Should the US bailout the big three automakers?

[bobcowan]

Interesting thread. I read every post, and noticed a few things.

Despite stats to the contrary, people insist the big three only make crappy vehicles that nobody wants. And yet, GM outsells every other car maker on the planet.

People insist that their toyato is better than anything made in the US. And yet, JDP, CR, etc, all point out data to the contrary.

More griping about the unions than anything else. Which has little - if anything to do with the actual bail out money.

"Don't give them my hard earned dollar" is a common theme. The bail out is in the form of Gov't loans and loan guarantees. These loans could end up being lost money, but that's not the intention.

When loans are provided, they are for specific purposes. Not $10M for an exec bonus. Some of that money will find it's way into the wrong pockets, it always does. But, didn't that also happen with the the Katrina money? Nobody rallied against that bail out.

Lets look at what will happen if Chrysler fails. tens of thousands of workers will be unemployed. Not paying their rent, or paying of their debts. They will file for bankruptcy, and millions of dollars will be lost to the economy. Credit card interest rates will rise, so the banks can make their profits. More people will go under because they can't afford 25% interest every month.

All the companies that support the workers will go under. Frome the company that makes brake pads, all the way down to the guy who runs a hot dog stand outside the gate. Remember the Peace Dividend of the early 90's? Same thing will happen on a much larger scale.

15 manufacturing plants will close. Now, out of all the BS, rhetoric, stats, and numbers, this is the most important. We will lose manufacturing capability. Once the world economy picks up again (and it will), what will happen? We will be unable to manufacture cars, brake pads, engines, washing machines, etc. We will have to purchase our manufactured goods from Korea. Our economy will be so bad, the dollar will be almost worthless. We can't build our own stuff, and we can't afford to buy imported stuff. We'll al be driving a Pravda.

A country that can't make stuff has nothing to offer the world economy. Ask Viet Nam about that. We will be a third world nation, unable to pull itself out of a depression. Countries like Japan, Korea, Germany will be running the show here.

And, finally, think about defense. Remember WWII? What allowed us to win that war? Numbers. War is a numbers game. Whoever has the greatest numbers of planes, ships, tanks, and men, will win the war. In the 40's, manufacturing plants all over the US were converted to wartime use. Singer made tens of thousands of rifles. Chrysler made tanks. Ford made jeeps.

If we can't make stuff, we can't defend ourselves.

If we lose our manufacturing capability, it will be the end of the US as we know it.