Battle lines were drawn and vigorously fought over when the federal bailout of failing U.S. banks was proposed just over a month ago.  Most people simply sided with their political leanings, trusting that their elected representatives’ thoughts and actions on the controversial move benefited their beliefs the most.  We argued over whether or not these companies were given free reign to carelessly conduct their business with loose, maybe nonexistent regulations.  The country was engulfed in an intensely engaging and very important national election that divided us among Party lines making these types of decisions a Democratic vs. Republican one for most people.  Now that the companies “we couldn’t allow to fail” have been rescued, it’s time for round two. 

After a sigh of relief for some and a puff of anger from others due to the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, our beloved automakers are now knocking at our doors, in costume, empty bags out, and in unison screaming “Trick or Treat”…just a few weeks late.  The only question is, “Didn’t we already just give out the last of our Milky Way fun sizes, Tootsie Rolls, and Smarties?” 

The “Big Three” of GM, Ford, and Chrysler are now hoping about $25 billion more dollars can be sent in their direction to avoid collapse as early as the beginning of the year for GM and mid 2009 for the others.  While some are fed up and feel we should just allow them to go bankrupt, Barack Obama and others are leaning toward helping out, as the car companies possibly represent another industry “we can’t allow to fail” with up to 1.7 million jobs at stake. 

This latest proposal is being felt out by everyone much more carefully than the Wall Street bailout was.  Maybe now that the election is over and EVERYTHING isn’t as politically charged as it was in the month leading up to Judgment Day, people are actually wondering how this keeps happening rather than, “it’s your guy’s fault…he’s a Democrat or Republican!!!”  Whatever the reason, I’m relieved that a few more have a tone of thoughtfulness when it comes to this issue.  Thinking this through and understanding how we got to this point should be included in how we conduct this 2nd huge bailout. 

Now, I wish I understood the details of how we got to this point completely, but if our automakers’ problems arose from ignoring the needs of the people and instead haphazardly kept pushing Hummers and new Ford Super Tanks down our throats the way some believe, then those things should be changed to make sure this doesn’t happen again.  If Wall Street’s problems came from extreme overextending and blatant disregard for regulations, then their rescue package should include something that makes sure they don’t do it again for short term profits leading to longer term collapse.  Now that our money (coming from places I can’t understand) is required to keep private businesses alive, we have a vested interest in making sure it’s not simply a set up to do it all over again. 

Many Americans foam at the mouth when the issue of welfare is brought up.  They quickly label everyone that uses government assistance as lazy, worthless, and using the system for profit.  The desire to “get them off their asses” and “tell them to stop having babies” is insatiable since their tax dollars are funding their “lifestyle.”  Now that our tax dollars are obviously funding the greedy, misguided, and now failing corporations, isn’t it time these concerned tax payers demand that these banks and automakers get off their lazy asses and conduct business in an appropriate manner rather than sinking our economy and then begging for a handout?  We merely encourage their irresponsibility if we don’t.  Or is that disdain only reserved for the poor people of this country notmaking a profit from tax dollars?


--JJJ

 


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