http://www.BusterGetMyPills.com

GM and the others would not be in the terrible shape they’re in if they’d focused on innovation and quality instead of pandering to “Safety”-obsessed suburbanites who end up making the roads more dangerous for everyone who’s not in an SUV. It’s pretty likely a bailout of some sort is gonna happen regardless, eventually, and when it does, the only hope it has of succeeding is if it’s contingent on the ouster of these companies’ top management. They’ve been stagnant and tone-deaf for years, which is why the companies are in terrible shape.

As far as employee health care goes, I think this would be a fine opportunity to get a foot in the door for national health care — the government provides the health plan Obama stumped for on the campaign trail to retirees, the Big 3 get out of the crippling entitlement costs (or at least part of them).

Moreover, the workers have a direct interest in making the co-operatives work, as do the neighbourhoods they are in. And we can all benefit from the well documented efficiency gains workers’ control produces.

So if there is to be a bailout, use it to create economic liberty in the workplace! Turn them into co-operatives.

Fine, you don’t have contempt for working people, you’re just indifferent to them. If “punishing” their employers means hundreds of thousands of people thrown out of work, that’s a price you’re willing to pay.

companies who are failing the old fashioned way, making a crappy product that nobody wants to buy.

So people suddenly discovered that Detroit makes crappy cars? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in a severe recession (people don’t buy new cars when they’re not sure if they’ll have a job next month) combined with a credit crisis (which makes it harder for people to finance a new car.) It’s a global phenomenon that’s affecting all automakers.

These failing companies should file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy like any other failed business and work with their creditors to become profitable again.

And invalidate the pensions of millions of retired auto workers? You talk about the “bad business decisions” made by automakers, but the decisions they made that are having the greatest impact on their bottom line right now are: 1) giving their workers real pensions instead of the bullshit 401K’s that most American workers have, and 2) not shutting down all of their factories in Michigan and moving overseas or to “right to work” states. That’s what you’re really punishing them for.

It seems to me that whether or not labor is going to get screwed over is a foregone conclusion.

Are you concerned about how many workers get screwed over? Whether it’s thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or millions? Doesn’t seem so.

If you think these companies are trying to get bailouts because of their deep respect for their workforce, you haven’t been paying attention.

Wow. Really nailed me there. Yes, I think General Motors is a 501C(3) nonprofit constructed solely for the benefit of the workers.

In the long run, propping up the manufacturing industry is as short-sighted as subsidizing the agriculture industry.

Actually, I would be all for subsidizing agriculture, if it meant helping family farmers hold on to their farms. As I sad before, what I look at is the consequences of the policy for real people, not whether we’re holding true to some “free market” ideal.

We need to concentrate on the next big industry that will drive our economy forward.

I think we’re heard this before.

I do think there is an upside to bailing them out and having control is that one of the terms of the bailout would be a move towards a greener company better fuel efficiency and possibly a completely green car which would be great.

Just like it would have been awesome if the $700 billion financial bailout came with a reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act.

Of course, the whole point of this post wasn’t to just snidely say “screw ‘em” and change the subject. These failing companies should file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy like any other failed business and work with their creditors to become profitable again. Moreover, the existing financial bailout should be used to help the big three get back on their feet by making banks lend again.

I don’t want to see any auto workers laid off, but these are companies that lay off workers when they’re making money. It seems to me that whether or not labor is going to get screwed over is a foregone conclusion. If you think these companies are trying to get bailouts because of their deep respect for their workforce, you haven’t been paying attention.

In the long run, propping up the manufacturing industry is as short-sighted as subsidizing the agriculture industry. We need to concentrate on the next big industry that will drive our economy forward. Treat the disease, not just the symptoms.

Who, aside from Ayn-Randian economics majors, “truly cares about free market economies”? I care about people, like the millions of people who will lose their jobs, their pensions, and their health care as a result of some misguided effort to “teach Detroit a lesson.” I care about the planet, and whether we can see this crisis as an opportunity to make the shift to a post-internal-combustion auto industry. But do I care how closely we’re hewing to some free-market ideal? Not a damn bit.

Also, what Chris said about the “contempt many in the online Netroots world have for the labor movement and working classes.” I’m amazed at the level of abstraction employed here, as if we’re just shootin’ the shit in an Econ 101 class discussion, instead of talking about repeating what was done to Flint a hundred times over. “Disconnect and arrogance” is putting it mildly.