This is a tough one ... a real dilemma! While I have considerable empathy for our "Big 3" auto makers, for their employees, investors, and multiple peripheral entities and for an industry that was created in America, I fear that a bailout, per se, is the wrong thing to do. Where does the bailout mentality stop? AIG, banks, states, cities, autos, and then, and then, and then? The AIG bailout was a disgrace ... I'm hearing of entities seeking banks to acquire so they can participate in bailout monies ... at some point in time we just have to stand our ground.

Pat Wilson

No bail out for the industry! Let them bankrupt, new stronger comapanies will come out without the unions.

Makes you wish Romney was the President-elect. We need some uncommon sense in Washington (and some tough love for all those companies and citizens looking for government to fix their problems.)

Mike, I totally agree with Mit'e assessment of the ills of the auto industry. I was a supplier of fuels and lubricants to the auto industry for a good many years and I am well aware of the problems they face. Mitt is right on target. Either we help them reform the way they have to do business or they will simply fail. Failure would cost the US millions of jobs, not only in the auto plants but also in the thousands of suppliers to that industry.In my opinion, throwing money at them is not going to solve anything in the long run.
By the way, I am extremely pleased at your reelection and I think you do us a super job. Keep it up, my friend! You are on the right track.

They need to restructure. We the tax payers are tired of financing losers who get paid more than we could ever dream of making. It is time for accountability.

I believe as Mitt Romney, they should file Chapter 11 and take their chances. Why should the taxpayer give them a bailout - we buy cars from them. If the UAW's hold on them wasn't so tight then they could pay a reasonable salary for virtually unskilled laborers as most of the assembly line is done by robotics. The combination of benefits, salary and union dues is ridiculously overpaid for people that do not have a real skill. I wish I made that kind of money and I am skilled.

My Dad's business has some debt. Now that it is Washington's role to socialize debt, please send a check soon! The sky is fallling!

thumbs down on union contracts that keep American autos priced high. more so for ceo's with private jets. management costs need to be lowered before asking labor to
give up benifits.

I just purchased a new Toyota Corolla today for my daughter to use at college. It is fuel efficient, safe, and very reliable. This car has about ~ 30 years of continuous improvement engineering behind it.

Yes, I looked at the american automakers auto lineup, and they have very little to offer in the way of fuel efficient vehicles. The government can throw money at them in the short term, but they just don't have a viable business plan and more importantly the products that they need to stay in business. Autos take several years to design because of the safety concerns involved. Any sort of "bailout" will only have a very short-term effect; probably just pro-longing their inevitable downfall.

In my opinion, they need to declare chapter 11 and make themselves profitable again.

You obviously have no insight whatsoever into the auto industry. First, it ain't a "bailout" it's a loan. We already gave a real bailout to quite a few "needy" financial organizations. Second, while financial institutions don't invent, create or manufacture anything (except perhaps bogus investment instruments) the auto industry does all three. Third, I must ask if you have really looked into the current safety, mileage and beauty of american automobiles.

Best Wishes,
Al

I agree with Romney 100%.

What I don't understand is the position that Congress has taken on the Automotive Loan issue. They are willing to bail out the financial markets who created the situation with very little oversite but deny companies that actually produce a product, provide millions of jobs and Congress does not want to help them.

I find this very distrubing that Congress not only ignores the backbone of the nation but actually put the people in charge of the financial bailout that were part of the problem.

Seems like you are letting the fox guard the hen house.

I think the best thing is for them to go to chapter 11 bankrupsy thus they would haave to renagotiate with the unions and change the CEO policies.

I agree with Mitt Romney. The only way the auto industry is going to survive in this country is to restructure from the the inside out. A bailout with restructure means Death!!

Romney is on target in pushing for a resolution-now of the Detroit Big Three's slow descent into the grave. But whether U.S. bankruptcy courts are adequate venues for necessary restructuring remains to be seen. Remember that GM and Ford are international businesses not only American ones. In some respects, some of their operations have better prospects abroad than in the U.S. Legal and union situations differ among the various markets. Ditto for health and retirement burdens: most other western nations provide national health care and pensions - easing corporate burdens. On the other hand, governments there intrude more intensively into corporate management. So it seems that, in this globalized industrial world,Detroit's restructuring may require cross-border work before foreign institutions.

Being an older citizen, I still wonder how come all those years they were making a profit that they didnt invest some of the profits back into their companies. Instead they kept lining their pockets with money and everything was hunky dorry, but now when times are bleak in the industry they want a handout. We as americans have lived way beyond our means for many years and if we had all been more diligent in our money spending. All of the bailouts are rediculious and those people need to pay the piper. Let those people give back the billions of dollars I believe they pilfered from hard working citizens. I believe it will get a lot worse before better, but we will get what we deserve. Only the good Lord knows what is going to happen, he has installed good kings and bad kings over time, but we always get what we deserve. DO NOT BAILOUT ANY BODY ELSE

I agree with Romney's article and his take on the auto industries. they however, will not change. they are after millions of our dollars so they don't have to change their behavior. i say let them go bankrupt and then start over. nothing they are doing is right and it will cost us the tax payers in the end.

frank la may

Mike,
I agree that we should not bail out the auto industry. They need to restructure and the union needs to get back in line on their salary structure and work with the industry to save their jobs. Apparently they are not willing to help.
Thanks
David Dunn

The following video is alarming and it should be the first thing that is addressed in Congress TODAY.

http://www.iousathemovie.com/

If you haven't seen this, watch it. It is 30 mins. long so settle back.
Steve asked, 'can this be true', yes it is very true, notice when the the debt increased and when it decreased!

I agree with you and Gov. Romney that Detroit's business model is foolish and out of sync with free market principles. A handout to automobile management to continue the status quo is adding to failed policies and is just delaying the inevitable. Please do not support the expansion of Socialism that will destroy this great nation.

I am against bailouts period! The powers that be that brought on this mess will be the recipients of this bailout
and nothing will change. They will be at the White House
gates again and expecting to get more money.

My husband worked for the airlines for years and went through bankruptcy and no one bailed them out. We lost our
retirement income with the airline that he worked for the longest. I do not see that any of these other companies are
any better than the airline employees.

I thought Congress was supposed to be working for their
constiuients. Polls show that more people are against the
bailouts than for them. Will you please tell me who the
government is really working for, the majority or the lobbyists?

I can go through the depresseion that might come just as well now as later. I was born at the end of the first
depression and my family survived. In some ways, I think
that a depression would be good for some of us. We have
put the love of a dollar in the place of the things that
really matter and have value--integrity, good work ethics,
good morals, taking responsibility, freedom, etc. Hard times sometimes brings out the best in us. We may have to lose the material things that we value in order to appreciate the things that really matter.

Excellent commentary from Mitt. Wish he were in the White House! We're in serious trouble.

P.S. Please do all you can to oppose the Fairness (Censorship)Doctrine.

Thank you,

Jim & Mary

With all due respect, Mr. Romney is full of horse puckey on this issue.

Dear Sir,

I think Mr. Romney's comments about the Big Three are a good solution. Maybe all the chief executives should be let go (with prejudice) and replaced with someone from "other" companies. I allways buy American if at all possible.

I agree completely with Mitt Romney. We the taxpayers should not be asked to bailout any industry or business that fail. It's time to draw the line. If republicans do not stand up for taxpayers and come up with ideas to cut spending and keep Americans safe they will never govern this country again. SOCIALISM IS ALREADY HERE!!! The time to act is NOW.

GO MITT! However, I think it should go a step further. File chapter 11 to reorganize. Keep the warranties. But, THROW THE UNIONS OUT! Make the salaries and benefits competitive with the market such as Toyota and Mercedes. Then the companies can invest in R&D and be solvent once again. The unions are what is driving companies under the ground. In the industrial revolution, unions were created to force companies for safe work conditions. Those needs have been met. The unions are no longer needed. In today's world, the unions are nothing more than a legal organized mob, extorting money out of companies they can't afford to pay and prevent profitability.

Labor Unions have served their purpose. it's time for them to GET REAL and take some humble pie. The dumb CAFE standards need to go away too.

What is truly wrong with the economy? If lenders and manufacturers that are asking for public funds had good business models and simply ran out of cash before they succeeded, it makes sense to fill the gap. However, I think the opposite is true. Overextended credit allowed people to spend more than they could afford. New business models based on an illusion are now falling apart. The best way to correct this would be to allow the market to correct itself. There will be pain either way but creating a new illusion to replace the old will fail with greater consequence.

It's too bad that Mitt Romney didn't make it as our President, because I believe he has the business savey to save this country from the enormous debt that our grandchildren's grandchildren will be inheriting! What a shame.

Great article by Mitt Romeny but it's not about the best solutions for America or for the auto industry, but about Government control over everything. This is insane, this is unAmerican, this is wrong. But this is what is happening. Because Americans have been lazy, uninformed and apathetic, this will continue and we will be very hard pressed to stop it. We will reap what we sowed.

I am so disgusted with every business now a days going to the government with their hands out. If I as a taxpayer, have to manage my finances, so should they. Our government was not established to bail out companies who mis-managed and mis-used their business. I am totally against any bailout.

Mitt,is a thousand percent correct. The arrogance of the auto unions will destroy the industry if there is not stop created. When individuals think they can be paid for no work or little work that is wrong, and not the American work ethic. The thought that many Americans have of entitlement is wrong and will destroy this country if not stopped. One needs to work for a living, not handouts.

I agree. I run a business myself, and have an MBA from the Univ. of Missouri - Columbia. These men have totally mismanaged their businesses, and greed has been the order of the day... private jets and mega-million dollar incomes when their companies are suffering. Please.

And the union salaries are rediculous. They should be 1/2 of what they are.

No to the bailout. Let them file for chapter 11, and then renegotiate the union contracts.

Mike-Thank you for emailing me Romney's article. I agree completely with Romney's view, and yours. Keep fighting to bring wisdom into the madness. Thanks for all of your hard work. RW

Mr. Romney's opinions expressed in his article seem very accurate and I sincerely hope they are taken seriously. As a taxpayer, I deeply resent being forced into servitude in order to back-up the UAW's "cradle to grave" welfare. My dollars are going to finance other's retirements and health costs while I am either doing without or unable to pay for needed medical care and/or necessary drugs. Why should I buy an American made car - that is, if I could afford to buy any car? I can buy a superior car made in Georgia or other Southern US states at a greatly reduced price while getting as much if not more car! If the "Big Three" is to survive at all, they must restructure via Chapter 8 ASAP.

OPINION because it has to be- the big executives sshould be fired. the airline I worked for went bankrupt twice, and emerged successfully. we all got paid and they made a deal w/ the vendors-payback was 100% later all other airlinees that went bankrupt emerged successfully, so why can the big 3 do the same? instead of getting tax-player subsidities- proving they don't how to run a business, just their millioms in salary- right on, governor

Mitt Romney is right. Unfortunately, my Georgia senators usually vote for all bail-outs and hand-outs, as if I have bottomless pockets. My congressman, Nathan Deal, is more financially astute, praise God!

Mitt Romney is right! A blank check given to the auto industry at this time will definitely seal their fate and the American automobile will go the way of the dinosaur.

In today's global economy, no other industry in the United States (and probably not in the world) can operate profitably or competitively using the antiquated management vs. labor practices that still abound in the automotive industry. Where my industry (aerospace manufacturing) has learned the value of collaborative management, continuous quality improvement and customer retention programming, the Big Three seem stuck in the days of Ivory Tower management, union control through intimidation and an arrogant approach to customer satisfaction. As Gov. Romney said, without a major change in their whole mindset, from CEO to janitor, they are doomed to a slow death and throwing money at them without assurances of such change will only delay the ultimate demise of the industry.

I am by no means part of management, but even as a skilled worker, I can see that the union domination of the industry is a big part of the problem. Sure union workers get huge salaries and benefits packages (compared to the rest of the manufacturing industries across the country), but at what cost? From what my friends and I see, they are just robots mindlessly doing whatever the union bosses tell them to. They're not contributing members of any sort of team, their work structure doesn't seem to have any way for innovative ideas to flow upward and they are definitely not encouraged to think for themselves. That is a work culture of the 19th century, not even the 20th, one that more closely resembles bondage instead of the freedom and independence most of the rest of us enjoy in the workplace.

It is way past time for this adversarial relationship between labor and management in the automotive industry to end if they want to join the rest of us in the 21st century. It's the only way the U.S. can regain manufacturing superiority in this world economy, and if managed bankruptcy of the whole industry is what it takes, so be it!

Each time I read something Mitt Romney has written or listen to him in an interview or speech, I become more & more impressed with his leadership abilities & his clarity of thought on almost any issue.
This nation & especially the Republican party failed itself when we allowed cross-over Democrats & Independents (who appeared to be more Democrat than Independent), to control our primary nomination process. They eliminated Mitt Romney just when the nation & our party needed a man like him. I do not mean to knock John McCain. I do mean to say, he really was not the favored candidate of the party faithful. In fact, his "maverick" history looks more like comprise, and much of what he went along with took compromise significantly too far.
Detroit has outlasted its usefulness, in its current configuration. In addition, the confrontational attitude & selfish entitlement attitude of the UAW in resolving this current crisis situation, was infuriating to many Americans.
When we learned the per hour cost of a UAW employee is $73.00 / hour as opposed to the $23.00 / hour cost of non union car making employees right here in America, it was a real shock. Most workers I know would be extremely happy to get $23.00 / hour in wages & benefits. The very idea UAW leaders were defiant when it came to "any" concessions at $73.00 / hour, is outrageous.
Asking for taxpayers across the nation to pay to bail out this kind of attitude, is reprehensible. Many asked to make this sacrifice also have been stuck by Detroit when trying to resolve "lemon" issues & they have had to foot the bill for cars that simply do not live up to the hype, much less their cost!
Many companies have gone through Chapter 11 & reorganized into much stronger, leaner, and more competitive operations. Now is the time for Detroit to do the same. The auto workers & consumers will benefit in the long & short run. Court management has allowed many brand name operations to live on, after running into financial troubles, whether of their own or due to factors beyond their control. Detroit's problems are mostly of their own design. In fact, they were in trouble long before this financial crisis came about. We were confronted with this financial crisis issue only after John McCain named a very popular Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential selection, & Republicans started to pull even or even pass Barack Obama in many of the polls.
How Republicans have allowed Democrats to escape responsibility for this financial crisis is beyond me. I know the media are backing up Democrats, but even they cannot hide the very real facts that Republicans tried numerous times to get Fannie & Freddie under better regulatory control.
Now it seems we are only hearing from people like Mitt Romney & the rest of the Republican leadership seems to be conspicuously absent or derelict in their duty to fight for truth.
Great article with many truth's & with excellent idea's for America's future!

I do not believe the federal government should bail out the auto industry. They have been "fat cats" for too long. I believe the cuts should begin at the top....Some of the bonuses for executives are out of this world. Why do they need private jets? Unions were a good idea once upon a time. However, more pay for less work is ridiculous. I believe people should get paid a fair wage for a days' work. I don't think companies should have to keep a worker that doesn't work. That seems to be what we have become....lazy workers drawing too much pay for very litte work. Let's put some common sense to work and get the mess straightened out. I don't believe handing out money is the answer.

My family works in the auto industry. We work for a company that is efficient and runs it's organzation better than Mercedes and especially the "Big 3" in Detroit. If Detroit could model their companies like TOYOTA and HONDA, they wouldn't be needing a bailout. The produce less cars per day, have more call backs or rejects and build too many cars nobody wants.

The biggest probliem is it is not fair to bailout unions and cafe standards.

WE DON'T DESERVE THIS. Let them file bankruptcy and start over like I would have to do if I let myself get into a irreversible mess. If you wnat more tax from me than loan the money to me to pay for it otherwise. stop this insanity now.

Last chance before the socialist fully take power.

I agree with Mr. Romney. Why is it when they need money, be it the automakers, schools, etc, instead of looking for other ways to raise said money or whatever they always take the more expedient way out? They stick it, again, to the poor already overtaxed, if you'll pardon the obvious pun, taxpayer. When I was growing up, my bread was buttered on both sides by the American automotive industry. My mother worked for GM and my father for Ford. So I know how important it is.
First off, in the movies how do you wake somebody up? You throw cold water in their face. It really gets their attention. And I think refusing a bailout would be a good dash of ice water with the cubes left in it.
Second, I think they need to lower their prices. So many times I have heard my brothers talk about this car or that being vastly over priced. What the big three needs to learn is that they would sell more cars if more people could afford them. Maybe they wouldn't make as much all at once, but in the long run, they would sell more units. And when you sell more, what do you do? You make money. Duh. I would think that is a no brainer. I know it's not as simplistic as I make it sound, but that would help along with the other measures Mr. Romney proposes.
Oh, well, I will sit back and watch what happen, and if they take the easy way, I won't be surprised. It's too easy to hit John and Jane Q. Public. I rest my case.

taxs were not meant for charity, this would be cheating tax payers---lester

I think that Mitt Romney's solution should be seriously looked at. The news media and BOTH parties are trying this crisis bailout with the American public to get them to go along with just handing out money.

It won't work AGAIN! We've seen what's happening with our banks and we DON'T want the government in control of our daily lives.

You're supposed to make it possible and safe for us to manage our OWN lives. NOT live it for us or decide HOW we're going to live it.

I fear the next four years are going to be a downhill spiral for us.

In Sept. I received a recall notice from GM which stated that there was a defective part on my 2008 suburban, but that the replacement part would not be in the dealerships until November. Two weeks later my 13 month old suburban caught on fire spontaneously while I was driving down the street. For the first month, I was passed from GM department to GM department. I was told that I needed to talk to "Product Allegations". Then I was told that they couldn't make a decision because my problem involved an open flame. Then I was told that someone would get back to me in ten days or so, and then the dealership called and said that GM wasn't honoring my vehicle warranty and that I would have to go through my insurance company to file a claim. My insurance company is telling me that I am going to take a $20,000 hickey on a 13 month old vehicle with 14000 miles on it. Do I want my tax dollars to bail them out? You've got to be kidding! If I ran my business with such total disregard for customer retention, I would have been out of business years ago, and I am positive not a single penny of taxpayer money would be coming my way. In reality, we are giving them permission to build inferior vehicles with inferior parts and the American consumer is the scapegoat!!!! There is no accountability!
This was the seventh suburban that I have owned and I currently own 4 other GM vehicles. I will never buy another GM product. Bail out or no bail out!

I agree with Jed Babbin's, "Don't Bail Out the UAW," commentary in Human Events. Babbin argues that Congress should reject any plan the auto companies propose for a taxpayer-funded UAW bailout.

To ask taxpayers to subsidize their labor contracts is a request that conservatives and libertarians in Congress must reject completely.

Bankruptcy is the only legal mechanism for the auto companies to get rid of their enormous labor costs and benefits, which are commercially unjustifiable. For example:

 UAW members earn an average of $75/hour in wages and benefits, nearly three times those of the average private sector worker.

 UAW workers and retirees have a gold-plated health care system, which includes some of the most comprehensive and least expensive health care in America.

 UAW members get seven weeks’ vacation every year, three weeks more than the average private sector worker.

 UAW job banks pay laid-off workers as if they were still working. They get about 95% of their wages, and all of their benefits for up to two years.

Democrats don’t want to bail out the auto companies; they want to bail out the UAW. The Democrats don’t care about the auto companies or the taxpayers. They care only about paying back the union for its political support, and the union cares only about keeping its power over the auto companies.

The auto companies cannot survive unless they undergo Chapter 11 reorganization, which will void their industry-killing labor agreements and put them back on the road to recovery.

Jerry A. Kane

The unions have raped the State of Michigan for years and should be brought to task for what they have done. The quality of american made cars has been going down for a long time and they can't be competitive while paying the wages and benefits they have been burdened with. This should have been obvious many years ago. The unions have protected workers that should (or would have) been fired if they weren't under that union shield.

The unions were certainly necessary when my grandfather worked in the factories back in the day, but now they are only protecting themselves and not doing anyone a favor.

As far as I'm concerned, the Democratic party is heavily controlled by the unions and that should certainly be something to be looked at very closely.

I too think that the auto makers have to change the way things have been done for too long. There is always an involvement with those working to make the automobiles that they sell, so they too have to have a part in how things are changed. I don't blame the unions for trying to get the most they can in wages and benefits for their membership...that is good. The reality is that a burden has been placed on the owners to pay for those benefits that has exponentially increased due in part to the fact that we don't have universal health care that we should. The cost for retired employees has skyrocketed and certainly has to be addressed. Things can't stay the way they are. Not only is it a problem for the auto makers but partly a problem of the way we do business in this country and the fact that the burden of health care needs to be a government controlled item like almost all other industrialized countries do and have control over the cost.
Auto manufactures need to improve their products also and make products that are currently in demand and reflect efficiency and environmental protection.
I don't favor a bailout without these problems being adequately addressed.

Nelson Schott....Democratic executive committee member...Odessa

Great, good common sense. This is why I wanted Mr. Romney to be our candidate. I don't know what back-room stuff went on there, but I was disappointed when he ceded the nomination.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Mike.

What really annoys me about this bailout is that when bankruptcy is mentioned the implication is that the auto industry will go into Chapter 7 and the companies will go out of business. What is being asked is for the three companies to go into Chapter 11 for protection while they reorganize their business. The problem is that the unions don’t want the contracts rewritten and they do not want any salaries or pensions changed. The unions caused the problems and now the tax payers are supposed to keep them in business. This is not acceptable.

In the Oil Industry my salary was frozen for two or three years because the price of oil dropped in the eighties and again in the nineties. My wife works for a different company but also had her salary frozen and took a cut in pay as well. We knew the companies were in trouble and accepted the changes in order to keep working. We did not get a bailout from the taxpayers. The companies also terminated thousands of workers during these times. Workers for service companies were also terminated because of the drop in oil prices.

The effect on the oil industry was not unlike the scenarios that have been discussed by the auto industry leaders. The oil companies restructured and after a while started hiring again. This is the way Capitalism works. The salaries and pension plans of the three companies need to be structured in a way that makes the companies similar to the auto companies in the South. If the pay and benefits are out of line with the competition then the excessive cost is taken from the quality of the product and this is one of the major reasons why Americans look elsewhere for a new car.