[mnehring]

You are under the false belief, as are most as this is the bill of goods people were sold, that going bankrupt is the same as going out of business. When a company of these sizes goes bankrupt, they don’t ‘go out of business’. It restructures debt and sells assets or shares of the restructured company.

Even after the bailout, GM still went bankrupt and yet it is still around.

Chrysler was owned by private equity and sold a large share to Fiat. Fiat, in turn, moved much of the manufacturing operations to Canada and Mexico, closing down several US plants and resulting in the same scenario you described.

Part of the ‘bailout’ was a call for these companies to reorganize, shutting down dealerships across the country laying off thousands.

The bailout did nothing more than pour more water into a sinking ship. It did not solve the problem and for both companies, the result was the same as if they had gone bankrupt, except it cost the taxpayers billions more.

As Reagan once said, government doesn’t fix problems, it subsidizes them.

[dfwgator]

Part of the ‘bailout’ was a call for these companies to reorganize, shutting down dealerships across the country laying off thousands.

Especially those dealerships that didn't play ball with the powers that be.

[MarkL]

And don't forget that during this whole episode, the government broke bankruptcy law, screwing over the bond holders (including retirement funds!), who are supposed to be paid back first and funneling billions to supporters of the Obama regime, like the UAW.

And don't forget the reports of the dealership closings that seemed to be politically motivated.

Mark