Bailing out auto is a mistake. The cars are sitting on the dock with noone buying them. So what are they going to continue to manufacture..?
Unionism pushes the day of reckoning farther and farther into the distance. It can’t continue much longer with Detroit, bailout or no bailout. Democrats will protect them as best they can and allow them to continue employment restriction to keep their wages above equilibrium levels.
This is the dirty secret of Unionism: it can raise wages in an industry only by keeping the level of employment below the optimum level. My wage is higher because you cannot work.
Now if the idea is to bailout industry by obtaining preferred stock or bonds the government could obtain a return from the money. It would also give the government an incentive to keep from driving them out of business with goofy environmental targets.
Now this assumes the idea is not to destroy business. Since I do not see any chance for tax increases in the near future they will have to raise money from somewhere.