Why we shouldn't bail out the "Big 3"

George Will nails it.

It seems we as a nation are on the verge of a fork in the road, each path being one way. The sign on the leftward fork reads "Socialism," the rightward, "Capitalism."

We just shilled out $700 Billion (our rather, our Lord Protectors just shilled it out on our behalf) to bail out the mortgage industry. One of the reasons this made me extremely queasy was because I knew that the bankers would turn out to be just the first party in line. I was virtually certain that the auto industry would be next. And here they are. Who might follow after them? Well, let's see, what other industry is perpetually in the red and has previously been a beneficiary of Uncle Sam? Hint: their products have wings.

A newly emboldened, possibly soon-to-be-a-supermajority democratic party has already made some noise about gaining a controlling interest in the Big 3. They already own more of the mortgage industry than they used to. Will future bailouts come at the price of state ownership?

It may hurt in the short term (it may be agonizing in fact) but I think for the long term health of our country, ie, to avoid the slippery slope toward increased government involvement (and ownership), we have to take a stand and let these industries weather the storm on their own--even if it means filing for bankruptcy. As Will points out, this could have long lasting positive consequences (In the case of the auto industry, ridding itself of untenable union concessions).