The rationale for this bailout is to protect American jobs - particularly well-paying union jobs. But jobs arise out of a motivation to produce something of value, not the inverse. We don't produce things people don't want simply to keep folks working! That kind of policy will only lead to the industry's eventual collapse, only with billions of taxpayer dollars wasted.
What has been conspicuously absent from the auto bailout discussion is any mention of:
- increasing market share
- producing better automobiles than anyone else
They could have produced hybrid cars and light trucks, or autos with lower carbon output and offered them at low introductory prices to gain footholds in the market. Or they could have scaled their businesses and focused on the niches in which they were performing well. They could have increased their contracting to produce foreign-owned vehicles.
Instead they continued with business as usual and now here they are with their hands out, threatening the survival of the American middle class. And they'll get what they want. The unions have an incoming President bought and paid for with union dues. Unless they are challenged to offer products and services that no one else offers, many American taxpayers will continue to shell out money for cars they will never drive.
Is this really change we can believe in?
