Response to "What I Think"

Jason,
I do not agree that SUV's and trucks do not sell. Even when gas was four dollars, do you know what the highest selling vehicle in America was? It was not a Toyota. It was a Ford truck, the F-150.
And to your point that other companies are more deserving of the money, aren't all companies that ask for bailout money flawed anyway? The banks and other financial institutions that are asking for the bailout money do not deserve anything. They have a flawed business planned because they started giving home loans to people who they knew would never pay them off.
Oh, and you know what? The reason the automakers were making SUV's was because that is what the consumer wanted. Back before gas went up, everyone wanted a big car, not because they did not have a choice, but because they wanted a big vehicle.
And the fact that you made these claims without even knowing what you are talking about is disturbing. The auto companies have been working on electric cars and hydrogen powered cars before the price of gas spiked.
And another thing, what SUV's and trucks are you talking about? Their fuel economy is not bad anymore like it once was. Most get over twenty M.P.G., which is better than it once was. The only vehicles that get terrible fuel mileage are the trucks that are so big you have to use a ladder to get in. Those are the ones that the good ol' boys wanted to outdo each other with bigger and bigger trucks.
Will you please wake up and see that the Big Three tried before all of this happened. But I do have to say, the two companies that do not deserve to be bailed out are Chrysler and General Motors because they are not trying to be become profitable. Chrysler was pretty much bankrupt before all of this happened. And GM will not sell off some of the companies that they own to cut down costs. Ford, on the other hand has sold off Aston Martin and Land Rover because these companies were not making Ford money.
Anyway, I think you should look at the facts before you make these statements.

Should we bail them out?

Will our government bail out the Big Three or not? On one hand, I think that the automakers should be bailed out, but on the other, I think that those workers could get jobs for foreign automakers with plants in the US. It is a very sticky issue because there are so many things to take into account. I think that the government should bail out at least GM and Ford. I think this because Chrysler pretty much started going bankrupt at the beginning of last year. The reason the auto companies should get the bailout money is because it would hurt the economy badly. There are estimates that if the auto companies failed that it would cost the economy over three million jobs. That includes the workers who manufacture the cars and for the workers who manufacture the parts that get put into the cars.

On the other hand, every auto company, foreign and domestic, have had huge chunks taken out of their sales. The reason that companies like Toyota are not complaining is that they have U.S. manufacturing plants in places where unions cannot form and be a thorn in the side of the automakers. The good news is, since the dollar is terrible, this is attracting foreign automakers into the country because they can produce their cars cheaper. If the Big Three go down, then there will be a decrease in the number of cars produced, so the foreign automakers will step in, and everyone who lost their jobs could easily find work doing the exact same thing that they did before.

There is also something else that I have noticed. GM and Chrysler say that they will certainly fail if the do not get any money. But Ford is the only one that said that they foresee themselves becoming highly profitable in a few short years. This means that the only company that could repay the $32 billion that they government gives them would be Ford. You do not lend money to someone who is not confident that they will be profitable. GM and Chrysler need to show that they can make a profit and are making changes to get there.

Whatever happens, there will be winners and losers. Either the auto companies win and the government loses, or both win, or both sides lose. It is a very confusing time to be an American because their are so many things that would go wrong no matter what decision is made.