How to Bail Out General Motors

Where does it end? Most Americans today that work for companies don't have Guaranteed Health plans or Expensive Defined Benefit Plans!

It's about time these companies take responsibility for being in debt. If they need assistance from the Gov't (taxpayers) then they have to make some changes to get it! Change the insurance participation levels for employees. Freeze defined benefit plans and start 401k plans for retirement. Become fiscally responsible. I ran my own finances they way they do no one would bail me out!!!!

Well said JerseyGeoff, I wrote the same thing to Lautenberg the other day.

Congress should pass a bill that if you buy a car from the Big three thats you will recieve an 50% tax refund on the intrest. This will insure the bridge loan and help Detroit to become on level ground with the imports. further more ther are too many Down south Union buster Anti UAW on here for me!

In order to receive "aid" the current management team should be required to resign, no "golden parachute" either. Also, GM, along with all the other companies requesting aid, should have to put a plan into writing as to how they are not going to get themselves into this position again.

I agree with most of what is said here except the position that we need high gasoline prices inorder to get high efficient cars. The fact that fossil fuels are a limited resource should be enough to get us to reach for more efficient cars, etc.; as well as alternative fuel supplies. We know this; so why must we be dragged, kicking and screaming to do the right things for our future. Obama's administration is going to have to be tough and firm with this bailout situation. No politics, just good government.

First come to terms with the fact that GM is largly responsible for destroying our electrified public rail infratucture in the early/mid 20th century. In 1921 GM created what we would now call a PAC to destroy
that infrastucture to replace it with the cars and busses they built. ANY bailout must restructure GM to
recreate what it destroyed. Any public money must require 51% of it's voting shares and a complete replacement of it's board of directors. GM should then be re-focussed as a producer or viabale public transportation and ecofriendly cars. American executives should be replaced with managers from India, China and Japan to ensure a sound work ethic. The highest paid employee should not earn more than 10 times that of the lowest paid. If GM is restructured to serve the public good the net effect to the US economy will be positive. Fred54 in Boston

First come to terms with the fact that GM is largly responsible for destroying our electrified public rail infratucture in the early/mid 20th century. In 1921 GM created what we would now call a PAC to destroy
that infrastucture to replace it with the cars and busses they built. ANY bailout must restructure GM to
recreate what it destroyed. Any public money must require 51% of it's voting shares and a complete replacement of it's board of directors. GM should then be re-focussed as a producer or viabale public transportation and ecofriendly cars. American executives should be replaced with managers from India, China and Japan to ensure a sound work ethic. The highest paid employee should not earn more than 10 times that of the lowest paid. If GM is restructured to serve the public good the net effect to the US economy will be positive. Fred54 in Boston

Please see the now cliche' definition of insanity. Corporations are currently proving their corporate whores populate the Halliburton House, aka, the white house, Lobby Hobby, aka, Congress, and Roberts' Robots, aka, the Supremes....and now, or ever since Rove and the RNC generated their Stockholm Syndrome relationship with the lapdog press, this editor's comment being one great example, we the people are doomed to domination by corporate zealots who are capitalists when they garner their obscene paychecks and communists when their megalomania predicatably falls on it's face. Way to go corporate whores at MSNBC, you get the crack ho of and for the hour award! The real answer is for a government takeover, and, for the first time[unlike the idiots at the Pentagon)an outsourcing to Japanese automakers for help in making cars like theirs. It's more feasible than your sick support of our sociopathic Big 3 Bosses.

Most people against auto bailouts don't consider "market perception" of a major automaker in Chapter 11. There is already a negative perception about US vehicles being inferior to Japanese & European brands. And if GM were to enter into bankruptcy protection, many "would be" consumers will question whether the company will honor warranties or whether their local dealership will be eliminated as part of the re-organization. Having these concerns will keep them out of showrooms and lead them to Ford, Chrysler, or the foreign competiton. They won't be shying away from SUVs and trucks, they'll be reluctant to buy anything. 1st you'll see a lot of small & medium-sized dealerships close, then the larger ones will slowly start to shut down later on. By that time, many other businesses will already feel the tight squeeze as their regular customer rates begin to fall quick (week-to-week). Then municipalities will demand that city taxes increase to cover budget shortfalls....and then you'll see schools suffer...and so on. Fund GM, Ford, and Chrysler; and let them continue to operate until the ecomony reaches some type of healthy level. The US economy is really sick, and the auto industy can not recooperate without the right prescription medication that the US govt has a lot of.

No matter what indicator you look at, the nation and the world is in a very serious recession. What happens in a recession? Jobs are lost so we need to extend unemployment benefits and people don't spend money. If you look at all the stats from all automakers, both domestic and foreign, you see a huge decline in sales. Even the Japanese are delaying expanding more plants in the U.S. because of people not buying worldwide.

So, this argues against giving a bail-out to the auto industry at this time. Giving them the money will not increase sales and in 6 months they will be back asking for more.

Too often the question raised here is an either or question on who???s to blame. All sides are to blame but, the state of the economy is the main culprit. Yes the Execs pay has to decrease and yes the unions have to give ground on their two tier new contract but the only hope that our country and our future will not go bankrupt is for the Auto companies to go into chapter 11. The airlines have done this and come out successfully until the price of oil skyrocketed but chapter 11 buys the automakers time and also allows the government to make the loans when the economy picks up steam. Keep in mind that most economists think this will last well into 2010. If we start bailing out now, we, as a country, will be completely bankrupt by that time and create an even more devastating economic scenario.
all ready you have cities wanting to now cash in on the bailout and are asking for money that was set up by congress as a short-term loan to the financial sector.

Many years ago the government bailed out Chrysler. And what did it get us? Absolutely nothing except higher union wages, huge bonuses for the execs and gas guzzling cars.

If they had a viable plan for positive cash flows they wouldn't need the government, investors would be interested in loaning money. Giving them money is like giving the homless drunk on the street change, tomorrow he will still be a homeless drunk ansking for money.

The mostly unspoken, but obvious result regardless of the action taken, is going to be that GM is going to be significantly smaller in 6 months than it is today. With that understanding the uaw will have to allow for lower wages (probably by a third) and fewer jobs (another third less) , the product line will have to be reduced by at least a third and management will have to be (mostly) replaced since they have put us where we are. And if I were making the call I wouldn't give them a dime until they presented a plan that presented a positive cash flow in less than a year after the changes I just mentioned. No viable cash flow plan...no money.

We shouldn't. If they cannot manage their checkbook, too bad. No one comes and bails me out when I can't manage my money.

Let them go under as a message to the other greedy Unions destroying other Industries. They were overpaid for years and now loose their jobs. Reap what you sow