GM claims Americans are over bailout anger

[Encryptshun]

I have said repeatedly that I did not (and still do not) support the notion of bailing out Detroit (or ANY company, for that matter) with public funds. My reason for this is because it encourages bad behaviors and corporate irresponsibility. The further problem I have with it is that I have ZERO faith in corporations to effectively govern themselves. It's survival of the fittest, and I'll freely admit my love of the underdog and my joy at seeing some fatcats get what's coming to them. I try not to let that interfere with my analysis of a situation, though. However, consider the following:

"Chevrolet. The heartbeat of America."
"Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet."
"An American revolution."
"Cheverolet Trucks. An American tradition."

See what they did there?

I contend that you could not find one single individual in this country who, when put in the position of POTUS would have let GM fail. Can you imagine being the President who was "responsible" for stilling "The heartbeat of America"?

But still, any time I hear about how keeping a company afloat is necessary to avoid shareholders taking a bath, I always wonder what shareholders they are talking about. I keep my 401k, my stock portfolio, and my Roth IRA funds very diversified. Maybe that's a new thing? Wasn't this the generation who kept telling our generation "Don't put all your eggs in one basket"? Not that they deserve to be without the nest egg they worked so hard and so long to get, but it seems kindof cherry-picky to say we should protect people who make poor financial decisions related to stock prices but not protect people who took a bath during the housing bust. Both groups are consumers who bought a product without understanding the full implication of the cost and return of that investment.

I don't think this post is in rebuttal to any particular point above, but just something to keep us grounded.