Bailout or Loan?

The corporate media continues to call the proposed $25 billion bridge loan to the Big 3 automakers a "bailout"....giving most people the impression that the government is giving away money, no strings attached....sort of like the $350 billion they have given the big banks.

Here's the thing...one out of every ten jobs in America is connected to the auto industry. If GM goes into bankruptcy one million to three million people will lose their jobs....the lost tax revenue will be over $200 billion dollars....and car sales will go right in the toilet. Would you buy a car from a company that might not be around next year? The Bush administration, and Republicans in the Senate do not want to help....apparently the workers in the auto industry don't have white enough collars to warrant any help....

This loan buys the industry 60 days....sixty days to work out an agreement for a more sustainable situation...and more importantly, the 60 days gets them Obama....

Obama has said he supports the bridge loan, but he has also said the industry needs to make some major changes....fuel efficiency needs to be improved....cleaner burning flex vehicles need to be made....and the extravagant lifestyles of the upper management need to be reined in....no more corporate jets!

Some right wingnuts have said, "where do the bailouts end...Starbucks, Circuit City, Linen and Things???" Good question.....and I don't know the answer to that....but this I do know....if the American auto industry is left high and dry China will move in and buy up what's left of the industry...they, along with the Japanese automakers and the Koren automakers will be about the only automakers left....