Another viewpoint on the Auto Bailout

A friend recently chided me (rightly so) for no post-election blogging... I didn't realize how burned out I was on all the election coverage until about 12 hours after election night! But I find myself over and over again thinking "I'm so glad Obama won..." especially the more news that came out about Palin and the more dire our economic situation looks.

I guess the hot-button issue right now is the Auto bailouts... I thought I'd weigh in on that. I read an article in the WSJ that basically said the US auto industry is now more than just the big 3 and it's OK if they go bankrupt or even cease to exist. I'm not sure I share that view. I do find it amazing that the government can give them _any_ money while leaving the CEO (much less most of the top management) in place. But I do think we have a duty to help out the industry. Some of it is national pride, but most of it is economic self-interest.

This article makes some great points about why it's important for us not to lose yet another industry and also dispells some of the "$70/hour" myths.

I'm still amazed at how much these companies are saddled by healthcare. And yet big business is _just_ now warming up to the idea of universal healthcare. I hope Obama really pushes that one during his first term.