Motor Vehicles

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My answer is no, even in good times they were taking loses so I say let them reap what they sewed. I know people will lose their jobs and I feel bad they will but I have not empathy for the companies they played with fire constantly and now when they got burned they come running for help I say leave them out to dry and learn the hard way that if you play with fire you will get burned.

Toyota and Honda also build the top 2 cars to steal

Chrysler, Ford, and GM don't deserve to stay in business after they've pandered to the labor unions, polluted the local environment, and generally placed their own greed for profit over the needs of the people.

As long as the (mostly white) union members met their production quotas and did not get hurt or cause trouble on the job, they could sleep, read, drink, or play cards all day long and no one would dare complain. Those who did complain were often "encouraged" to seek employment elsewhere.

The Grand River flows past GM Plant #1, and there would often be a film of mineral oil on its surface as far downstream as Grand Ledge, nearly 20 miles away! Not to mention the widely fluctuation Ph from the plating facilities.

The Big 3 automakers lobbied congress to classify Pick-ups and SUVs as "Light trucks" so that they would not have to conform to the same pollution standards as sedans and compacts. Thus, Pick-ups and SUVs could be manufactured to lower standards with cheaper materials, which would cause them to break down more often, which would then force their owners to either buy more factory-made parts or replacement trucks from the same companies!

What amazes me is that people put up with this for the last 40 to 50 years, and actually liked it! Not only that, but as a child growing up in a car town, I was expected to actually be proud to own a piece of crap car that would not start in winter, could not run for more than a week without a breakdown, and would not last longer than the payments I made upon it, and all because it was an American-made car.

Pathetic ... and now the Big 3 want a handout from the government (e.g., us taxpayers) so that they can last another 3 to 5 years doing the same old thing while their upper management gets even more obscenely wealthy.

I cant imagine it will be fun for anyone who happens to work for them though. Any large plant closing is going to create a lot of joblessness, and unless Honda are going to hire them all, some people are going to suffer badly.

Our government seems to be content to allow business to fail here. Its the banks we prop up. Is that something the American gov is doing as well?

I voted maybe, and for a specific reason.

There has to be firm requirements for a change in the way they do business and the products they sell. They have to accept greater environmental controls, and tighter emissions standards.

And.... as much as I'm pro labor, both labor and the executives in the auto industry need to scale it back a few million degrees and comprehend that they've negotiated themselves out of being able to compete in the market. I agree fundamentally with the principle of collective bargaining, but there's a point where it goes too far.

However, I don't think labor is the issue, I think it's the golden parachutes and bonuses of the executives that are destroying the manufacturers. The paycheck of labor may have gone up thanks to the unions, but the disparity with the executives grows wider and wider, the robber barons have returned.

So, with all these inherent problems in the current setup, I think the bailout still needs to happen, on the condition the companies make the needed changes and actually recognize their tenuous position and take appropriate action. We stand to lose to many manufacturing jobs, and too much industry if we lose our auto industry. We'll slip from world power to Canada status overnight if we begin losing the ability to produce products and compete even domestically.

Cars in general have not changed much since the 1980s and American engineers (or the lack thereof) have not had or have been able to produce any good ideas like the foreign companies. It seems like productionwise creative destruction should run its course.