by K Scappace

Created on: March 30, 2009

Today, we see the government offering billions of dollars to aid large corporations. To the best of my knowledge those billions of dollars do not exist. The federal government is already operating under a multi-trillion dollar deficit. It is risking its own bankruptcy to save businesses that will never be able to repay the money they receive. What happens then?

Our government cannot afford to pour money into the open pit of mismanagement and bad business models which corporations attempt to foist onto the people. For decades, automakers whined Americans do not buy American cars, even as they eliminated American buying power by outsourcing their manufacture to third world countries. Today, except for Saturn, there is no American car made in America. Their parts, manufactured in other countries, are only assembled in America. What people then, does a federal intervention benefit?

General Motors employs 140,000 people in the United States and plans to cut 47,000 jobs worldwide soon even with federal assistance. Can the government guarantee the job security of the 140,000 people that currently pay taxes in the US? No, the odds are that GM will make at least half its cuts here. That places at least 20,000 newly unemployed people in the care of an already burdened system. In my mind, this is tantamount to treason. Before the government spends one penny more saving jobs around the globe it must ensure that jobs at home are safe.

No, the federal government cannot continue to save corporations from bankruptcy. We cannot prevent the collapse of the American financial market by saving GM, Ford, and Chrysler. In trying to the government injures the people of our country. The financial burden these giants place on us is too great. In any other period of history, the government would maintain a hands-off approach to their problems, just as it continues to do with small businesses across the country. At most, it would offer tax breaks and incentives while the company regained its strength. When that failed, and it would unless the companies recognized the inherent disease in their business, the government would send aid to the affected state. New businesses would replace the old ones and the economy, both local and national, would benefit from a healthier market.

Decades ago, big corporations cut their own wrists when they decided to outsource jobs from America. They claimed the money they saved in production would benefit America in lower prices. Instead, the only benefit realized from this outsourcing was to the executives and boards of directors of the companies. They feel the consequences of not treating their self-inflicted wounds now but it is too late to save the patient.

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