Should the US bailout the big three automakers?

[G.R.]

and the sheep keep electing worthless politicians, Dem or Repub, to "represent" them sometimes for decades, Stevens comes to mind...it has been getting worse for the last 40 years...and most of us "boomers" just sat back and were apathetic to what was going on around us, more interested in our self-gratifing lives.

We can blame whoever we want, the unions, the gov't, the Middle East, the banks, immigration, what have you for our current economic problems...

in reality we only have our own selves to blame because most Americans don't pay attention and when it comes time to go to the polls we blindly listen to the "spin" and vote back in Joe Schmuck " 'cuz he's been a politician for so many years he must know what he's doing" ... I admit I'm guilty of it....how about any of you?????....meanwhile ol' Joe's getting "fatter"...ever seen poor or middle class politicians after a few years in office?

And now we cry out in the wilderness of economic doom........

[Dan40]

Random thoughts.

The no longer BIG 3 want 25 Billion. The amounts each asked for total more than 25 Billion, but what's a few xtra Billions to us taxpayers?

An insurance giant got 85 Billion and threw a hellova party. Now they need more.

The financial industry needed 700 BILLION DOLLARS to stay in business. But the approved "EMERGENCY" bailout didn't work, but since the money is approved, lets use it some other way........What way?........Don't know yet.

Seems to me that businesses or industries that need that much money to stay in business ARE ALREADY OUT OF BUSINESS. The patient DIED already, stop the operation.

But the auto industry would cause 3 million to lose their jobs. A SCARE number I think, but we will accept it. Add on another 5 million out of work from the financial sector. 8 million out of work. Mexico might finish building the fence , but on their side of the border.

Lets double that, 16 million. Highest unemployment benefits I could find on the net, $510 a week [Mass.] So we have 16 million unemployed collecting $510 a week. They can collect for 26 weeks [I think] then there is a 13 week extension for a total of 39 weeks [9 months]. Lets double that too.
78 weeks [1.5 YEARS] X 16,000,000. claimants X $510 = <$700,000,000,000.00. [ Less than 700 Billion.] And the companies are gone so they cannot come back and ask for more.
Cheaper to let them go than to save them.


We did get a new oxymoron out of all this: "toxic ASSETS"

Dan

[Tony Radford]

What's the chance that when the dust settles, average citizens will see the ill of their past ways and become more frugal? Back to the WWII generation. Isn't this the first major spanking the baby boomer generation has experienced? I've been on the Dave Ramsey plan for the better part of the year and (assuming I'm still employed) should be debt free by the end of next year. I wish I had started the plan a year earlier so I'd be there already (and still have my roadster). When the mindless / reckless spending by the American consumer subsides (just about there), the retail industry will have to recede. Massive closing of businesses (that grew to facilitate our spending habits) has to shrink, right? As one adopts the philosophy of frugal living, supply and demand will force the inescapable alteration to our commercial landscape. How long does it take for the "system" to re-tool and begin absorbing the masses of unemployed? It all sounds like the end of the world, but it probably isn't. What are the plausable theories? I'm sure no "one" will lead the country to the light. It will just happen like always.