Bailout Bull

So anyone wondering why Congress wanted oversight for the $700 billion now? The Treasury Department is completely dropping what it said they bailout would be used for, buying up mortgage debt so it would come off banks' books, and is now saying they are going to use it to buy stocks in banks to try and prop them up that way. Ummm hello! Buying up stocks will do jack shit if these companies don't change their practices! So what happens if the stocks drop again after the government has bought them?? Oh nothing more than just tax payer money down the drain!

So now the Big 3 auto makers; Ford, GM, Chrysler, are wanting the government to bail them out. Well its sounding like a lost cause in Congress because some like John Boehner say "Spending billions of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root causes crippling automakers' competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy." Well lets see here now.....did the $700 billion bailout force companies to "promise to reform"in order to get their aid? HELL NO IT DIDN'T!!!!! In fact is anyone going to tell AIG to give ALL of its bailout money back because they are spending some of it to conduct "trainings" at 5 star resorts??? I think not because that might mean less campaign funds next time around...I mean come on, if anything the auto makers should have been one of the first group to benefit because they are tied far more closely to Main Street. If an auto company is forced to close down its plant(s) in a town, it could KILL the town. In some places the relationship between and auto factory and the population of a town is the exact same as a coal mine to a town. If the plant or mine goes, the town dies. If the Big 3 go under then its gonna hurt EVERYTHING tied to them, including any city/town that has a steel plant, tire factory, etc. Sure those products get used elswhere too and the Big 3 have reduced influence on US auto manufacturing BUT they still have a big part in it!

I was not a fan of the $700 Billion bailout and I'm not a fan of bailing out the auto industry either. But the precedent has now been set and if you are gonna bailout banks to help the economy then you have to do it for the Big 3 auto makers too given their overall value and influence to the economy. Even in terms of sybolism you have to do it for them. Ford, GM, and Chrysler are so well known worldwide, part of the image of the US is tied to them, and if they go down how will that affect the world view of the US economy?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27686318