Must Read: The Real Story on UAW Pay Levels

Brian, Two very good points. Might I add a third, the potential buyers need confidence in their own employment/financial situations before they will spend big money on an automobile (by far one of the most expensive "discretionary" items out there for most people). The opportunity costs of using what discretionary income they do have in order to buy the automobiles versus putting money aside in preparation of hard times to come (i.e. layoffs) cannot be overlooked here. Regardless of what bargains and/or funding that is available right now, most people are simply too scared to buy things as expensive as automobiles right now. Has that been factored into any type of "bailout" plan for these companies? I haven't seen any money sent directly into my bank account (nor have millions of Americans) so I'm going to make the assumption that this key aspect has not been factored in. Keep up the good work. Chris

I see GM, Ford, etc. masquerading as an arm of the UAW. The management of those companies have given in to the "Big 3" for years and have now set themselves up to pay the ultimate price, as well they should. Unions DO have their place in the business world, but the automakers have allowed them to totally overstep their bounds.

How about the corporate tax rate of 30%? How does that impact the price of each car? The jobs pool is obscene but the "legacy" costs were promises made by management to keep workers motivated. How about AFTER you retire and have no way of making up the loss, your former boss breaks his promise on your healcare and annuity. What do you do then? You are now a victim of "legacy" cost restructuring. And do you REALLY BELIEVE that after Mar 31 the automakers will have fixed a problem that has taken a decade to create?

One has to remember the purpose of our government beyond its constitutional duties is to take money from those that do the right thing (get up in the morning, work hard, and play fair) and give that money, minus a tremendous overhead, to those who do not do the right thing. This bit of wisdom has come to me over the years and even though it does not change a thing, it helps one understand our government and its corruption of the system and our lives.

The jokers in Congress may be able to steal our money and give it to the US carmakers, but they cannot force us to buy the cars they make. That in my opinion is the key to this fiasco. I and many other Americans will NEVER buy a vehicle from the big 3 and so they will go belly-up. This is what the dopey unions and their equally dopey management counterparts deserve.

The Big 3 have had YEARS to get their act together. Why now do they talk about re-tooling? Do they think they can re-tool and re-engineer cars and factories before the deadline when they have been unwilling and unable to do it for the last 15 years? What they say they will do, can't be done in such a short period of time. The clock is ticking on them and they know it. Seven billion each is too much taxpayer money, but still only a drop in the bucket compared to what it would take to fix them. Let them tank. They should have invested the huge profits they made back into their business (gee...business 101)and not squandered them on huge bonuses, salaries, stock options and dividends. It's their own fault. Any company that would hire RN deserves to go under.

Nothing that I have seen in writing has addressed the continuing loss of market share by the "Big 3". While GM and Ford appear to be building cars that are substantially more reliable and better quality than years gone by, they have no plan for "blitz marketing" to get that message to consumers. Their admitted "mistakes" of the past will continue to haunt them until consumers are shown, by long term example, that "Big 3" cars really "do work". No amount of bail-out money, or bridge-loan money is going to change that time-related equation. The purported "drop-dead" date of March 31, 2009 will merely be a "way-stop" on a long road of taxpayer funding of a failing business model.