Subscribers toASI’s E-Newsletter may have noticed the addition of a weekly survey to the news features section. Here we present the results of the June 2 survey.

Do you approve of spending Federal funds to bail out the automakers?

Yes: 22.6%
No: 77.4%

Comments:

“American automakers deserve to fail because they produce vehicles that Americans simply don't want to purchase. Foreign cars are less expensive and more reliable. Also, American automaker unions have been far too powerful and demanding; the unions have been GREEDY! Now everyone pays for this greed and mismanagement. What a waste!!”

“The government has no business getting their hands in this mess. If GM, Chrysler, et al. have poor business models, outdated plants or out-of-line labor costs, they can solve the problems in bankruptcy - and could have already if they had been allowed. They are still relatively intelligent people who will be many times more efficient than they can be under any form of governmental control.”

“Failing companies must be allowed to fail. What comes next will be better. Chrysler went down the bailout road in the 1970s, and here they are again. What good did that bailout do for them? Everyone in the U.S. must exercise fiscal responsibility to get us back on firm economic footing, or we are doomed to fail as a society. Everyone can't have everything. Our Federal government is the biggest borrower of all. This insanity must stop.”

“Incentives should be given to individuals. The government should not hand money to companies or industries.”

“A bailout may have been OK if the automakers had filed for reorganization under bankrupcy first. Then bailout money would have been monitored and tracked by the courts.”