I believe that many of us thought so at the time.
I stated this position loudly when it was occurring- let the market and the “invisible hand” decide what company the auto industry should belong to. I was ridiculed and vilified for being s uncompassionate for the 100 of Ks of workers who would lose their jobs. (????)
Kinda funny how that works in reality- Company A runs their organization into the ground, goes belly up, Company B buys it and its assets and gets to work in short order, ( so where did all the “new” companies workers come from?). Life goes on.
All the Congress did ( and yes, it was congress’ fault-all monies come from the House) is prop up the CEOs and pension funds and unions, but mortgage the taxpayer all the more.
I like Trump’s take on it- put pressure on GM to make something that will sell, the green car crap doesn’t cut it, even if it was the corporate price to be paid for doing business with the politicians- who are so well known for making wise fiscal decisions.....
So who cares if Ford or Toyota or whomever becomes the de facto owners of the GM lines and pays its former workers?
Same thing happens to small companies too. Bob’s Plumbing goes TU, Ralph his competitor buys his assets and expands a bit, hires Bob as his branch manager (maybe not)....
The Upper echelon management are the ones who lose their jobs and cushy arrangements, and they are the ones who have the congress critters attention via political donations etc. Did I mention that? Oh Noes!