Monday, November 17, 2008

Don't Bail Out The Car Companies

I'd have liked to see the financial industry slapped with harsher regulations and perhaps even temporarily socialized for their screw ups, although I do think some form of government assistance was necessary to keep our economy afloat during this crisis.

But GM? Chrystler? You kiddin' me? Are we going to bail out Microsoft if things get rough? How about Wal-Mart? Disney? Hess?

This recession is going to have some casualties, and I'm saying that as a liberal. Some of the greedy companies that have been using the American workforce are going to die - and it will be their own damn fault. Giving GM a couple billion won't make their cars better, or their business practices more responsible. It will be a waste.

And then, maybe, some smart Americans can put together a car manufacturer who will actually make energy-efficient vehicles that fit with the times.

2 comments:

Sinistral said...

If anybody needed a little tough love it would be GM itself. The reason it's sinking is because they're no longer making cars people are interested in, and are behind the curve on affordability and emissions standards.

Beating up on the UAW won't solve anything. It's not their fault nobody wants to buy GM vehicles.

Anonymous said...

The Chinese still love GM. It's the top selling company in the fastest growing market in the World. GM America may go away but it won't be long before the dealerships are full of Chinese-produced vehicles. As any Delphi employee will attest, GM doesn't have to bankrupt their entire company, which encompasses 150 countries around the world. All they have to do is shutter the American operations and build in China, After all, isn't that what the entire nation is clamoring for? BTW, the Chinese car companies have already been given the go-ahead by the Chinese government to swoop in and buy both GM and Chrysler if the loans don't come through in December. Our congress would basically be giving all of the technology that China craves by refusing to give them aid through this recession. As for the UAW, I don't care where my pension check is coming from; America, government guarantees or the Chinese, but assuming that the failure of the Big Three is no big thing shows the lack of forward thinking and one of the reasons that Congress' approval ratings is in single digits.