Under the terms of the bailout, (loan…quite different from AIG’s situation) the gov. picks up stock…not quite controling, but def. influencial ownership. While many Chrysler employees are afraid of loosing their life’s work, they are also afraid of turning that work over from the UAW to congress, to put is plainly.

All that to say…you are right. Nobody wins here. Gov. would be smart to enforce the same trade taxes on foriegn automakers that they enforce on us.

nate’s last blog post..Dialogue

Bishop Ellis has a large congregation, but its based in the inner city of Detroit. I imagine its difficult to keep his congrehation encouraged.

Kelli’s last blog post..And the Grammy Goes To…..

The truth, though, is that the auto manufacturers are getting slammed by Congress for having produced substandard vehicles at prices kept artifically high by the high costs brough on by unions, retiree benefits, and excessive warranty/repair work. And they deserve it.

I’m not a Detroit native (though I’ve lived here for about 15 years). I remember moving here and thinking it was crazy that people were getting paid $40/hr to put a widget on a car. I think most of the country has seen this day coming for about 25 years.

That being said, I think they’re getting it much tougher than the financial firms. While Detroit automakers have a history of making poor quality cars (I know–I drive two of them), Wall Street had similarly inexcuseable behavior, although over a much shorter period of time. To me, their examples of unchecked greed and taking advantage of the working poor by (in some instances) tricking them into mortgages they can’t afford is reprehensible, to say the least. Here’s a newsflash–how about we lend money only to people who can reasonably afford to pay it back? We’ll call it our business plan; it’s all the rage. Everybody’s doing it.

So, while D-town has been suffering for the better part of my lifetime, the financial institutions recently proved that they can one-up the poor business practices. I think if they had gone through the same “business planning” loan justification requirements that the auto companies are doing, that perhaps we wouldn’t have spent nearly as much taxpayer money bailing out folks who should have known better and were just betting that they would cash out before their bad policies caught up with them.

It looks a little bleak here for D-town. And, considering they say 10% of the US economy is related to the auto industry, I don’t think we can afford for it to just die. I heard today that it looks like there might be a $15bn compromise.

Aaron’s last blog post..Sangria

It is easy for all of us to cast a negative opinion on the bailout (which I have written about in a negative fashion, I admit) because of the unfortunate representation good working people are getting by the CEO’s and Union Leaders.

It does sadden me that the real workers in these industries are not portrayed in the media.

I do pray for them and hope the best comes of this.

At the same time, I pray these industries and their leaders learn that they must operate businesses like the rest of us do and that they can be innovative, fair and long lasting without aid from a government. They must learn how to operate, even in tough times, and retain profits for these times. In church terms, they must learn to be good stewards of money so their retirees can live out their pensions without fear.

Joseph’s last blog post..Pictures With Santa

Regardless of what our government does I think this is a tremendous opportunity for the church to serve those who are struggling with this economic downturn.

My prayers are truly with them.