Back in November, we were told that GM (and Chrysler and Ford) was just TOO BIG to let fail, and as such it was IMPERATIVE that $35 Billion of tax payer money be given to the auto industry or MILLIONS would be instantly out of work, PLUNGING the economy into a spiral death unlike any known before.
So they got the money (OK, not Ford) and LIFE AS WE KNEW IT was saved for another day (or several months at least.) Chrysler used some of that money to pay for a full page newspaper ad in many markets thanking the taxpayers for the bailout money. Talk about stimulus. All those millions of jobs were kept on, workers building cars and trucks at full speed, and facotry orders kept up at usual paces, all because of that generous tax payer funded infusion, right?
WRONG! Not only did that initial tax gift NOT fix the massive problems in the US auto industry, both companies who took the cash are now in BANKRUPTCY. As in FAIL. We’re into GM for upwards of $50 Billion now and lucky us, “we” own 60% of a worthless behomoth. Too big to fail? Apparently NOT.
So now, we’ll surely see even more massive layoffs, since 1 in 10 jobs in this country rely on a strong US auto industry, right? Isn’t that what they told us last fall? Not just auto workers, but parts plants, plastic mills, cloth manufacturers, and down the line? If financial “armageddon” hasn’t hit us yet, it must be right around the corner, right???
Would we have been better served just giving that $50 Billion to the estimated 1.5 million affected workers to the tune of $32,000 and change and let the auto industry and related industrues just close up shop?
Too Big to fail? When failure is inevitable, as it surely was with GM and Chrysler, what possible good came from prolonging the inevitable and dishing out multiple billions of dollars? Is our economy the better for it? Are those workers?
News of GM going into bankruptcy have indeed begun a “sky is falling” mentality at that bastion of sanity called Wall Street- the market is UP 200+ points.
Who was president when this whole financial disaster really began? Who was making the rules so lax in Congress for the last decade or two? I guess it must all be Obama’s fault.
(cross posted at Bring It On)
This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 10:16 am and is filed under Common Sense, Economy, society.
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June 24th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Bush’s idea was to give us a 1 trillion dollar tax bill with these bailouts, which was ridiculous. Now Obama wants to give us 2 trillion more. How does this make sense? They are going to bankrupt us even further (if that is possible). You seem to be under the delusion that there is some difference between the dems and the repubs. You couldn’t be more mistaken. They rob the treasury and give the money to the people that put them in office. Politicians destroy everything they touch. I’m sick of them all.