The Auto Writer

As of this writing, the loan package for the $25 billion loan package for the auto industry went through while the $700 billion bail out for the financial services industry was a bust. Granted, the latter will probably come up for a vote again shortly and pass in some modified form, but for now the Bush
Administration and Congress have been rebuked by the American people.

Some people wish that the auto industry loan package would have failed as well (or instead), but I think that what it offers to the American taxpayer is something that can benefit everyone, namely low cost loans to help General Motors, the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler LLC, and industry suppliers catch a breath as they retool their product lines to build smaller, much more economical cars.

Sure, a case can be made that the Big 3 were not on the mark product anticipation wise when gas prices suddenly surged up past $4 per gallon, but U.S. energy policy is also to be blamed — if we drilled here now and were less dependent on foreign oil, we wouldn’t be held hostage by foreign governments and speculators who have been driving up the price of oil to ridiculously high levels. I firmly believe that we could supply all of the gas that we want from our own resources and charge less than $2 per gallon for it. That’s another argument, but one that can be made.

As far as the $700 billion bailout goes, seeing it defeated pleases me to no end. I’m not in favor of a corporate hand out, but I’d be all right with a government work out where the feds would lend investment bankers money provided that their executives accepted no bonuses, the people who got us into this mess were prosecuted (or, in the case of some members of Congress stepped down — e.g., Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank), and the entire lending industry was overhauled. I’m not looking for additional regulation, just the enforcement of the many laws already on the books.

As far as GM, Chrysler, and Ford go, they aren’t likely to see one cent for some time, possibly not until 2010. If the current financial crisis worsens, even those monies could be jeopardized, so let’s hope that this bump in the road doesn’t turn into a mountain otherwise much more difficult times will still await us.