You base Wall streets conceived value of Ford and GM around 14 billion, but we all know about how smart these wall street guys are and how wrong they are after they just received a fortune of taxpayers money themselves.

Now thats funny!!

damikco -- you should re-read...

We poor mortals obviously have such trouble communicating; investors only valued the two companies at $9.44B while Washington was going to loan them $14B.

Perhaps if you add Chrysler you get another $1.5B... still NOT $14B.

So Sheldon, what is your point?????

Mr. Liber, What you are forgetting is not what the value of the these companies are on paper but what their failure will trigger if left along. We are talking about millions of jobs within the companies and related to it plus the wave of economic nuclear winter that will ensure on to the retailers, housing etc.. no one likes to give money to blind losers like GM and Chrysler but think of the alternative , let us not forget Lehman Brothers.

Rick,

Thanks for your thoughts. I am not against helping maneuver the car companies into a better long term position any way that is practical.

You will note in the post I now use support fund not bail out.

Your point is well taken -- I simply just could not resist the irony of the situation.

Let's see...our government has bought the banks; private corporations and now the auto industry. You guys may call it "funding," some call it a "bail-out." It's a purchase, plain and simple. What you give the government, or what the government takes, never goes back.
Never.
I thought our government was meant to govern, not invest.

Stalin would be proud.

Hell, Apple could buy them both and still have approx. $20 billion in the bank. The Big Three? You mean the Big Two, VW and Toyota.

As noted in the article: ". . . is that the proposed $14 billion is more than the value Wall Street currently places on the two companies."

Hmmmm . . . then wouldn't "common sense" dictate that the companies should be allowed to go into bankruptcy, and then finance the rebuilding of those companies? (Of course I am NOT a current supplier/vendor to the BIG3 who would suffer a severe loss if they stiff me through the bankruptcy process . . . a lot of other companies would fold if the BIG3 go into bankruptcy . . . that would just be passing the losses off onto their suppliers, right?

CONGRESS IS THE BIGGEST CULPRIT in all of this.

Congress has, and always has had, a fiduciary responsibility to protect and to maintain the stability and integrity of our national economy through our regulatory agencies . . . the Fed, the SEC, etc.

The VAST MAJORITY of Congressmen sold out to the special interests groups and VEHEMENTLY FOUGHT AGAINST and VOTED AGAINST implementation of "oversight and regulation" of the financial institutions, the corporations, and the stock markets. If Congress had put into place the BASIC PRUDENT "oversight and regulations" requiring that all mortgage applicants be FULLY PREQUALIFIED for the loans that they were applying for, and that all major FIs, corporations, and investment funds be fully audited by independent auditors, then NONE of this economic meltdown would have occurred.

Sure, that would have prevented the USA from having that previous PHONY ECONOMIC BOOM; but wouldn't having a stable but less robust economy be better than the HARD RECESSION, and economic emltdown that we are experiencing?

CONGRESS is the PRIMARY CULPRIT in all of this . . . they sold out to the special interests groups and were eithr too INCOMPETENT or CORRUPT to do what was and is in the best interests of our natioon and the American people. And Congress even has the audacity to add $150 Billion in earmarks/pork barrel to the $700 Billion Bailout legislation. How much more "indifferent and corrupt could they be?

"Power tends to corrupt; and "absolute power" tends to corrupt absolutelt . . . right? We need to throw the vast majority of Congressmen out of office; and we really can't afford to wait until the elections of 2010, can we?

The American people need to support "recall elections" to remove these corrupt Congressmen.

How valid is it to ignore everything but market capitalization and call that value? And all the idiots agree....

Stay tuned BH, I'm getting there!

No wages need to be cut if the union was honest. Wages that is per hour. Not the retirement and benefits. They should get no more than the average nationwide in that regard. If they were paid an average of $28.00 per hour as they say, then that is not way out of line. What they get though is far more than that. As the GM says, the employees that assemble the cars cost the company over 75.00 per hour. They get vacation that is beyond rediculous. No more than two weeks per year is or should be the maximum no matter time on the job. Also, pay raises should be given only for merit. Period ! If you do not work, you don't deserve a job. There are no less than three hired for one persons job there and paying an employee to sleep is criminal and stupid on the part of the company. Just like with International Harvestor. They had one supervisor for every assembler. When they finally kicked the union out, they were able to produce 90% of production with just 10% manning. Yes ! With just 10% of the employees it had before and they produced 90%. That is how the unions operate today but only worse. They are criminal, a shame to our country, they make Mexico and it's corruption look like childs play. Michigan and Illinois are side by side and take turns in levels of corruption. They do not deserve a cent from the government, they need to learn what doing an honest days work means and why people get fired for not being productive after appropriate number of warnings. If you do not work, you do not deserve to be paid. Period ! Unions are destructive too. They take away the incentive to work or produce in a timely manner. Being told to slow down and that you make the others look bad if you are working is sick.....I say screw them all and let them get their just reward....... No job and no future if they are not willing to put in an honest days work......... Well?