in case youre somehow totally oblivious to the world at large, there is this whole domestic auto industry nearing the brink thing going on. ive written about it before, but, yeah, still an issue.

you can link 3 million jobs directly to the domestic auto industry in the US. as the Freep points out, every one of those jobs is a person with mortgage payments, kids in college, car payments, bills, and lives that directly effect the economy. the 'trickle down' of even a third of those folks losing their jobs would have dire effects on the economy as they stop acting like consumers and start acting like squirrels hording nuts for the economic winter that looms.

every person spending money is what drives the economy. so people without jobs and money puts another drag on the ecnomy. the domino effect would be devestating on an economy already in its worst position in my lifetime.

polls out there say that most americans at large do not support help for the Big 3, which mystifies me. no they are not without blame for their situation, but it doesnt lie only on the shoulders of the executives in Detroit. fluctiating consumer demand, fuel prices, and recent huge drops in car sales have put Detroit between a rock and a hard place.

what we need to do now is not point fingers at Detroit, who have admitted that they need to change, and have made changes already boosting them in quality and lowering prices, we need to provide help to keep them alive through tough times and allow them to come out of this better than they have been in decades.

Chrysler went through a similar process previously, and paid back the money the government lent them. they came out with a bigger market share and very appealing cars. why cant this model work again? (if youre wondering what happened to Chrysler since then, Lee Iacoca retired and Diamler came in and mismanaged the whole mess)

the point is that doing nothing would be catastrophic. i agree that we cannot just throw money at Detroit, there needs to be oversight and accountability, and all involved need to make tough changes and cuts, but America is far worse off without the Big 3 and the domino effect that would arise if they fall.