Money Beat

It was interesting to watch some of the pols lecturing the car companies on responsibility. Do they not realize their part in this situation? What did they do in the last 20 years except circumvent regulations, and thumb their noses at concerned citizens. Now, they need to act like adults and share the blame.

I find it hard to believe that GM or Chrysler can get any viable credit options after bankruptcy in the current financial market. Bankruptcy equals liquidation.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Hey GM and Chrysler....How do you feel about the execution of your management team? ......I'm all for it!!

The UAW had it's chance to voluntarily decrease pay and benefits. UAW doesn't want to give up anything so thet them liquidate. The companies will re-open under a different name and offer jobs with lower benefits and pay and probably no unions. NO BAILOUTS.

They need to file for chapter 11 and clean house so that they can become profitable again. Carrying the UAW legacy demands through a bailout will insure that the Big 3 remain failures.

with all the talk about the cost of retirees in the big three and the 3 million or so people connected with it .what is the us going to do if you have those 3 millon unempolyed and uninsured people in the us .part of hillsry health care plan was to requie employerstoat least offer healhcare allow the auto comany to fail will cost tax payers more than saving them will

No one is going to believe that GM will come out of bankruptcy if they go in. That will spook all buyers (particularly those asked to put money down on a car tbey order). The elimination of our car industry is the WORST option.

The bottom line is that if this industry goes under, it will send the US into a second great depression. 14 billion, even if it just bought them some time is a bargain compared to the devastating effects of the entire industrial sector of the US going under. One GM bankrupcy will quickly turn into ten thousand other company bankrupcties and in turn lead to tens of thousands of persnnal bankrupcies. It would be a complete melt down. No one in the US will go unaffected.

The politicians are playing the "blame game" and pointing fingers at everyone but themselves for the mess we are in !

Will they accept their own responsibility for this mess ?? No !

It's "politics as usual" and it won't change.

The auto companies should go the bankruptcy route and the banks who refuse to help the average citizen to modify their mortgages so that they lose their homes to foreclosure should be encouraged by any means possible by our government to help the auto industry with the money needed to restructure .

Will it happen ? The government can make it so - I hope they do.

p-l-e-a-s-e. Save the histrionics. If the U.S. provides a bailout to the auto industry how are we going to turn down the airline industry come Spring. We haven't even got to the real threat - credit card companies. The problem is that the nonsense being spewed by the auto industry, their union, and furthered by the media is actually resonating with some people. Please do some basic analysis - if they go into bankruptcy (funded by the gov.)and the U.S. gov. backs the warranties - people will buy cars, maybe not at the prices the auto makers would like, but the market will find a price. Additionally, when was the last time you got out of a dealers without being prodded to purchase THEIR guarantee - you know the private warranty that goes further then the auto makers'? This is an opportunity for private co's. to take the warranty business a bit further. Yes, jobs will be lost - but NOT 3 million! This is the invisible hand of the free market at its best - telling us that an industry is too fat and needs to shed some pounds to become more healthy. Providing the bailout will allow for the auto industry to remain fat and completely die off - in a sickly manner. Helping it get thinner will prolong its life. Save the bailout money, guarantee all warranties will be honored, and extend relocation assistance, education assistance, and increased length of time for unemployment compensation to the auto workers.

We don't need government bailouts to save the auto industry, lender or what have you. The solution is simple! The Government needs to stop raising the cost of living, and fuel prices. Everytime they raise minimum wage the cost of living goes up. That hurts everyone! Our economy is shot already. The government pays for these bailouts with our tax dollars. Do the American people need more taxes? They say we are short in oil... And for almost two years we've been paying almost $4.00 a gallon. Oddly to increase sales for the holidays gas prices drop to $1.58 (Oregon) I don't remember anyone finding new oil reserves. Our Government has become greedy with OUR money! It needs to stop. Lower the cost of living. i.e. groceries, utilities etc. (Why do you think people buy fast food in America... It's all most can afford) Keep the gas prices LOW. (They will rocket back to $3.00 after Christmas) Once people can afford to simply live. Americans will start spending their money. Once people start spending again our economy will become strong again. I think theres something wrong when a gallon of milk costs more than a gallon of gasoline. I'm tired of being raped by the government. They cannot manage our money! Blame them for our economy!

Rants don't help. Although gas prices were artificially inflated, it now seems they are back to the usual supply and demand. You won't see $3 gas for a long time and there is a good chance it will hit $1.25 or lower in the near future (in spite of OPEC cutting production). I wouldn't be surprised if oil goes under $30/barrel again.

As for cost of living, everyone is expecting deflation so don't worry about it too much in the short term. The raise in minimum wage has nothing to do with this problem.

Saving the auto industry is a simple matter really. What will cost more, to loan them money now or to pick up the pieces afterward. A 14 or 140 billion dollar loan is cheaper than us taking over pension plans, paying unemployment checks/benefits, paying health insurance, and losing 1-2 trillion in market cap (assuming the market drops by 1-2 thousand points).

The airline industry is not the car industry. Airlines don't actually "make" anything. When they go Chapter 11, people will still buy plane tickets because they are only investing a couple hundred bucks.

Better late thannever s I just read this article. Government should bail out the Big3. and then or first make them file Chapater 11. Why?To keep it from going under,loss of jobs, MAKING them restructure literally everthing. The reason this will help is becausse people will buy from them if they know they have warranty guarantees instead of buying a car "as is" which they won't do. Ford products are looking pretty good right now. Their fleet has already moved to gas efficiency models, so far they are still solvent (although a loan would guarantee them wiggle room to stay solvent).May sound foolish but that's the way it is. As far as bailing out the airlines. They have shown time land time again they can'[t cut he mustard other than Southwest.,, so the others can figure it out on their own or go Chapter 11 if nothing else.

Chap 11 MUST be done. Congress does not have the stones to force the changes that are required to give these comapnies a realistic shot a success!

I think it would be a good thing for the automakers to file bankruptcy. My understanding is that the unions are the main reason for them not getting bailout money last week. Apparently they think the automakers will survive without bankruptcy, or they would have agreed to make concessions to keep people employed. Yes they people would have had to take a salary cut, but if bankruptcy is filed the pay cut will be much worse.

Union will kill the progress that is about to take place. wrokers need to speak for themselves. Not a shop steward still getting paid after everyone else gets laid off. reseach union and lay offs you will be amazed
Bail out with union leadership will fail

tell the union to kiss off.look what the union did for consolidated trucking & roadway,jack squat.all the dummies pay the union dues only to make everyone but themselves richer & the dummies poorer.

another thing about union workers that i hate.you go into a union shop to make a delivery or a pickup.god forbid you disturb them duing lunch or nap time.they always find a way to treat you like a piece of garbage.so if the big 3 go belly up,so be it.they don't need a bailout,just need to weed out the losers & overpaid workers.

Yah man! Check us out at www.fullautosoft.com!

Good comment, come check out vids about this on www.vidzspot.com !