Imagine for one moment that there is no longer a Ford, General Motors or Chrysler. Try shifting your thought process from "Big Three" to "small-medium several"... Not so easy, is it? It's the top of mind topic that has everyone wondering what the heck is going to happen to our domestic auto industry. The opinions are from one extreme to the other. "Let the buggers fail!" say some. "Save them!" shouts still more. So what should congress do? What really is in the best interest of the American people and economy? You may just be surprised.

When I first started really tuning into the whole automotive crisis, my first instict was to say: screw 'em. I mean, really, more tax dollars going to corporations that make poorly planned out business decisions? Doesn't exactly float my boat. Don't people go into business with the knowledge that businesses can and do fail? Isn't that a risk you willingly take?

Wellllll, yes. And a very, very strong no.

(For a bit of background from the manufacturers perspectives, check out these links:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72cHfOKoA1c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS3mSr93sfU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSADVo-PIno

You see, the problem is, at least from my perspective, that the automakers are not even close being a "business" anymore. They're an industry that supplies jobs to basically one out of every 10 people in the US. That's an awful lot of people. Not all work in the factories building the vehicles every day, some are parts and material suppliers. Some are Ad, Marketing or PR workers. Seeing the trend? So, if we do not provide the loan that these manufacturers need now, things have the potential to turn very, very shady.

Frankly, the thing that really irks me is the bailout that our government provided to the housing and financial industries... without the giant fuss that is taking place now. Because, ironically, what the auto industry is asking for right now ($34 billion, I believe) is absolutely minimal to the money shelled out for them! Personally I find that to be a double standard...

So at this point, perhaps rather than thinking about what the government should do for our manufacturers in terms or right and wrong, or black and white, maybe we need to start thinking about what the lesser of two evils is: providing a loan (please note that I specifically stated LOAN, not bailout) to three companies that made some seriously short-sighted planning decisions, or allowing an entire industry to collapse at an unfathomable cost to our economy.

I honestly feel we need to go with the former.

Interested in your thoughts, so comment away and share!

~Gingerly

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