The auto industry bailout--let's not take irreversible steps

[spindrifter]

backwards.

It seems like the media is trying to push hard against rational decision-making when it comes to the auto industry. Rather than looking at one of the costliest problems that U.S. automakers face, the cost of health care, it seems like they want to focus on union bashing--pointing to how bankruptcy proceedings can enable the Big Three to undo their labor contracts, thur minimizing the concessions the UAW has made in recent contracts. They point to the track records of airlines that have gone into bankruptcy and assert that if people are willing to continue to buy airline tickets from a bankrupt business, they should have no problem buying cars from a reorganized bankrupt manufacturer. They don't want to acknowledge that buying a car is usually a decision that consumers live with for a long period of time, rather than simply getting a flight for a trip they are taking next week. When the flight is over, the relationship with the airline ends. When the purchase contract for a car is signed, people are paying for a product for a lengthy period and have to consider how the product will hold up and who is going to fix it with what parts and at whose expense.

It is easy to snicker at executives who foolishly fly in private planes to D.C. to ask for money instead of taking a commercial flight. It's easy to roll one's eyes when those executives are picking up fat bonus checks on top of their princely pay checks.

Why do we fall prey to the desire to want to punish the executives at the expense of millions of jobs?

We really can't afford to destroy our largest industry. Think of those millions of people who depend on the U.S. auto industry. Think of the impact taking their jobs will have on communities throughout the country.

Congress is capable of setting restrictions if it lends money to the Big Three. It can and should require belt-tightening and accountability for every dollar pumped back into the auto industry. Why throw the baby out with the bath water?

[Taverner]

1. Thing is - we are in the driver's seat

Where else are they going to go?

We should set conditions, restrictions and pretty much WHATEVER WE WANT

I am against the bailout, but if we're going to have it we should have some condition, such as stock or controlling interest.