Weigh In: Your Thoughts on the Auto Bailout

I say let them sink or swim.

I hope there's a bailout. I bought up Ford and GM shares in hopes of it

I am not happy about the goverment giving or loaning any taxpayer money....but lets be real here. 70% of the US economy is based on consumer spending, if (depending on what numbers you believe) between 2 and 4 million workes loose their jobs the November jobless claim numbers will look good. its not just the big three, its the Tier 1 suppliers and all the companies that supply them as well. it is known that a large percentage of the big suppliers are in trouble and if any of the Big three go into chapter 11 all payments to the suppliers will stop sending a ripple through the country... if the bridge loan happens it will calm the markets increase consumer confidence for the holidays and generate sales for the short term....

"We did it for the White Collar jobs, so we should do the same for the Blue Collar jobs." Are you serious, that's the same thing my little kids say to me when they want something a friend has received! If that's the BEST argument you can use, stay home and don't say anything at all!

I'm not against some from of asistance for the auto maker's I feel the bil that's been drafted is a joke. As of this morning I read that it all ready is loaded with pork insertted by Ried and Pelosey.A formula for a disasater. My first point is if we are going to sponcer some form of assistance let's keep the pork out of the bill. The big three as they are refered to all have different need's, thus the bill should be tailored for each co. Ford appears to be in the best shape. They wannt a credit line of 9 billion that they could draw down on a as needed basis.This could be arranged with a group pf bank's partisapation guranteed by the goverment. Chrysler is a different story. It's ownned by a private equity firm, investors, is it our problem that they picked the wrong investment? My idea is some form of reorgainization with the gov providing funding after the reorgainization.General motor's is in big trouble, how ever I do feel that we should make an effort to save the job's.I would suggest that they file for chapter 11 and use a team who are fimiliar with bankruptcey to negoiate with the union, supplier's etc to bring the cost's of doing business down.There should be bench mark's set by a commission being the same for all three. I just read this morning that Honda and Toyota made a profit of 18 billion while Ford and General Motor's lost 34 billion.There is a lot wrong with this picture and must be corrected if the big three have any hopes of survival or we as tax payers will be supporting them for ever. The last thing I would want to see is the Gov taking a ownnership ship in any of the automobile manufactures. This is not new's as we all know the gov can't run the gov how in the world would they run a competive business? Take a look at the current bailout, or worse yet look at what they have done to social security?

I want to see some concessions on wage and benefits from the UAW before the bail out money is sent. I also would like to see some change in management at the auto makers. Their attitude is arrogant and unappreciative. They give the impression that they feel entitled to the money. The fact that they drove hibred vehicles didn't impress me much. I am in favor of putting a lot of strings on the money. They should have to make changes in compensation, and benefits before approval.

unless the unions are broken, the automakers have no chance. are the democrats independent enough to stab their union supporters in the back??? should crissy dodd resign for his vip loan from countrywide? do the dems have the fortitude to do the right thing?? not likely. will mr nobama step up and admit to the blatant, pervasive corruption in his staffing of the whitehouse? not likely.

The "bailout" will not work. As long as the congress(the real culprits) mandate the automakers manufacture cars that no one will buy there is not a viable business model that will work. Let them file for reorganization in bankruptcy. It is sad that some will lose their jobs at their current pay scale. The jobs still will have to be filled. Congress created the problem and then tax us to pay for their mistakes. Also please keep your president elect off the air. The market drops every time he tries to explain something. Warm regards, Greg McLeod

They Get the money then what... NO one is buying cars what good does it do to produce more when no one is buying them????? Hummmm.

The ripple effect of letting them fail is not an option but the auto makers have got to "wake up and smell the coffee." They have been sitting around, taking it for granted, that they will always have a strong market base. If the "Big Three" would make a reliable vehicle then the buyers would come back, where have the R&D departments been for the past twenty years???? I will still continue to own a US made SDtruck though.

No bail out! We need to let them fail and start over. No one will bail out all the people in credit card debt and foreclosure.

We fly on arilines in bankruptcy. We also buy from many other companies that are reorganized using the bankruptcy laws. The auto companies, labor, the tax payers and this country will be more secure if they are realistically reorganized now. Letting labor hang on to unsustainable agreements witht the auto companies is not a strategy that should be supported by taxpayers.

If the government wants to bailout something why not the workers that are going to be unemployed? That money would pay for alot of re-training and subsidies. Furthmore, use the money to fund NEW car companies that are struggling for funding and a trained work force. This is all about free enterprise, folks, the weak and badly managed fail, the new, strong, and better managed companies rise. So if the government is compelled to bankrupt my grandchildren then at least help put some new viable companies in place that will at least give my babies a job! P.S. stop the financial industry bailout now and recind any money not disbursed, they have not acted in good faith either!

I think what the critics are not grabbing ahold of is, despite the fact that GM, Ford and Chrysler are "lethargic, stupid and deserving of the economic difficulties they find themselves in" while Toyota is, by comparison, "smart, nimble and deserving of the American car buyer's business", the current economic situation and market volume IS NOT a sustainable business model for Toyota either. Toyota may be in much better economic condition to weather the storm, but if the lack of consumer confidence and credit persists, Toyota will also see massive cuts, factory shutdowns, layoffs and ultimately a need to radically adjust their own operations.

Let them fall. This bailout will not change their way of doing business. The airlines learn this the hard way, it's about time the UAW learns a hard lesson. This is America, the strong will survive.

Let them fail. The Union benefits and rules will forever sink these companies and make them uncompetative on a cost perspective. If there is a bailout, it should come with a unalateral pay cut of at least 15%, no exceptions!

How the heck did we get a payraise for Judges snuk into this by Reid? Are they totally incapable of passing a bill for its sake only? I think not

I have never believed in "bailouts" in the environment in which we do business in this country. Doing so results in favoritism and gets the Government involved in financial environments they are not trained to manage. In the state of our economy, we will be throwing good money at a no-win situation. We should have learned something from the dismal results from the $700 Billion bailout. The proper business solution is to have these Companies file Chapter 11. They have grossly mismanaged the business, have no long term answers to make them competitive and it appears that the financial assistance will probably be for the unions' benefit. The threat by GM and Chrysler stating millions will be losing jobs is ludicrous and just another scare tactic by the greedy executives and unions to maintain top-heavy benefits without them committing to resolving their dilemma. Other Companies have had to make tough decisions to reduce costs which include job eliminations or layoffs. Restructuring under Chapter 11 will be overseen by legal professionals who are very familiar with this practice and keep the Government out of this business and save us from them setting up a nonproductive "Oversight Committee". The taxpayers must have both the Company and UAW make the applicable concessions to get to the point where they will be competitive again and fend for themselves.

Instead of a bailout to the manufacturers, how about an incentive package for the consumers to purchase autos now instead of waiting until later. Make it aggressive enough that people will go out, buy cars (foreign or domestic; they are all made in US anyway), and spur the economy. This could possible possible help the "Big 3".

The auto makers would get 2% of what the banks got. I am afraid my 401K which turned into a 201K is going to eventually end up as a 01K. The market has been down due to the bailout trouble. If it is not passed, look for the Dow to hit 6000. Do it Now!

I don't mind much giving the load to the Big 3. The amount has to make sense. Let use Ford as example, their Market Capital is less than 7B. Their 2007 Revenue was highest for a long period. Gross was 18B and the company still could not make money. For a company worth 7B, and we, taxpaper, will give them a 5B loan. Did anyone learn the lesson from the housing marketing problem yet? Should we, tax payer, charge them reasonable interest? After all, we have to sell bonds to finance them.

Let them fail. They make crappy cars. No one wants to buy their crap and no one wants to support bloated union contracts run by thugs and shakedown artists. Buh by big three. Capitalism is a bitch.

the problem is $4.20 a gallon gas that made people stop buying a profitable product.i think oil prices were manipulated to bust the unions.everyone blames the workers but they are the only ones who's wages have kept up with inflation and allowed them to live a middle class life style. it's not that they make too much it's that other people don't make enough.henry ford who's company has been around for 100+ years said people who build these cars should be able to afford them.u.s. govt. epa standards choked the auto industy in the early 70's followed by an oil crisis which should have awakened the sleeping giant but it did not.people bought foreign cars and kept buying them.then we started shipping good paying jobs overseas bad idea.everything is to blame on shareholder greed within the free market and foolish decisions by management as to what type of vehicle to build.now most people make starvation wages with no benifits and blame the line worker.blame yourself for buying a honda instead of the big three if things would not have changed people could walk out of high school into a good paying job with benefits now we are slaves to the chinese who own most of our debt.and make everything.we point the finger at everyone except who's to blame companys buying overseas products because we are dumb enough to buy them in the first place.and the american consumer who should buy american. and now we stand here and ask why don't i have a job?i'll bet people who fought and died for this country are spinning in their graves.i feel sorry for anyone who can't see this

They need to reorganize under bankruptcy. Get rid of the parasitical union contracts. There's enough hard assets, skills, and ideas to make good American cars competitive with the Asians/Europeans. Also don't let the government dictate the type of car to be made and take a second look at environmental standards.

The bailout is a loan.14 billion compared to the 700 billion they gave to wall street with no questions asked,is just chump change to them printing out funny money.I love my 1988 Ford f150. Its paid for.

Enough is enough. It is NOT FAILURE if the big 3 are allowed to go into bankruptcy and take the time to restructure even if it means selling off or closing some lines. It is good business sense and hopefully the Republicans can overcome the fear that is perpetuated in this country by the Democrats. Why does everything in this country require CRISIS action by Congress?

The amount requested will only help until January 20th. These same gentlemen will come before a different Congress and ask for much more. Nothing is to be gained by doing this. General Motors and Chrysler should file chapter 11, and restructure without government involvement, and they would be the better for doing so. This unconstitutional trend by our federal government to inject liquidity and take an ownership stake is extemely alarming. We are loosing our liberties folks...Wake Up!

Re: Comment by Will Please align your facts to reality. Apples & Oranges can't be compared. You're quoting GM labor rates (under $30 per hour and benefits + ) against Kia labor rates without the cost of benefits. It's amazing how one can skew public opinion with simple yet very incorrect staements pretending to be the facts.

They already failed. Any bailout would be throwing good money after bad.

Isn't it amazing that the market is poised to either jump up - if the country is driven deeper into debt by selfish self serving bureaucrats - or drop down should fiscal responsibility win the day.

Government involvement has NEVER resolved any market issue! This should be called "Pelosi's vietnam" as there is no exit strategy for this intrusion into the business sector by the government in A Kremlin like fashion. Tell the auto companies to put up assests and obtain their funding just like everyone else. They should be eligible to have access to the 700 billion just like any other ill informed mortgage holder in default. The key is that they have assests for sale, so sale them!

Auto industry is not special, I think they should deal as the rest of the businesses throughout US are dealing! YOu are either smart to figure ways of cutting cost or you will go down! You start helping businesses, then everybody will ask for a hand out! What's fair about that!

NO BAIL OUT! This is a UAW Bailout! If we temporarily provide funds, GM and the will go back to business as usual. The UAW will never change and will continue to demand more money for less work. Let them fle backruptcy and form their own plan. Government oversight, now that's funny! (See Social Security and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae).

Chapter 11 is the answer for these outdated auto Companies. Close em down let em start again, many Co's have done it, they'll never change by giving them handouts. The cars may be new and better, but the business model to build them is antiqated and is need of a serious revamping They made a huge change when the foreign Co's showed them modern ways of producing a decent car, now they should follow the example of how the business end of things should be run.

Let them declare bankruptcy, move out of Detroit, and get out of the UAW. Capitalism isn't a one way street. What happens when an athlete is getting paid too much to do his job? He get cut, and the team moves on. Same thing needs to happen here.

No major union concessons now, No bail out let them file Ch 11. If the auto makers don't make extreem changes in thier product like coverting trucks and cars to natural gas the american people will stop buying until they do.

Congress can’t mandate business success for GM. Let GM Fail. This is free enterprise working at its best. The GM failure will allow growth of better companies such as Tesla and Carbon with better products and modern business models. It is very much time for the existing American auto industry to perish and a new group of replacements to be born and grow. America will be much better off.

I was of the opinion last month that Chapter 11 was a better alternative to bailout but I have since changed my tune. Why? Because within the last month my own job has been threatened and the addition of more Americans to jobless ranks will push us closer to the infamous "D" word. 14 billion is less than 2 months of expenditure for our war in Iraq. If this will prevent a further erosion in our economic confidence then we need to hold our tongues and do it. It would be funny though if the Republicans were succcessful in defeating this bailout and thus caused the economic dam to burst...no more Republican party! I wonder what will be the name of the party to take its place? How about the National (anti) Socialists or NAaZI's for short.

The Republicans are just holding this up to show that they still matter. Everyone hates another bailout. That said it would cost up to 3 million jobs if it isn't passed. Add the lost tax revenues, increased unemployment money etc. IF they don't pass something reasonable by tomorrow maybe my Democrat friends are right. They feel that Republicans are just ideologues & most are mean spirited,

The most frustrating aspects of this issue is the fact that Congress itself represents the third leg of the problem. Conservatives like to blame the UAW while Liberals love to blame the companies' management. In truth; both Labor and Management have a shared responsibility for the high labor costs and other HR costs which significantly impact the Detroit 3's bottom line. However, if you move up the chain of responsibility you will find the CAFE standards enacted by Congress in 1975. Simply stated, these otherwise viable companies (at least GM and especially Ford) are forced by these typically ill-conceived regulations to manufacture small, non-profitable vehicles in high-labor-cost unionized factories in order to meet the standards. So, GM continues to lose money making the Cobalt in its Lordstown, OH plant while Honda (despite recent problems indeed caused by the Financial Crisis, which can also be laid at Congress' door for a number of reasons starting with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977) does quite well in their Marysville and East Liberty, OH plants (right down the road, as it were from Lordstown) making Civics and Accords. Of course Honda has to meet the CAFE requirements but, the now infamous spread between their labor costs and the Big Threes' give them a virtually unassailable advantage.

Let them file bankruptcy...they can restructure. The unions need to get real on wages as do the workers. If not, they will loose their jobs anyway. The big 3 have refused to change their business model for 35 years, since the "invasion" of foriegn cars, since the disatisfaction of buyers regarding quality, since the loss of most of their business. Other businesses would have to change or close - why not the blind and ignorant big 3?

The average hourly wage at Kia, Toyota, BMW and Honda is $19 per hour. The average hourly wage for an auto worker at GM, Chrysler and Ford is $73 an hour. Let the big 3 go banko, break the union contracts and rehire them at the wage of successful auto manufacturers. Then wake up and understand that consumption is the second problem and the next thing to do is to cut production. A certain death sentence for the Big 3 is to have Federal Government oversight. Name one thing the Federal Government does well besides spend taxpayers money like drunken sailors. My apology to the sailors.

These legacy costs you refer to are actual people.Some too old to find new work in the present economic conditions. The Guaranteed Income Retirement Fund where they will get their pensions under an bankruptcy situation is already 11 billion dollars in the red. Add a million new faces to that Ken B Michigan

I hate the bailout, because it cannot solve the problem, you cannot force people to buy cars. Their units sold have decreased, so what are we doing. And I will not buy government style yugo cars with emission caps. I like a mid size car, and if the government wants to starve economic growth by forcing their crap on us I will not buy. I will reinvest in my 1994 model until the government kills me in some sort of scheme of tax penalties which they are so good at. Like the cigarette tax,fat tax, surcharges etc. Lets tax everyone to death. The government created this economical meltdown with the housing subprimes.....via no drill not here at anytime....which lead to higher oil prices....and now lets go green which will really destroy this economy in the near term. Do not listen to me just sit back and watch these politicians starve this economy. Release the big three let them build the cars they want to it will be cheaper than killing the rest of us with our money.

Let them go into a controled reorgaization but no bail out.

I don't think a large amount of talking is needed here let alone on capitol hill. Ultimately they need to reorganize themselves under bankruptcy, sell out, or die. It is not the taxpayers job to pay for other peoples gross negligence in handling their business affairs. The US auto makers have allowed the UAW to walk all over them and demand far more for their members than anyone deserves right down to nearly full pay during a layoff. Ford seems to have found a way to get a handle on things as they can last for a good while yet, the other two blew it. Let them die, as the other so-called non-American makers build more than 1/2 their stuff here with non-union American workers at very fair pay with good benefit packages. If this keeps up I think it's every Americans right to file a lawsuit against the US government and demand every one of us get our own bailout for any debts racked up over the last few years due to the economy. Why are we that much less important than these guys?

Before they are given bailout, the unions should make the same kind of concessions that the pilots and employees at Delta Airlines made. Why should I support the UAW's inflated benefits? The UAW has done little to demonstrate a sacrifice worthy of my tax dollars!!!!