Don't do it...

Don't do it...

I've been listening to the rumblings about bailing out GM and Ford with my tax dollars. I have a three word response: DON'T DO IT.

For the last 25 years I've been watching the American auto industry from near the inside. They don't deserve any help. They make crap. They've had all the time in the world to change that. Instead they've foisted big stupid SUVs on us and missed the whole point of quality improvement. There is a reason Toyota and Honda have been building manufacturing plants in this country while the US companies have been closing theirs.

Don't get me wrong - it will be painful. A lot of people - a lot who don't deserve it - will lose their jobs because of poor management. But the alternative - bail outs forever - will never work.

I read somewhere that the Japanese realized 30 or 40 years ago that they could take over the US auto industry in a few years. But they reasoned that they shouldn't because then nobody could afford their cars. Instead they've taken a long term view.

If there is a bail out, it has to be tied to a complete restructuring of how they do business, and that is a cultural change that has a snowball's chance in hell of happening.

So please, don't do it.