Big 3 Bailouts...
 

They are working out the details on a bailout for the big 3. Sounds like they are getting 15 billion, not the 30 billion they want...



I really hope they dissolve the UAW.

I hope they dissolve the fools that agreed to the contracts. You can't blame the UAW for everything, I'm far from a fan but they obviously have better negotiators than the guys in suits.

Anybody in my congressional delegation that supports this bail out goes on my shyte-list. Buncha freakin' socialists, ....

B

I hope that they make the Big 3 file chapter 11 as part of the bailout agreement. Sounds like they may have the plan laid out by 5.00PM today.

Yeah, there were responsible parties opn BOTH sides of the bargaining table when some of these back-breaking benefits packages were agreed to. Unfortunately, these unsustainable fringe benefits that are killing the carmakers are no different than the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicad programs that will soon bring the whole country to its knees.

I doubt we'll learn anything from this, once the immediate pain passes, though.

Bail-out with MY money rewards the incompetent, greedy, short-sighted management and rewards the greedy, short-sighted, incompetent unions.

Fock them all.

I was thinking that if they DID file for bankruptcy, it might allow them to get out from under some of those unsustainable benefits programs. Otherwise, they'll just go under and leave us taxpayers to pay their pensions at greatly reduced levels just as happened with US Steel, PanAm, etc, etc.

Looks like we are also getting a presidential overseer that can revoke the money awarded if they fail to follow their plans or meet their goals.

Thats what I was hoping that the govt. would make the Big 3 do. Does not sound like they are going to have to do that though.

Great, now the goverment is completely in-bed with business -- the government now has a stake in the success of the enterprise.

With the government performing unnatural acts on the willing business, what are the chances that a competitor would catch an even break?

I think that would be crucial if they are to become profitable again. Everybody in Detroit is going to have to tighten their belts from top to bottom. Otherwise, the whole state of Michigan is going to be looking for work. I would hate to see that, but people are loathe to give up anything they have become accostomed to having.

But its OK to loan AIG $85 Billion that is likey going to go into default and has much less net benefit to the country than a loan to our auotmakers?

And Ohio, Indiana, MO, LA, TX and the other......44 Million people nationwide.

No. The Wall Street bail-out was worse, IMO. The gov should be in charge of regulating, not running businesses. It cannot fairly both run and regulate.

B

I really don't want to see people lose their jobs, but unless they (the Big 3) cut about a 1/3 of them they'll be right back where they started from when the money is gone. They just can't support the employment levels they are currently at and hope to regain profitability. It's going to be interesting to see what the UAW brings to the table as far as concessions go. Anything but drastic cuts in benefits or increases in employee contributions would just prolong the death.

CEO's cutting their pay from $10mil to $1 is all well and good, but the reality is that "only" accounts for 135-ish UAW workers (at $75K/yr.). It's a drop in the bucket compared to the tens-of-thousands to hundreds-of-thousands that might have to go.

And why doesn't an Auto Czar comfort me or bring any degree of confidence? Who better to oversee a bloated, ineffiecient entity than someone who works for and is part of an even more bloated and inefficient entity???