Auto Bailout?

The rational for letting them go into bankruptcy is that if they can't compete in the free market they deserve to go under. Senator Sessions says no need to subsidize companies that can't operate on their own.

Problems with that: Yes, the companies can and probably should go bankrupt but a lot of their workers will have to go bankrupt too. It is a lot easier for companies to go through that procedure that for individuals. The companies get rid of their pension plans, health care provisions, seniority rules and a lot more. Individuals also get rid of their their pension plans, health care provisions, and seniority also, plus their jobs, income, and houses too.

More problems: It's not just the companies being unable to compete in a free market. And it's not just the case that government IS the problem, as Reagan so impudently proclaimed. He made that statement when the auto industry was "struggling" under CAFE standards. Those laws would probably by now have American cars running 30 to 50 mpg, and probably burning only American-produced gasoline.

There's a lot more. Just remember the Bush tax rewards for buying a gas guzzler for your "business". You could buy a Hummer or a 4-door diesel pickup truck for almost ZERO dollars when you factored in the tax break for buying those vehicles. And while those are only two of the Roadside Bombs the republican party planted in the path of the American automobile free market, you can get the idea.

Sure government can't really run a large auto company, but it can regulate those things. Above all, it can do the ONE MAIN THING those companies themselves never will be able to do - that is to work for the long range good of the American people instead of simply chasing the big profit for the current quarter.

© John Womack, 2008. All rights reserved