The auto bailout bust

It was pretty clear last Thursday when the Detroit Three CEOs testified before the Senate Banking Committee that a lot of Senators (among them committee Chairman Chris Dodd and ranking Republican Dick Shelby) were interested in punting the auto bailout to the Bush administration or the Federal Reserve. Now they’ve gotten their way, and it’s a little bit amazing to me how many newspaper column inches (and pixels) were wasted in the intervening week describing the bailout “deal” the White House was negotiating with Democratic Congressional leaders. TIME’s Jay Newton-Small was dubious all along that Congress could reach a deal. Note to self: Listen to Jay.

So now it’s up to the president to see if he can fashion a short-term bailout (I talked to Hank Paulson earlier this week and he definitely doesn’t seem interested in taking over that job). In a way that’s probably better: It will make clear that any aid now is a temporary stopgap pending a bankruptcy-by-some-other-name deal to be negotiated later. Unless we get a bankruptcy-called-bankruptcy first.

plukasiak

if GM et al can survive until the new congress tokes over, they will actually probably get a better deal from the Obama administration. Hank Paulson is going to be out of a job very soon, remember….
masellaus

plukasiak I’m just curious who the better deal is going to be for? The auto industry or me the taxpayer that has to fund this thing?

I contend that if we are going to spend the money let me the consumer decide where it gets spent. Let me go out and buy the cars and “stimulate” the auto industry. Perhaps I get a 25% of purchase price loan check that I get to give to whichever car company I need to buy a car from. The money would be a loan, it would go toward the purchase of a vechicle from one of the “big three” – which is in and of itself a misnomer because isn’t Toyota #2? – and I as a consumer get to decide where it goes.

Just giving money to the auto industry with some kind of car czar monitoring it is way too socialist for me. Oversight never works. Let the consumers be the oversight!!!!!!