Automakers seek help, round two

What happens in round 3, and round 4? Ever increasing bailout demands? If they are going to fail - let them fail now.

Why is no one suggesting that the oil companies could be the ones to bail these auto makers out? With the record profits they've pulled in over the last 1-1/2 years, $34 billion should be a drop in the bucket. And frankly, the oil companies have the most to gain by bailing them out. Or maybe British Petroleum can buy the big 3 up and force them to create the more fuel efficient, yet functional cars that we've clamoring for for years now.

If the government should bail them out now - what about next year and the next when ppl aren't still buying cars - what then???... More bailout money - that is absurd. I understand it secures jobs but how secure would it be if ppl aren't buying then eventually jobs will be lost and the same cycle begins. The economy is bad all around right now and no one is spending.

Let the Big 3 drown......their inaction and antiquated business model got them where they are today, and getting this money is not going to change anything in the future. We're better off without them.

Well what else did you expect him to say after he and his mates were instrumental in creating the mortgage meltdown?

What a joke this congretional hearing and the automakers execs plea.
And I thought only in third world countries that idiot things like that took place.
$34 billion taxpayers dollars to give away to a bunch of greedy execs who are solely responsible for leading their companies to the hole they are in nowdays.
I just wonder what they will do with free cash, once they have already destroyed their own...what a joke. And you americans still have the nerve to preach to the entire world, how good your manangement skills are. Yeah, right.

Why is Congress and America so opposed to bailing out the Big 3 but are more than happy to shell out 800 Billion to support their 400K field trips and golden parachutes?
It is rather mind boggling. This isn't a case of an industry in need of consolidation like the fin serv industry is badly in need of. Rather this is the case of the American auto industry teetering on the brink of disaster.
Perhaps one of the 3 could be dissovled but certainly not 2 (left w/ a pseudo- Monopoly) or all 3.
For anyone thinking bankruptcy is an option, who is going to buy a car from a bankrupt company when a competitive option is available down the street?

The media needs to stop calling this a bailout. These are secured loans with equity shares. The financial bailout was 700B in free money for the biggest crooks and ponzi schemists on the planet. This is about securing our nations largest manufacturer in the worst recession in 80 years. Please stop calling it a bailout. BE BETTER EDUCATED WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING AND STOP MISLEADING YOUR READERS/VIEWERS.

More and more evidence that the colonies are finally failing

What happened to main street, when do we get our bailout? This will never end, one handout after another to reward mismanagement and total disregard for public trust.

I'm a small business, I make 8-track players, I failed to keep place with changing times and gosh darn it I just love when a song pauses for a moment in the middle ... but anyway, who do I call to get a bailout -- just because my business model stinks, I completely ignored the changing business demands that were apparently more obvious to Japan and Korea, and I kept doing what I do long after it was sensible to continue -- who do I call to bail me out?

Say what you want about "buy American" but Toyota clearly saw the changing market demographic and OWNS the hybrid market. The big 3 should have foreseen it, when they missed that, the should have jumped on the bandwagon, when they missed that, they barely hopped on the caboose of the hybrid train, and then they continue to mass market and produce behemoth SUVs and Hummers even in the face of the changing market.

They FAILED. Epically.

Tie any bailout to a massive overhaul of business plans and direction and slash the massive parachutes of the fools who guided them into this mess the first place.

Chris Dodd is an idiot. What happens when they bankrupt the country, not just GM? The one thing you can count on is they will protect the Senator pensions.

Are they asking the Brazalian & Mexican Gov't for money too! They have plants there as well.

We bailed out the airline industry after 911, I can't see why we wouldn't do this to save 10s of thousands of jobs in the auto industry? If the US Automakers fail, it would have a rippling effect on many other industries. I do hope Congress is strict that they hold the US Automakers to their word and clean up their act, also clamp down on the UAW, and produce cars we actually want to buy.

Can't the execs re-invest their own money back into the company if they care so much for its survival. I'm sure the Ford CEO with his 21 million a year salary must have something saved to invest or even loan, or does he also think it's a lost cause.
I think they should look into having the employees and unions there work to find a solution to bail themselves out. Help yourselves.
The reason the media is calling it a bailout it because they see no future return on this investment. People have to put money into banks, they don't need to buy a car.

We are looking for a car now for our daughter. If taxpayers support the car companies we will shop American, if not we will just shop for a deal with no alliance to US purchase. I think taxpayer attitudes toward these cars will change just as mine will if they are invested in these companies.

The problem isn't just bad executive decisions. The automakers revenue stream is completely dependent on the availability of credit. The financial industry needs to use their bailout money to open up consumer credit so people can buy cars. The auto makers have been working to streamline their businesses, but manufacturing companies can't change streams overnight; it takes years.

Chris Dodd continues to smile, smirk, makes jokes, etc. while the American taxpayer is looking to bail out an industry that has failed to help improve their own business model without a huge amount of prodding. I have always bought Ford, but all 3 auto makers will NEVER again get my business. They are disingenuous about asking for this bail out and they have sacrificed nothing before asking me. How about the unions put forth what concessions they intend to make, and how about every CEO, Ford family put up all their assets first before asking perfect strangers to continue to pay them their salaries. Nobody is helping my two businssess and I would never dream of begging.

I have a solution,move them three aotumakers to a state with highest unemployment rate like California,or to another state that can do a better job in managing this industry.I would suggest such states like Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado or Arizona.As for Detroit workers pay them fare enough to last say three to four years while learning a new trade or perhaps give them some other industry that won't be so complicated and demanding financially due to expensive and money sucking benefits.

"Chastened executives of GM, Ford, and Chrysler, who were pilloried last month when they arrived on corporate jets with their hands out for $25 billion, appeared at today's Senate Banking Committee hearing after driving hybrid vehicles to Washington, increasing their request by $9 billion, and providing much more detail about their proposed paths to viability, including pledges to cut the number of dealerships and to take only $1 a year in pay if they get the aid."

If this is thier "big plan", every one should be ashamed and disgusted. Decades of poor management, short sighted-ness, overpowering lobbyists and THIS is how they want to amend their wrong doings? Lets ask them why our public transport systems are so poor? Or how about the climate change and insurmountable destruction it will cause for centuries to come? Or what about the toll pollution takes on our bodies and thus our healthcare systems?

I have no words. Greed should be its own category of sin. It truly is the most destructive of them all...

Good companies succeed. When bad companies fail, better ones step in to take their place. if the Big 3 are dying, it's because they've been unhealthy for decades and done nothing to turn it around. The big 3 will find a way to stay afloat on their own. If they can't or don't it's because they're too incompetent to survive. Jobs will be lost initially, but cars will still be needed, the jobs will return when healthier car companies fill the void.

If any one American Taxpayer thinks that the failure of one or worse, all 3 of these automakers will not affect them in the long run, which apparently many respondents seem to believe, you will all be in for a major shock. 2-3 million jobs gone right off the bat, & then it will trickle down to every other business throughout the country & actually beyond.. My former employer has already seen damage in the 10s of millions of dollars to their gross income for the year, & there are no Auto mafrs in Massachusetts that I am aware of. They just had a large layoff this week, & contractors throughout the country have been out of work for several weeks if not months, many of them soon to be completely out of options/extensions for Unemployment. This will land on your doorstep sooner or later. This doesn't even go into the problems that we will soon bear as a result of those who are retired or soon to retire & have pretty much seen their pensions wiped out by the greed & thievery on Wall St, but let's just keep kissing the butts of the crooks on Wall St & send them the next 350 billion dollar payment so we can watch it disappear with no real upside for Main St. Senator Shelby's opinion is totally Biased in support of the Foreign Auto makers that have set up assembly plants in his home state, & if anyone is paying attention, these auto makers have already gotten financial support from their home governments because their cars are not moving off the lots either. Get a Clue