Auto Bailout, Part Deux

It's raining blog fodder this morning, Southeast Texas - which is not surprising since it's been actually raining every morning here for the past MANY days straight - right before the temperature drops to somewhere in the 40's or spikes to the mid-70's. (Al Gore, call me. We have a slight climate problem here in The Mont.)

Anyway, I'm really talking about this morning's announcement of a $17.4 billion auto industry bailout - actually less than I thought they'd get - taken out of the $700 billion financial bailout kitty.

Now, I haven't had much time to put on my thinking cap and scrutinize the fine print of this deal, but there are a few things that jumped out at me when I first read about it.

1. Thanks, but no thanks - is what Ford said to this bailout. The company claims to be able to restructure without the need of a short-term government loan, and opted out of receiving any bailout money saying, "That's cool, we're good with the enormous tax loopholes you already created for us."

2. Three Months - is how long GM and Chrysler have to come up with a sound restructuring plan or else they have to pay back their loans. I'm thinking of suggesting this for my student loans in the following way: "Dear Lender, If I just come up with a solid plan for my future in three months - not necessarily a path I'm bound to, but simply JUST a plan - I would like to opt out of repaying my student loans." I think it will go over smashingly well.

3. Stock Options - in the two companies could be exercised by the government, which would make the American auto industry partially nationalized. This is the ONLY major string that I see attached to the bailout and could be the reason why Ford opted out. (See #1)

Bottom Line - Despite my original suggestion of how to handle this, it's raining governmental money for mismanaged industries from Wall Street to Motor City, while in The Mont...it's just raining.