Not that it’ll do much good, but I just left messages at the local offices for Kentucky’s Senators Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell, and also Representative Ben Chandler, urging them to vote against or argue against the proposed $15 billion auto bailout. It’s so damn depressing to me that our government feels it’s their job to keep afloat private companies. If a company isn’t making enough money to continue running, then there’s a strong indicator that the American people do not want their goods or services. Hence, it’s fine with us that the company go under, because we either do not want that particular market, or we want the products in that market that are produced by other companies (Toyota, Hyundai, Honda…). Figure it out, Ford, GM, and Chrysler, or die out—I don’t want to foot the bill incurred by your shoddy way of running a business.
Three till Seven
Programming, espresso, and grumbling.
I agree completely. I don’t think the government shouldn’t bail them out. They had their run, if they can’t do it on their own so be it.
Who knows maybe the government is trying to infiltrate different areas for more total control. Oooh I love conspiracies, even if I’m the one starting them!
So true, but I would be pretty much devastated if Ford went under. :( The positive news for them is that they have enough cash funds to make it through 2009. Plus, their 2009 F150 is now getting 20 MPG which is the best fuel efficiency for a truck of that kind. I’m hoping they’ll make it through.
Holy crap. So I found your block through studentbloggers.org, and this whole HP Magic Giveaway thing. My alma mater (IUPUI) wasn’t listed, and my employer (Purdue) wasn’t listed, so I looked up Kentucky, since that’s where my brother is getting his doctorate. I didn’t actually think I’d find a college student’s blog with any political posts I could agree with, given that I’m pretty conservative in my viewpoints. So, I have to say it’s pretty great that one of the first blogs I look at has such a perfect entry.
I’ve heard lots of arguments for the bailout, because if the Big Three go under, it’s going to significantly impact the economy (hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, etc). At the end of the day, though, the bailout is still basically holding taxpayers responsible for the fact that American auto companies have clearly proven themselves incapable of competing adequately with Japan and Korea. The bailout is inevitable at this point (especially with Obama coming into office shortly), so I guess we can only hope that it will be as little as possible.
Capitalism != the government’s hand directly in private enterprise. Just sayin’.