The bailout was never about saving the auto industry, it was about saving the Unions hide.
The auto industry if it wanted to save itself would have simply said this to the government:
We need to file Chapter 11, we are concerned however if we do, people will stop buying our products. So, can you please do the following.
As part of our Chap 11 filings, guarantee our warantees, so if we go out of business (which if we restructure we really should not have to, but just in case we do, to assure consumer confidnence) you will guarantee our warrantees.
If we don’t go out of business it costs the government nothing and if we do wind up out of business, the cost will be minimal to the government for trying to help.
Game, Set, Match. Of course that option doesn’t preserve UAW contracts, which was what this bailout was about from the get go.
I just looked up how many total union members there are in the U.S.
16 million workers, all of whom we're told have great pay, benefits, etc. So why don't THEY come to the aid of their union "brothers and sisters"?
Let's assume just half the $14B is for labor costs. If each of those union members contributed a measly $450...VOILA!...problem solved. I might even support the other half coming from taxpayers if I saw such a move by unions.
Whatever happened to SOLIDARITY?