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Did the Government Bailout Help the Auto Industry?

By Amy Hafen

Real Estate Agent with RSVP Real Estate

August 05, 2010 01:34 PM

Saturday's Times reports good news from the government bailout of the Auto industry. The Times reported that Obama "touted statistics that show 55,000 jobs were added in the year since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy."

What you fail to report is that the auto industry lost 334,000 jobs in the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies (Wall Street Journal, 31 July, page A5, which also mentions the 55,000 restored jobs).

That seems to me to be a net loss of 279,000 jobs. Union jobs.

I wonder if the bankruptcies and subsequent government bailouts were Obama's way of throwing the Detroit union workers under the bus to enable GM and Chrysler to better compete with non-unionized and foreign competition.

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Speed Equity® Mortgage Acceleration System

Speed Equity® - Olympia, WA

We help your clients Own Their Homes Years Sooner

Amy, governments are all about catering to the lobby groups that donate the most money to their re election. You can do the math from there.

Aug 05, 2010 01:39 PM

Katherine Fillman

Coldwell Banker Schmitt - Cudjoe Key, FL

Amy:

Good point. Here's a question for you:

I want to know why Obama is not offering bailout money to encourage early retirement for many US workers over 55 so that younger workers could take their place and get them off the unemployment rolls...a win-win for everyone...

I am 51 and I'd like to retire right now rather than play around with short sales and other problems with our current real estate market mess...

Aug 05, 2010 01:40 PM

Anonymous

Amy Hafen

Don't you think it is interesting that Obama is pro-union, yet he has supported the auto industry wipeing out hundreds of thousands of union jobs.

Aug 05, 2010 02:03 PM

Don't hold your breath for a government subsidized early retirement. With our national debt you will be working until you are 127 years old. The government needs everyone working and paying taxes to pay off the national debt!

Aug 05, 2010 02:04 PM

Jon Budish

Resident Realty - Fort Collins, CO

I'm sure $50 billion would be a boost to ANY industry....temporarily. When will they need billions more from the taxpayers to stay above water?

Aug 05, 2010 03:46 PM

By definition the government will never have enough. The government appetite for money is insatiable. Our government needs to focus on reducing our debt not spending more money. I think we should let capitalism work, not bail out companies.

The only problem is there are 3 ways to reduce the debt.

Number 1: increase taxes. Let Bushes tax cuts expire at the end of year, which would increase taxes. Studies show that at a certain point government taxes actually decrease revenue. People get creative and find ways to quit paying so many taxes.

Number 2: Clawback social programs: Medicare, medicade, social security. All programs are too expensive, and all are off limits.

Number 3: Print more money, and let the dollar deflate on the world market, and buy bonds. This causes inflation.

What would you recommend our government do to reduce debt?

Aug 05, 2010 04:15 PM

Amy, if they actually cut spending across the board by just a couple percent, and didn't raise taxes, I think prosperity would begin to return in a short amount of time.

Aug 06, 2010 07:05 AM

RSVP Real Estate - Woodinville, WA

I agree! A couple of percents would go a long way. History shows that when government reduces taxes our economy rebounds and prosperity returns.

Aug 06, 2010 07:18 AM

Did the Government Bailout Help the Auto Industry?

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