Auto Bailout

I sit and listen as the people (Dodd, Frank, Pelosi...) who brought us the collapse of the financial industry through their demands for subprime loans and loose standards at Freddie and Fannie weigh in on the possiblity of bailing out the big three automakers and it's just unbelievable. Where does it all end? What is out there that's not too big to fail?

The biggest problem that I can see with this is that the Democrats want to put all kinds of strings on the bailout of the automakers. First are the standards on what kind of cars they can make. I understand the need for cleaner and greener cars, but the fact is that all the restrictions that have been put on the automakers here are the reason that they're having problems. The automakers are doing much better overseas where they have fewer restrictions.

Second, they want to put a lot of restrictions on the execs as far as salaries, golden parachutes, etc. This is a pretty good idea. The execs at AIG are a perfect example of how idiotic people who are being bailed out can be. This is also a good idea because these idiots are the ones who made the deals that are causing the major problems, which is linked to the third item.

The third item is a big problem for me. The Democrats who are pushing this are so very much in the pockets of the unions that they'll never push for dealing with the biggest problem the automakers face: the deals with the unions. Autoworkers for the big three make so significantly over what factoryworkers in other industries make that it's ridiculous. For that matter, they make much more than those working in the United States for foreign companies like Honda and Toyota. Then, at least here in Toledo, is the layoff pay. The factories are making non-competitive cars that are not selling. So they don't need to make more. So, they shut down and the workers get "laid off." The problem with a layoff as far as it doing anything for the finances of the automakers is that the person who is sitting at home not producing anything for the market gets paid 95% of his salary. That along with the Union pensions which, to me, rival a golden parachute. It's no surprise that the US automakers aren't competitive. And the Democrats will never want to address these problems in a bailout.

So, being that the Dems and the automakers will never address the union problems that are the primary cause of the need for a bailout, any money thrown at the automakers will be a complete waste.