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I am not a union person. BUT the auto companies have a lot of years of legacy costs the the newer southern plants do not. They have state of the art plants and huge tax breaks for moving to southern states.

The Big three have to get rid of the jobs bank, dealerships (way too many) and generally lower costs (stop paying people when they do not work). They can not do all that under the present contracts. What most people do not know is that they have made great progress in this direction.The have lowered labor costs for any new hire.

I am worried that a bankruptcy on one hand will do that but on the other they may go under in the process. I don’t think people will buy cars from a company under bankruptcy. (Worried about service and warentee) There are no good answers.

"I don’t think people will buy cars from a company under bankruptcy."

So, you think just giving them a few billion everytime the union sews them up in a corner will be the long term answer?

Bush is caving to the union, now it will be never-ending. When the unions get you by the hang-downs, they don't let go.

Insofar as buying their cars...the unions obviouslly do not care - they intend to make the companies support them whether or not the move a single car off the lots. Most of the people I've talked to have said they won't buy a Big-3 car ever again IF they get the bailout...including me.

MAYBE they should stop using "legacy costs" as an excuse and get lean and streamlined like many other American companies, and most foreign companies do. If "A" doesn't work, you try "B".

Either way, giving them money is like giving the car keys to a drunk teenager...very risky. That money is NOT going to save the company, or the pensions...but to bolster the union fat cats and their democrat support system.

In the grand scheme of things, 'property taxes' are miniscule...part of the cost of doing business and usually folded into the product and the consumer pays anyway.

That's my opinion, and I'm done with this discussion.