During recent testimony, members of Congress expressed an overall unwillingness to give financial assistance to Big Car. Among the reasons cited for this unwillingness were the perception that many of Big Car’s wounds were ‘self-inflicted’.
Of course, this rationale is dripping with hypocrisy. Just over a month ago, the same Congress lavished $700 Billion in taxpayer money on Wall Street for wounds that were entirely self-inflicted. Greed was the cannon – derivatives, mortgage-backed securities, and leverage were the bullets. Wall Street blew its own foot off and now the American taxpayer is left to play podiatrist.
There is an important distinction to be made with regards to the bailout money. It has been made very clear time and time again that this money is only for the financial system. This was never an economic stabilization package as it was named and touted. Every action and testimony since the passage of the bill has hammered home this reality.
Despite their obvious problems, GM, Ford, and Chrysler are much more important to the real economy than Fannie, AIG, and Lehman. If anyone was going to be bailed out, it should have been the Big Three as opposed to the Big Fleece.