The Bailout for the Big Three

So, I'm sure you've all heard about how the Big Three automakers are on the edge of bankruptcy, and how they all flew into DC with their begging bowls. Except that they used their private jets for the trip, so they (deservedly) got rapped on their knuckles by the senate committee. Now, there has been a lot of talk from the Republicans about how we should let these guys go bust, file for Chapter 11, so that they can be restructured to be paragons of efficient productivity.

I'm not so sure.

Sure, these guys have totally screwed the system, screwed Americans in general, continued to make big bad trucks that no one really needed and that gave you 2 miles to the gallon, continued to fight the EPA (which to be fair, wasn't much these past few years) and succeeded in not only not having any sort of federal fuel efficiency limits, but also preventing forward thinking states such as California to enforce such rules. All this while the rest of the world has gone ahead and made better cars, more efficient factories and so on. Sure, these guys do deserve to roast in hell.

But you know what'll happen if/when these guys are allowed to go under? The guys at the top will be fine. The factory line workers, the welders, the machinists, those are the guys who will take the brunt. They'll lose their jobs, factories will shut down, taking down with them entire communities (where they are the primary job provider, and other associated businesses depend on them). Its millions of jobs at stake.

So, what do they do? Clearly, just giving them money so they can continue their obviously broken business systems is stupid. Here's what I think would be nice - Give them the money, but be very clear about what they HAVE to do with it:

In the short term, fuel efficiency for ALL cars to be on par with that of the Asians, and huge investments made into hybrid and electric cars.

In my opinion, MOST importantly, MAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. Sure, personal transport is nice and all, but about 85% of cars on American roads have one person. No matter how many fuel efficient cars you make, you are eventually going to have a problem if people continue to only drive cars. Buses, trams and trains are going to have to be the main mode of transport in all cities. Make these buses, make them reliable, get them to go into ALL parts of the city so inner city folk have a way of getting out and to where the jobs are. And of course, make them super energy efficient.

The system is so messed up, we're going to change it anyway. Might as well make dramatic, far reaching changes, as opposed to cosmetic temporary ones, no?

What say you?