The airline industry did not stop flying when it went bankrupt, and the auto companies will not stop producing cars if they go bankrupt. Bankruptcies will eliminate the debt on the books decrease interest payments and make the companies more competitive, if and when they ever get around to producing autos that consumers want instead of what the manufactures want to produce.
The combined market cap of GM and Ford is a grand total of $6.14 Billion. Spending $25 billion on companies worth only $6.14 billion makes no sense.
The airline industry did not stop flying when it went bankrupt, and the auto companies will not stop producing cars if they go bankrupt. Bankruptcies will eliminate the debt on the books decrease interest payments and make the companies more competitive, if and when they ever get around to producing autos that consumers want instead of what the manufactures want to produce.
The combined market cap of GM and Ford is a grand total of $6.14 Billion. Spending $25 billion on companies worth only $6.14 billion makes no sense.
The airline industry did not stop flying when it went bankrupt, and the auto companies will not stop producing cars if they go bankrupt. Bankruptcies will eliminate the debt on the books decrease interest payments and make the companies more competitive, if and when they ever get around to producing autos that consumers want instead of what the manufactures want to produce.
The combined market cap of GM and Ford is a grand total of $6.14 Billion. Spending $25 billion on companies worth only $6.14 billion makes no sense. Furthermore, GM alone has a negative net worth (Stockholder's Deficit) of $60 Billion according to GM's 10Q for the period ended September 30, 2008. If Congress gave GM $50 billion, GM would still be worth a negative $10 billion!
The $25 billion is money we need, please do not throw it away.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to the concerns of your constituents,
8:00 am PST, Nov 24,Susan Mcdonald, Kansas
What kind of message are we sending to our children by bailing out the auto industry? I know of some workers making more money per hour than most of us will ever see to simply place a sticker on an automobile as it moves down the line. If you want to help our economy recover, take the $25 billion dollars and split it equally among the citizens of our country. By putting more disposable income into the hands of hard-working Americans, you create a more stable economy virtually immediately. People could use the money to make more purchases, pay down loans, and this would stimulate the sluggish economy more effectively than making sure the automakers can pay their CEOs the ridiculous salaries they do.
# 107:
4:44 am PST, Nov 24,Curt Milligan, Alabama
NO bailout, trim the fat and suck it up!
# 106:
7:53 pm PST, Nov 23,Name not displayed, North Carolina
Bust the unions and make the US more competitive.
# 105:
2:33 pm PST, Nov 23,Randy Stacey, North Carolina
# 104:
6:08 am PST, Nov 23,Angelo DeSimone, North Carolina
Let them go bankrupt and force them to restructure to remain afloat. Stop throwing taxpayer money into a black hole and hoping something good will come out of it. NO BAILOUT
# 103:
9:12 pm PST, Nov 22,Aggie Varady, California
By giving them $$$ all you do is prolong the inevitable... Just say NO!!
# 102:
4:31 pm PST, Nov 22,Name not displayed, Pennsylvania
It is time to let the auto makers deal with their own problems. They created them by telling us what we wnated and we did not want it. Make cars less expensive and good for the enviroment. People do not have the funds to buy expensive cars that do not match what Japan can make. I had to buy a Honda and it was a good car . I bought a Saturn and that was a good car. Now we need good cheap cars that will keep us safe. TEll the auto makers to get out of the bailout on their own.
# 101:
6:59 am PST, Nov 22,Freddie Geisler, Florida
# 100:
6:49 am PST, Nov 22,Robert Escobar, Canada
No Money to the Big 3 let them sink ,
# 99:
9:48 pm PST, Nov 21,Jon Balzer, Canada
# 98:
8:21 pm PST, Nov 21,Name not displayed, New York
Hello Congressman Arcuri, I wrote previously voicing my opposition to ANY bailout funding. You decided I was incorrect. Now you're looking to divert 250 billion to failed enterprise(s) to ease their pain before the inevitable happens. They'll all be back for a trillion more within 18 months. The precedent has been established and we're all fools and losers for the effort. The upside to all this will be the multi million dollar bonus system for failing executives. It's essential that an annual bonus for running a company into the ground be about 10 times what most hourly people make in a lifetime. Regards, Tom Browne
# 97:
7:25 pm PST, Nov 21,Kristina Salgado, Arkansas
# 96:
7:19 pm PST, Nov 21,Bruce Bigelow, Canada
Let them go bankrupt and force them to restructure to remain afloat. Stop throwing taxpayer money into a black hole and hoping something good will come out of it. NO BAILOUT.
# 95:
6:32 pm PST, Nov 21,Melody Sullivan, California
# 93:
11:53 am PST, Nov 21,Richard Pohlson, Michigan
If the "Big-3" are creditworthy, let the commercail banking system/financial entities determine the loan-worthiness and make the decison...don't put another tax burden on already over-taxed Amercians!!
# 92:
11:30 am PST, Nov 21,Name not displayed, Georgia
There should absolutely be no bail out of the auto industry. The C.E.O's need to take a pay cut and the companies need to sell their multi-million dollar corporate jets and use that money for their needs!!!!!!!!
# 91:
9:43 am PST, Nov 21,Name not displayed, Illinois
Face the facts, we need our market back.
# 90:
9:30 am PST, Nov 21,Matthew Hale, Maine
# 89:
9:06 am PST, Nov 21,Kerri Floyd, Georgia
Do not use my tax dollars to bail out the auto industry. Let them restructure their expenses and rework their budget and stop giving in to all the union demands that are costing them so much. The audacity of them showing up in their private jets with their hands held out and not even thinking they need to have a plan to present how they are going to spend the money. If they fail, it's their own fault.
# 88:
7:43 pm PST, Nov 20,Jennifer Patterson, Washington
# 87:
6:02 pm PST, Nov 20,Roy Charles, California
They better not even THINK of giving these idiots any money!
# 86:
4:39 pm PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, California
Do NOT bailout the Big 3 Auto Companies. Allow them to restructure through bankruptcy and learn to compete in a global market.
# 85:
3:15 pm PST, Nov 20,John Hines, North Carolina
DO-NOT bail the American auto industry out under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!! I have personally had enough of their crappy products and complete lack of customer appreciation.
I have owned 10 Foriegn and domestic cars in my life. I will NEVER EVER AGAIN buy an American car at any price. They are not worth the trouble and the companies just piss me off with their lack of concern for customer satisfaction.
The Big 3 American car companies failed to innovate in the 1970s and have contiued to fail miserably in every aspect of their industry. They NEEDED TO FOLD UP AND DIE DECADES AGO.
# 84:
1:49 pm PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, Alabama
# 83:
1:43 pm PST, Nov 20,Robert Linnemann, Minnesota
# 82:
12:47 pm PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, Canada
They obviously cannot run the business. Let them go bankrupt!!
# 81:
12:31 pm PST, Nov 20,Nathan Davidson, Alabama
This bailout will do nothing but slow the unavoidable death of an archaic industry (domestic, at least) that has shown nothing but greed and a lack of innovation for the past 2 decades. You may as well set $25B on fire in your back yard. You'd get pretty much the same effect.
# 80:
12:13 pm PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, California
With the $25 billion, they will probably go bankrupt in 6 months. Don't let them waste our money!!!!
# 79:
11:59 am PST, Nov 20,Rose P, Illinois
"To preserve their [the people's] independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our selection between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude" - Thomas Jefferson
# 78:
11:54 am PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, California
# 77:
10:50 am PST, Nov 20,Jeff Wick, Colorado
A bailout will not fix the these companies. It will just be a waste of taxpayer money.
Signed: Fiscally responsible taxpayer tired of paying for those who have been irresponsible.
# 76:
10:31 am PST, Nov 20,Dane Slaughter, Florida
Please stop this nonsense NOW!! These companies are disfunctional and thus will eventually fail anyway!!
# 75:
10:25 am PST, Nov 20,Pamela McCray, Utah
I enjoyed the comments from the representative of South Carolina yesterday regarding the use of private jet service over commerical airlines of the reps from the big 3. The only corners that these "suits" are cutting are those of the blue collar active and retired employees. Why don't they ask the oil companies to bail them out? They over produced gas guzzling, giant eye sorers, because a few idiot American consumers will buy anything to keep up with the Jones. Just because something can be done does not mean that it SHOULD be. Top management of these organizations has been dated for decades and should be restructured from the top down. Get back to the "old school" values of good customer service, the customer is always right, lower pricing, longer contracts so your car note isn't as large as a house note. Let them fail and restructure, sell some of their private jets and other eminities to settle outstanding debt. Start all over as the good companies they used to be prior to the coporate greed!
# 74:
10:18 am PST, Nov 20,Ruth Reiser, Washington
Dear Congressmen(women):
I, a taxpayer, DO NOT want to feed this bailout frenzy by giving the Big 3 carmakers a bailout. They have been put out of business by the UAW and are not competitive anymore. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy may force them to reorganize and assess their situation. It will also give them a second chance to get a back bone and quit letting the unions squeeze every cent of profit out of each car sold. It's a joke that we pay U.S. auto workers at least 1 1/2 times what their counterparts are making in the other auto manufacturing plants, sell the product for 50% to 75% of what the other's charge and then produce a shoddy product indicated by the number of recalls. Please tell me this isn't American ingenuity at its best.
Let the free market work and help these companies understand that if they give away the gold, there is no treasure. Let the unions beware that their greed will net them an empty coffer in the end.
Do not let your attachment to the UAW keep you from doing what is right for the people of all this country, not just Detroit. The nation has long known that the auto industry needed overhauling, just like the airline industry did. Do the right thing and let this industry suffer the consequences of its acquiescence to the UAW stronghold.
Sincerely,
RUth Reiser
3 Skagit Key
Bellevue, WA 98006
# 73:
9:52 am PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, New Hampshire
Enough is enough. The Big 3 have had their heads buried in the sand for years. Let the economy shake them out. It will be painful for all of us at first but in the long run it will help to make the economy stronger.
# 72:
9:38 am PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, Connecticut
# 71:
4:10 am PST, Nov 20,Sharrel Swanson, Florida
# 70:
12:18 am PST, Nov 20,Name not displayed, California
NO TO THE AUTO BAILOUT. There are so many things wrong with GM, Chrysler and Ford. Mismanagement by CEO's, overpaid workers, lousy cars, the UAW.. all these factors make for bad business. Let them go into bankruptcy
# 69:
11:26 pm PST, Nov 19,Devin Garman, Pennsylvania
Please, do not spend my hard earned money propping up failing companies.
# 68:
10:09 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, Texas
Do not bail out the auto industry. Their lack of research, development and proper business planning has rendered them useless to American consumers!! If they needed a bailout, shouldnt they have met the demand of more fuel efficient cars??? Rather than a ridiculous goal of building the most gas guzzling cars?!!
Oil industry needs to bail them out if anything.
# 67:
9:18 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, California
Totally mismanaged companies.
# 66:
9:14 pm PST, Nov 19,Debbie Rogers, North Carolina
No more bailouts! Enough is Enough!
# 65:
8:35 pm PST, Nov 19,Ben Cooley, California
Say NO.
# 64:
8:03 pm PST, Nov 19,Amit Johar, Virginia
Their CEOs fly in jets instead to avoid traffic. NO BAILOUT!
# 63:
7:11 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, California
Automakers fought against legislation for high gas mileage cars for YEARS! Shame on them. And they now complain they "didn't know we wanted higher gas mileage cars." They did not want to do the work then and they want a gimme now. Grow up.
# 62:
6:27 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, Texas
Gee I would like to make $71/hour! Shame on them...
# 61:
6:22 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, Colorado
# 60:
6:21 pm PST, Nov 19,Melissa Omand, Vermont
I think you should give all of the American's that money in the form of a check to buy a car!
# 59:
6:21 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, Iowa
# 57:
6:11 pm PST, Nov 19,David Drwencke, Michigan
There is no way that our government can spend money this frivolously on random, PRIVATE industries! This is a slippery slope, where will the waste of my hard earned money stop?
# 58:
6:11 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, New Hampshire
# 56:
6:08 pm PST, Nov 19,Name not displayed, New York
# 55:
11:13 am PST, Nov 19,Edward Alicea, Illinois
Automakers have had years to change thier money hungry ways. It took foreign companies and small car companies to come in and force changes in the auto industry. Make them start selling better fuel efficiant cars for cheaper & help make impovements to better the world of our future children before asking for our tax dollars. Better yet, why don't they give back some year-end bonuses that they so knowingly do not deserve.
# 54:
10:27 am PST, Nov 19,Eric King, Georgia
# 53:
9:47 am PST, Nov 19,Elizabeth Hodges, South Carolina
# 52:
6:50 am PST, Nov 19,Anson Beckman, South Carolina
The American people can't afford $50,000 for a new car is why they are in trouble. It's ridiculous what it costs to buy a new car which is why everyone is forced to buy used. I recently went car shopping and couldn't find a new vehicle under $20,000 for a little sedan and the SUV's started at $40,000 for a GM car. The price is so high that they are financing cars for 7 years now with payments of $700. Most family's can't afford a new car. They should have to take a hard look at their business practices and suffer the consequences.
