It won't make any difference.
No one in his [or her] right mind is going to purchase GM or Chrysler after this debacle.
Heck, everyone wants to purchase Toyota now, and yet Toyota just posted a massive loss.
It won't matter how much money 0bambi throws at GM & Chrysler - they're both dead already [even if they don't realize it yet].
IMO, There is one scenario in which "throwing money at them" would have worked. The government has "thrown" $30-35 billion (?) at them. Where is that money now? Gone. And they need more. Anyone who thinks that we are not funneling billions to them on a continuing basis is a fool. They are on life support and we are the IV line!
The government should have structured the bailouts in the form of incentives. Any US citizen who purchased a new car/truck from the Big Three should have qualified for a $5000 to $10,000 tax credit, right off the bottom line owed to the IRS. It could have been $2000 off each year for 4 years, $3000 off for two years, $1000 for ten years, etc. Or, just set a max and let the taxpayer design his own plan. Cars would have flown off the lots. The dealers and suppliers would have loved it. If the companies and the union were unable to survive with a windfall like that, then they were unsustainable! But, that is their problem. Not mine!!!
One thing is for sure - they would have sold a lot of cars and at least some of us would have had something to show for the $$$$$$ - a shiny new car. As it is, the money is going straight down the drain!
BTW. We purchased a new van last Wednesday - a Honda Odyssey Touring. Yes, it is made in Alabama by a non-union company. But, you better believe we would have bought "American" if the tax incentive had been there!
***I can just hear the uproar from the "poverty awareness groups"! "How come all those rich folks get a tax credit and I don't? Oh yeah, they are the ones buying new cars! Well, just damn, I want a new car too, even if I don't have any money or pay any taxes." And, before you know it, there would be a new "entitlement" program. Oh well, there is a down side to every idea!