Great idea Donald. Let's leave the auto industry to the geniuses who brought it down in the first place. Based on their track record, let's lengthen the leash or cut it entirely and leave it up to the crazy mullahs of Detroit who were blinded by their own greed and wrecked the industry.

And as for dealing with the "crazy mullahs" in Iran we'll remind everybody that they form the hub of the "axis of evil" and turn over dealing with them to the rabid neocons who have maintained a high level of fear and hatred and who have performed so well on the international scene while they were in power. After all, while they were heading the country (I can't say leading it), we enjoyed financial and military success world wide.

Somehow, I don't relax at the thought of such absurdities, but I am thankful that people like you and those whom you support now have their noses to the window looking in from outside. Maybe we have a chance now.

OldTimeLefty

Huh? Some of us have been advocating bankruptcy for Detroit for years, most recently here:

...There is a myth that every bankruptcy equals a liquidation outcome. Simply not true. Think of a typical bankruptcy as a court-ordered timeout where the company is provided with protection and time to restructure its operations so they can become cash flow positive, profitable and therefore offer more reliable employment to the remaining employees.

Many companies do such restructurings on their own and out-of-court when market trends require changes in strategy or operations. Adapting to changing market dynamics is simply part of good management. And sometimes circumstances beyond management's control change so swiftly that a formal restructuring process like bankruptcy is necessary.

By contrast, the Big 3 have had opportunities for years to complete their respective out-of-court restructurings. Their key stakeholders - including both management and the UAW leadership - have all failed to get the job done.

Any government bailout would reward past bad behaviors by leaving the stakeholders - with their ongoing track record of failure - in positions of power. Why would anyone trust people who have blown through billions of dollars of cash and destroyed shareholder value with more billions of other people's money? They deserve to be kicked out, not bailed out.

A government bailout would also implicitly suggest that political power in DC can trump economic reality at the companies. Only politicians and incompetent executives would believe the dangerous illusion that economic reality can be wished away by legislation and funny money. A bailout is nothing but corporate welfare for powerful corporations.

A bailout would only serve to perpetuate the negative cash flow status quo, which would require further bailouts. Why? Because a bailout undermines incentives for real change, for key stakeholders to make the necessary hard decisions...and we have years of empirical proof that the necessary tough decisions never get made in Detroit.

The business model for the Big 3 is an outright failure. It must be blown up and rebuilt to be cash flow positive and profitable. It can be done; all you have to do is look at the numerous other auto makers in the USA to find auto companies who have cash flow positive operations.