Baby You Can't Drive My Car....

GM and Chrysler are still mulling over the possibility of a merger which would keep some of their operations intact and save some jobs. The merger of General Motors and Chrysler will not eliminate their problems.

And what about their employees who will suffer the most from the mismanagement of these two mega-giants? After the gas shortages of the 1970s all three automakers should have began taking steps to prevent the current crisis from happening. But their greed got in the way and now it may be too late; they, and we ,may never fully recover from their inactions. Now the Big 3 are begging Congress for money. It's a shame because it seems to be all about greed. It was never about becoming fuel efficient and looking for alternate energy sources. Times have changed guys. You are barely surviving and there is no one to blame but yourself and your top management who seem to be able to only keep up their business when things are good. And who suffers? The people on the manufacturing lines..working-class America.

The big 3 are too big. All 3 of them should go through bankruptcy to fix one of their most significant problems - hourly labor costs. U.S. auto workers are paid $30 higher than their USA-based Japanese competitors. Then downsizing of all the Big 3 is should take place. Fewer vehicles would be built which means fewer autoworkers would be needed. It would be devastating to the workers for one company to suddenly close their doors. But, it would also be wrong to continue the current situation through an expensive bailout which seems would only postpone the inevitable. Maybe a plan could be devised for a more gradual reduction of workers. Those workers will need help finding other employment and the federal funds which are being used to bail out these companies should be given to the workers who will lose their jobs for puroposes of retraining or relocation, if necessary. This should be done for all workers in all business sectors who are affected by the current economic crisis, not just those in the auto industry.

But federal funds should not go directly to the companies which have been mismanaged for years and would surely waste any bailout.