The Big 3 Bailout

 ”I don’t really think of this as a bailout at all,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally told CBS’ The Early Show.

Then what exactly is it Mr. Mulally? For years the Big 3 in Detroit have operated under a certain ideology that seemed to almost stick it’s tongue out at the rest of the world and reality. The oil bubble loomed large on the horizon yet all you seemed to feed us was larger vehicles, larger price tags, and larger excuses on why. Ford released a 65 MPG turbo diesel in Europe but has stated that the vehicle will never make it to American shores, why not? Because they say the car is not economically viable to import. The main reason being the cost of the motor, which is built in the UK, and then the cost to ship it to the U.S. They then follow this up saying that the vehicle would cost around $26,000. Last I checked Toyota was doing well with the Prius in that range. Build what we want and need, not what you want. Building what you want isn’t doing that great with your sales down almost 47% in just the first nine months of this year. Are Detroit’s executives really that errogant and pompous. Build something we’ll buy and your sales will go up, keep building crap we don’t want and go out of business crying to Congress for money.

The auto industry in my opinion became a doppleganger of other inflated industries such as the Dot Com craze and the now failing housing market. Everything was great while the money flowed in uninhibated. But now the crutches that the auto makers used to prop themselves with have been abruptly kicked out from under them and the world now can see how how poorly they stand on their own.

On the flip side of things we see the impact they have in our country. There are roughly 355,000 people directly employed by Detroit’s finest, but the larger number is the footprint of 4.5 million people in related industries such as steel, aluminum, and plastics.

I still question the option of using tax payer money to bailout companies that still do not have a plan that avoids dividend payouts, lavish executive bonuses, and cliche golden parachutes. There are forms of bankruptcy that were created for reasons such as this. What needs to happen is reorganization, not retooling and funds to float a dying whale. I see the $25 billion as life support, but unfortunately they think that without surgery to correct what is wrong, that they can just walk around on life support and continue to operate that way.

 Let them flounder I say. If my small business operates into the red I am forced to play by the rules. Maybe the rules just don’t apply any more and I can apply for some bailout money. Why pay my bills myself when the government is handing it out?