Picking Winners

It is totally insane to bailout the so called "Big 3" automakers. They are where they are for 1 simple reason; they are not building the best cars in the world. These companies were once great and did make some of the best cars on the planet. People all around the world would pay more for quality, they show that every day by buying cars from other manufactures that cost more. I once owned a 57 Chevy, a 60's corvette and the last American car I bought new was a 1994 Ford SHO. People paid more for these cars, because they were the best. I now own a Toyota Prius Hybrid, a Lexus SUV Hybrid and the SHO, but we mostly drive the Lexus. The Lexus has had only oil changes and tires and don't need Mr. Not-so-GoodWrench for excessively expensive maintenance. The Detroit Car companies are not only NOT building the best cars in the world, they are building worthless junk. They refuse to build any vehicles with Hybrid high gas mileage efficiency and have lost market share for this reason. Now the only logical course for their bad decisions is Chapter 11. And this doesn't mean they will cease to exist. Like the airline industry and others the Car companies will be forced to restructure and have to change their ways and start building quality cars that consumers will actually buy. If they refuse to restructure they shouldn't survive and wouldn't have survived even if they took & lost the Taxpayers money they want to bailout their incompetence.

Why was it so easy for the Gov. to pony up $700BILLION to those FAT, BLOATED, S.O.B.s' but not give Detroit a measly $15BILLION? Those Kentucky Fried senators are trying to break the union, and the labor movement in general. So, you have an auto job in TN, but not the perks? Coz ur in a "right to work state", you made ur own bed, so quit whining. CORRUPT, GREEDY SENATORS. We should hang a few from lamposts as a warning. Starting with that smug p.o.s. CORKER. They were right, the South has risen-AGAIN.

republican be gone, I'm sorry to say that I've never heard of a pure capitalist society ever having a recession. Our government has favored one industry or another since the 1790s, starting with banks (Central Bank), then military spending (2812), then trains (industrial "revolution"), then military spending (1860s), then banks (1880s-1908), then military spending (WW1), then banks (Fed 1914), then military spending (WW2), and since WW2, we have been in numerous wars with expanding government, nanny government, and government favoratism which distorts markets, like agriculture, military spending, and for the past 25 years, consumer spending. The government created lending standards and promises (fanny and freddie) that distorted consumer spending to create bubbles in the stock market, housing market, and tuition prices, all while creating inflation with all the new money. Sure the bubble "looks" like prosperity in the early stages like the 90s, but eventually the pendulum has to swing back the other way to cure the distortion. And lets face it. The CPI is a lie, and when real inflation is considered, consumers won't spend so much. If consumers aren't spending, then two things will happen (logically). The service sector economy will shrink vastly as the cost-benefit decreases, and american companies will look to sell abroad for their profits.

What I am saying is that the only period in American History with pure capitalism was the greenback dollar system before we declared independence, and the economy was burdened by the King's intervention (taxes and regulation), and thus, we rebelled, at least according to Franklin and Jefferson.

So really, I'd just like to know where you got this notion (be specific) that depressions are part of pure capitalism?

Where do you give bailouts to beyond the Big Three? Airlines? Individual states? Recreational vehicle suppliers? The boating industry?

Try using your caps lock a lttle less LIKEITIS

I have lived in Detroit for 50 years and have worked at the headquarters of GM, Ford, and Chrysler at different times in my career. Yes, they are monopolistic type companies who by their own hand are responsible for their current poor financial situation.

My point is, it does not matter. Because whether it???s the autos in Detroit or the financials in New York we the regular people are going to suffer. Yes, the rich guys may have to cut back on their frills, but mostly everyone else will experience the real pain.

Today it looks like the autos will take a fall and we all yell, ???Yes, it???s payback time!??? Unfortunately, history tells us one of the biggest reasons for the Great Depression is the government took a position of letting the market correct itself. I might want some pay back, but I do not want to stand in a bread line for 10 years because we let the autos fold. And when the autos are gone who will we rely on for manufacturing the Japanese and Mexico?
I say let???s cut them a check to keep the doors open for a few months while we work together to figure out a plan that won???t put me us in the bread line. Please don???t tell me your area isn???t dependent on the autos, it???s not about that. Homes are being foreclosed all over the Country and the world economy is in jeopardy.