves me money?
Perhaps it does save money, but my mother brought me home a unique and interesting tidbit seven years ago (Yep, before all of this madness): Everytime a family buys a foreign automobile, an American (whether it be blue or white collar) loses a job. It might not be true, but it's something to think about.
I don't think I've heard one human being not complain about outsourcing and how terrible it is, so why outsource your wallets?
Ford is making changes, from the 80 mpg Diesel they are releasing in Europe, as Todd posted I believe, to GM will have a completely electric and feasible automobile as early as next fall, the 2010 models.
As I said, I'm not happy with the buyouts, but I'm biased as well and have to look at just exactly how valuable our auto industry is. If we were to lose it, our nation and the global economy, would be crippled.
Steelworkers, transportation, locomotive transportation of parts, millions of people would be out of a job.
Not to mention, the Senate and House are making VERY stern and even abusive requirements in this lending, executives will not be getting this money and throwing parties, they'll be just happy they aren't losing their own jobs. Gone are the days of golden parachutes.
A bailout isn't what anyone wants, but as the philosopher Jagger once said: You can't always get what you want.
I've enclosed a few links to a few Freep articles I think are relevant.
Myths,
Ripple Effects,
Editorial against Bankruptcy(Pardon me if a lot of this post was repetitive or nonsense, it's early and I've been working like a hound lately)
