We (the Federal "We") cannot bail out everyone, nor should we. We can shore up here a bit and there a bit, hoping that it will assist eventual stabilization, but we can't bail out States and Detroit and Wall Street. Jeez, when is reality going to hit these people in the face? If it doesn't, it's going to bite us all in the butt. I suspect that is already happening.

I listened to Levin and Shelby on Meet the Press this morning re: the Big 3 and whether to bail them out. It was the Big 3 management's decisions on the type of vehicles they wanted to build that got them into this mess. With this economy, they would have had a helluva downturn like everyone else, but not to this extent. They've got hummers and SUV's, etc. sitting on lots that aren't selling, maybe never will again. Poor management.

Perhaps we should fire the managers and put the Big 3 into Federal Receivership. Nationalize the auto industry (temporarily) like we did the banks. It'll cost, but not as much as feeding them billions of dollars that just go down the rabbit hole.

The Big 3 need to be slimmed down. But what to do with the jobs that will be lost? That one defeats me. Retraining will help some but not enough.

Levin was saying no one was giving the Big 3 credit for what the changes they have made. I.E. they're doing vehicles wtih 30 mpg now. Sheeeeiittt! I bought a 1992 Honda in 1992 and that car NEVER got less than 35 mpg for the entire time I owned it (I finally traded it in last year. A young man bought it from the place where I sold it; he put in a new engine and it's humming along nicely again at 35 mpg). We should be at 40 mpg by now, dammit! And much more deeply into non-gasoline powered vehicles. The Big 3 suck and deserve to go down. BUT, they'll take down such a large section of the economy with them...

Oh, and I drive a Ford now so I'll need parts.