Did the gov. bailout help or hurt the auto industry?

The American auto industry has done more to cut it's own throat than anyone else in America or the world.

These people "claim" they can't afford to keep their work force on their pay roll but can "always" find plenty of money to give another bonus check to their CEO that is equal to or more than what it would have cost the company if it kept it's people on the pay roll.

They tell us to buy their cars because we should buy American. Let me know when they intend to shut down their manufacturing plants in places like Mexico. Not to mention, when they intend to stop signing contracts with the "other" companies they don't want us buying cars from; yet they see nothing wrong with the "other" guy building the cars for them.

When this fact came to light in the early 1990's, GM stated in their advertisement that we shouldn't be so concern who's building their cars; we should only be concern with the name tag on the side of the car that tell you it is a GM product.

The real question is, who's kidding whom? Is it any wonder why GM and others are in the predicament they are in? Yeah, the UAW is not helping anything at all, but the biggest crooks are the ones who are always paid the most and are the most hypocritical, they are the corporate executive. I have never in my life met even one who could prove he's worth the money he's given--because they sure can't earn it!

Last but not least:

Back in the 1970's (or '80's), PBS did a documentary on the GM plant in Mexico that does their wiring assembly for them. They pay their people down there $4 a day and "gives" them a hot dog, a Coke and a bag of chips each day for lunch and that's it. Is it any wonder why they want to move out of America so they don't have to pay equal pay for equal work?

The Government has destroyed the American Auto Industry by way of the Union Lobby. No private industry can function under the pressure the UAW had brought upon them. Yes, the bailout hurt the auto industry, they should have taken bankruptcy and the unions suffered the cutbacks just like the rest of us.

imo-if that doesn't happen, America will never have an auto industry again.

The bailout hurts, bottom line. The market needs to take care of itself. If the auto industry goes belly up, then it was an unhealthy industry or just poorly run. It is ridiculous to reward poor management, behavior, leadership, etc, and expect that it will be better in the future. The only thing that will take care of it is the market. You make a sh*tty product, and the the market won't buy it, and you go out of business. You pay your workers too much, you can't make a profit and pay your bills, you go out of business. All the bailouts did was waste taxpayer money putting off the inevitable, but, Obama is beholden to the unions.

I say that the auto industry destroyed itself, with the help of Ron Gettelfinger and the UAW rank and file. The Big Three lived large and refused to cut costs, the UAW thought they deserved something for nothing, and in the end when they really needed help the Big Three turned to the government, thus sealing their fate. They should have made the hard choices last year and filed for bankruptcy, from which they could have emerged leaner and stronger. Now the government is going to own a major share of at least General Motors and maybe Chrysler, the UAW is going to bow down to the whims of the feds for all of eternity, and Michigan's glory days are gone for good. Asking the government for help is always wrong, and George Bush let us all down when he agreed to bail them out. Obama couldn't jump on the bailout bandwagon fast enough because it works with his socialistic ideals, and here we are. Michigan's crime rate is increasing, as are rates of depression and sexually transmitted diseases, and once proud, hardworking people, both blue and white collar are living hand to mouth hoping that this time the phone rings it's the guy they just interviewed with telling them they got the job. Well, Detroit was nice while it lasted. May she rest in peace.

(The estimate of 160,000 jobs lost nationwide is far too conservative. Don't forget the restaurants these workers met at for drinks after work, the delis they ordered their lunches from, the gas stations they filled up at on their way home, the dry cleaners, the daycares, and on and on and on. Millions of people are going to suffer. Millions.)

The bailout did neither. It simply delayed the inevitable fall of the auto industry. The government could not prop it up indefinitely. What GM and Chrysler are going through now are exactly what would have happened to them had they not got bailed out. All the bailout did was waste money to buy time.

ShjOlds_442 took the words right out of my mouth. The auto industry shot itself in the foot when they left America for cheaper labor. And the signing of NAFTA in the mid 90's (thanks a bunch Mr. Clinton) sealed our fate of ever being the industrial giant again. Many big industrial companies fled America, in search of bigger riches in foreign countries, where labor was cheap & plentiful. The factory I worked in did the same, going to Mexico, where they did the same job for 50 cents a day (we were paid $4.85 an hour back then...not really that much either, but better than nothing). The auto industry thought it was indestructible, and continued paying out outrageous wages, and catering to the unions every whim. It was just a matter of time before the auto bubble burst. Allowing foreign auto makers to bring their factories to this country was a BIG mistake, no matter how well-built their cars are. Personally, their cars have a better service record, for the most part, and our auto industry could learn a lot from them. But allowing them to have factories here just made things worse for our auto industry. Again, my personal thought is, if we can make it here, we shouldn't be importing it into our country. Many grocery stores now import much of their food, including meat, from foreign countries. Many of those countries have little or no quality control on their foods, so we open ourselves up to e-coli and other nasty health problems. Our government could really be a big help here, by limiting what comes into this country. But they won't. The borders that were built for this very reason are now in danger of being opened up, putting an even bigger strain on our taxes, in order to support those coming into our country. Our governments' only jobs are to uphold the laws of the land, and to protect us from foreign powers. They're failing miserably at both. <*)))><

Chrysler is going bankrupt of thier own terrible personal choices. The bailout helped us at least HAVE an automotive industry. It was either take the money, or completly fail. No one thinks that the government should run things, nor do they want to but it's the lesser of two evils. Have no American auto industry where Toyota, Honda, and Nissan run things or have a smaller one. You choose.

They have been killing them for decades with oppressive regulation and a punitive tax code. What damage the government didn't do, the companies did to themselves by entering bad contracts with the unions. All the bailout has done has used the taxpayer's money to allow government to sink its talons deep into another sector of private industry.

I think everything you pointed out cannot be denied, especially the loss of jobs. I also think the remaining car industry will become stronger and more competitive. The after market will i think do even better because it will attract business needing automotive plant environments w/ machinery set ups and will also attract business needing people w/ skill sets dealing w/ machinery, line production and programmable logic controllers and computer driven equipment. There are companies needing this type of situation for manufacturing. The amount of people who will be needed is any ones guess.the new car dealers will adapt i think and it will definitely spur development American design and thought.

Obama and his band of hack zombies will make cars that no one wants to drive. Can you imagine the next round of jeeps that have solar power, that have less getup than a lawnmower.