Facts About the Auto Crisis

The great thing about blogging is that you can express your opinion and then learn from it. I was sent an invite to join a Facebook group addressing the faltering auto industry. If you'd like to read more, please go to: GM Facts and Fiction


Quoted from site:

From plants to parks. From dealerships to driveways. From gas stations to grocery stores. What happens in the automotive industry affects each and every one of us. In fact, the collapse of the U.S.-based auto industry wouldn't just impact the more than 239,000 Americans directly employed by the Big Three. One out of every 10 people in America is employed in a service that is related to the U.S. auto industry. If a plant closes, so does its suppliers, the local stores, the hot dog vendors, and the local restaurants.

The effect would be devastating in ways of which you never have thought:

* Nearly 3 million jobs would be lost in the first year alone – with another 2.5 million to follow over the next two years
* Personal income in the United States would drop by more than $150.7 billion in the first year
* The cost to local, state, and federal governments could reach $156.4 billion over three years in lost taxes, and unemployment and health care assistance
* Domestic automobile production would more than likely fall to zero – even by international producers, due to supplier bankruptcies

The credit crisis that is affecting us all is wounding the U.S. auto industry in many different ways. Carmakers can’t get loans to restructure and to produce new advanced technology vehicles. Suppliers and dealers can’t get loans for routine business, and customers can’t get loans for new cars.

NOTE FROM ME: I'm not supporting the fact that we should let anything this major fail, but I still think having them file bankruptcy and assigning a trustee to oversee the restructuring is not a bad idea. There has to be some accountability for oversight, unlike the other companies where we have funded the very people who ran the companies into the ground, thus letting them continue to exercise bad judgment in spending and leadership.