Why would it be SO bad for GM to declare chapter 11 and NOT have to depend on govmt. bailouts?

It would actually be the best thing that they could possibly do, because the bankruptcy judge could release them from much of their obligations to the unions if they did; and if the unions were no longer breathing down their necks then the problem is solved. Keep in mind that it is not GM that will get bailed out, but the UAW. The government should say no to the unions, and force GM to do this, as it is the best option.

The most recent GM-UAW agreement, signed in 2007, helps close fundamental competitive gaps with import competitors, and they anticipate significant savings as they implement the key provisions of the agreement between now and 2010. New hire-ins start out at $18 an hour, for one, and their pension commitments drop over 6 million a year starting next year to just 1 million. Don't blame the unions! They have been making concessions for the past decade to help the company.

Filing for bankruptcy hurts not only employees, but investors and suppliers and all of Main Street. Having three million people drops in the unemployment lines would cost the nation more than giving them the $25 billion LOAN they are asking for.

If GM declared any chapter of chapter it would kill their sales completely. It would cause even more damage to the company. What if the company went under? All the warranties would be voided and most of the garages that service new gm vehicles would go out of business due to no products to sell (really only gm garages can service the new cars, as they require alot of expensive diagnostic tools). Look what happened to british leyland and MG Rover.

A bail out would be the best option, they bailed out the banks so why cant they bail out the auto industry? they wouldnt require nearly as much as the banks did. The banks needed 250billion, the auto industry only needs 25billion, thats 1/10 the amount to save probably 20% of north america's jobs. Keeping the north American auto industry alive is a must. It alone holds 10% of the continents jobs. If the auto industry goes tones of parts supplying companies will go down the drain too, and tones of the local business' near all the pants would also die.

I know what you mean by the union problem, Alot of these works are making more than people with university degrees. If gm wants to live and all those shop floor people want to keep their job they better ready them selves for a change.

"why cant these companies just fire all unionized workers and replace them all with new employees that will take 15-20 dollars an hour??"

GM hires from that union because it is bound by contract to do so. If they hire someone outside the union, they are in breach of contract and the union will sue GM for everything it owns.

If GM declared bankruptcy and got rid of its union workers, it would displace thousands of workers, many of whom wouldn't have had jobs without the union's collective bargaining power. Those people would just leach off unemployment, their is no way to get those lazy useless workers out of our hair.

The unions are obviously fighting as the pensions could be broken. GM has been underfunded on the pensions for decades, and the federal agency that guarantees them would be depleted and then some if GM went bankrupt.

Also, we DO need an auto industry in this country. We just them better run, and the unions must give up something to stay in the game.

Somehow, the Democrats think the American people are responsible for filling the empty promises of the Unions.

These workers entered into a Union, paid Union fees that promised a contract between the worker and union. But somehow, the Union could not fulfill their promises, so we have to all suffer as a nation.

I don't believe what you are questioning is the problem with automakers like GM. GM and other automakers want to find the cheapest labor they can find. Being in a union, is a privilege to me. Would you like to work in a factory or in a plant or on a railroad without rights, without fair working conditions? I think not!

Maybe the answer is the government stepping in and preventing these U S Automakers to go abroad and hire workers who are really unskilled and really overworked to provide REALLY BAD cars!

It wouldn't be bad, it would be good. GM could clear a lot of deadwood, whether it be factories, other assets or deadbeat UAW members and emerge a stronger company. Or, it could die. Either option is better than a bailout.

Do you really think that GM could just hire guys off the street and start up operations again? Do you have any idea how many people GM employs and how much experience they have? And do you have any idea of what a GM bankruptcy would cost the economy, or how dire our economic situation is? I think I can answer no to all of those, unfortunately.

It would break the unions and the Demorats couldn't protect them like the whores they are.