Government and Bailouts

Issue 7: Government and Bailouts

The recent economic crisis and financial meltdown in the United States was responsible by the risky practices of banks, mortgage lenders, and regulators. A government bailout was put in place to try and put the brakes on a complete meltdown, but it may have been too little, too late. We will focus on the auto bailout for this paper and show why it was a bad idea for the government to get involved.

Gray Politics

I will start by stating that 99% of the time, I vote Democratic. I have voted for a few Republicans before. In my opinion, our two party system is leading our country down a very scary path. I usually vote for the person I think would be best for the job, and I wish many would do the same without being led blindly by the party the "belong" to. Politics should not be black and white, they should be gray. I voted for Barack Obama in 2008, and reluctantly again in 2012. I say reluctantly only because I liked Mitt Romney's economic policies, but not his "religious" or health care policies. I believe what a person (woman) does with their body is not the business of the government, and I believe government should stay out of marriage. In my opinion, due to the shaky environment of universal health care and women's/LGBTQ rights, those issues held more sway for me than the economy. Things like that take time, and I believed that perhaps changing course in the middle of a recession was dangerous ground.

We Do Not Need Bailouts for Corporations

The auto industry should have been left to collapse. Mitt Romney penned an op-ed piece for the New York Times published November 18th, 2008 entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt". Ouch. It sounds harsh, but perhaps that was what needed to be said. In the piece, Romney lays out his reasons, beginning with the fact that it would be a positive thing for the industry. Instead of continuing to do what they were doing, they would need "to drastically restructure itself". He further stated that "Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check".

So whose fault is it that American auto makers are losing business? Foreign competition for safer, more reliable cars that come with the latest bells and whistles wiped out the American competition. As much as the average American would love to buy a Made in the USA car, sometimes it's not a viable option. Because of extra taxes, fees, and the cost of keeping skilled workers, American car companies sometimes strip their cars down of extra features to be on a competitive price level with foreign. Out of touch CEO's have no idea what the American people want out of automobiles, they think that we will still buy what they make for us.

The great thing about America is that we take great pride in our brands, and the fact that the automobile industry boomed here. America had always been superior in management; we had companies like Marshall Fields, TWA, Pan Am, American Motors and more that were prime examples and internationally known for its superior products and skilled workers. They dominated their industries and became household names throughout the world. All of these businesses started with one person, and was