I say yes, with caveats.
1. For the companies that take the bailout, the government will take control and the company put into receivership.

2. The existing CEO's are removed, along with the "know nothing" MBA upper and middle management of these companies, if not dramatically thinned- with no bonuses or golden parachutes.

3. The Government then dictates what is to be manufactured, this would be but not limited to:
A. Hybrid cars and or cars that use little to no gas
B. Bio-Fuel/Diesel vehicles (such as the ones that are coming out of Europe and Germany)
C. Mass transit such as Light Rail

The Big 3 auto makers blame everyone but themselves regarding their immediate demises- as a matter of fact this "sudden demise" has been in the making for the last 30 years. They blame the Unions, workers and the cost of health care, when by the way could have backed Hillary's health care plan back in '94.

They act as if this fiscal disaster of theirs has just snuck up on them last night, but Senators and Congressman neglect to ask them the tough questions like: "What happened to the Electric Car?" or "What do you think making diesel engines would do for you business?" or even "Will you step down as a condition of this deal and save your companies?" Though one did ask if they would give up their Private Jets and fly home on a commercial flight.

Any money without these bloated pork feed CEO's stepping out of their positions will be farted away under their care and fill there greedy little pockets. Congress should see these "geniuses" as "drunken and reckless drivers" and order them to be removed at once. Then we can begin with the voting.


We can only hope cool heads will prevail in this matter and it would be only for the betterment if it could be addressed with the new administration in place instead of a lame duck congress and president- each of whom have nothing to lose.
The House may easily pass a bill but the Senate will likely not even vote. But should clear thinking prevail and a proper Bill is passed and sent to The President, one can only bet that a great campaign will occur in shaming Bush into signing such a bill. I think you really have to consider the fact that Bush would not want to lose the Manufacturing Base of this country during a war and on his watch, despite the fact he a bankrupted this country as he has done with every other company his daddy ever gave him.


However, any bill should MANDATE (easy Gary) that all cars now be made with diesel engines that burn Biofuels. This would eliminate the need for Research and Development under those circumstance- for instance Ford already has a wonderful Bio Diesel engine in Europe. This should free up the $250 Billion that The Energy Department has for Auto Industry earmarked for"Innovation". I would think $500 Billion could save the Big Three as long as the useless heap of Starched White Collar MBA Managers are immediately eliminated.

Otherwise, we may as well just burn the money.

If the Auto Industry is allowed to die surely a Depression- greater than the one in the 1930's- will follow. Mark my words folks.

quote:

Originally posted by AndrewsAdvice:
No we should not because the United States presently has more serious financial events presiding. The Big 3 need to look at reorganization, Massive Executive salary reduction and elimination of all unnecessary lavish expenses.
The Big 3 Corporate Executive Crybabies do not need a Golden Pacifier. Hello!
CORP-RUPTION = Loss of Jobs

I believe that's what I stated but I agree there is need for major reorganization for the BIG 3. Upper management needs to be drastically reduced, CEO's removed and a business plans that address objectives for the next 3, 5, and 10 years.

Actually the verbiage has been changed it's not a "bail out" it's a "loan" like Lee Iacocca obtained in '79 and paid back with interest. But not a blank check.

Allow me to point out the auto industry is the only industry we have left. We no longer produce TV's, radios, computers or any major electrical produces of any kind. We have some aerospace and a few other light industries, but that's about it.

Think about this for a moment, if we have a major war like WWII we won't be able to equip ourselves. If we tick-off one of the countries that build our electronics we're "F_ucked." On and don't forget about the Saudis, we need to get off the oil nipple too.

Though if we don't keep the only industry we have left, we're screwed folks, and we will slid into a depression that could take 20 years to get out from under.

Yes ... a reluctant yes, but only with Steve Jobs overseeing how the money is being utilized. This will assure that all companies will at least be looking forward.

Seriously. Yes, but it has to be with a lot of strings attached, particularly with the assurance from all these CEOs -- and their private jets -- that they all have a plan in place RIGHT NOW on how they are going to turn things around.

... I still don't know why companies like Ford don't reopen plants like their River Rouge plant, which once employed 100,000 people by itself, and not just work on developing hybrid cars, but also developing monorail and maglev systems to place in the center of our existing freeway corridors? Imagine the blue oval in front of a state-of-the-art monorail system shooting up and down the center of the 405 or I-5, etc.? Why is widening or building more freeways always the only option? Jeez, we're at the point where we're building freeways ON TOP of freeways here!? Talk about adding to global warming? Didn't Walt Disney offer the city of Anaheim a monorail system only to be turned down? What happen to this country's foresight and simply being second to none in such technological advances? Imagine a new federal highway system(act) to mirror the one of the mid '50s that gave us our current highway system, but this time focusing instead on mass transit systems and high speed rail like they do in Europe and some Asian countries? Think of not just how much less congestion there would be on our freeways but also how less dependent we would be on oil producing countries, and just think of all the hundreds of thousands of jobs it would create, not to mention the carbon emissions angle to it all, etc?

By the way, Ford's River Rouge plant had 99 miles of rail track within the plant, so one can assume that Ford would know something about rail systems.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one ...

No we should not because the United States presently has more serious financial events presiding. The Big 3 need to look at reorganization, Massive Executive salary reduction and elimination of all unnecessary lavish expenses.
The Big 3 Corporate Executive Crybabies do not need a Golden Pacifier. Hello!
CORP-RUPTION = Loss of Jobs

Hey Mike... I say we should let the Longshoreman's union take over for the Autoworker's union and then the poor auto workers would only have to work 4 hours a day and get paid for 9 1/2. That should fix everything.

Hmmmm....I'll get right back to you with my answer, Michael. I just have to Google this first, LOL.