I Agree With Bush (OMG, Did I Say That !)

The Big Three American automakers (GM, Chrysler, Ford) have made bad decisions one after another for the last few years, and now they find themselves in financial trouble. It's not as if they were doing their best and just got caught by a bad economy. While foreign carmakers looked at the future and began to alter the cars they were offering to fit that future, the American automakers cast their lot with ever bigger gas-guzzlers as though the supply of cheap oil was endless.

Now that they are in trouble, they want the American government and people to bail them out with billions of dollars. They don't deserve it because they created the mess they're now in, but sadly if we allow them to go under as they deserve, it would affect many thousands of workers and suppliers. These workers and suppliers are not responsible for the mess and shouldn't have to suffer. In addition, if the workers lose their jobs and the suppliers go out of business, our fragile economy will be seriously damaged.

Something must be done -- but what? Congressional Democrats want to create an additional $25 billion to give to the car companies, possibly out of the already approved $700 billion bailout package for saving our financial institutions. Bush is opposed to this. He points to a previously approved $25 billion to help automakers create more fuel-efficient and alternative fuel cars, and wants to loosen the rules on that money and let the car companies use it to save themselves.

Frankly, though it gags me to say it, I have to agree with Bush on this matter. Why create an additional $25 billion debt for taxpayers, when the first $25 billion is still waiting to be used. I know that money was to help them transition to autos that use less or no gasoline. But they are going to have to do that anyway if they are to survive, and if they don't survive why waste an additional $25 billion on them?

As for tapping into the $700 billion bailout, we are going to need every penny of that to try to fix the credit crises (and it might not be enough anyway). It would be a bad precedent to start handing this money out to failing companies having nothing to do with the credit crises.

It bothers me to be agreeing with The Worst President Ever, but I guess even a broken clock is right a couple of times a day.