We can't just toss them $25 billion and the problem's solved. They'll keep hemorrhaging billions of dollars per quarter and we'll be back where we started in six months. It doesn't look like the economy will take an unexpected turn and shoot to new highs in six months, with people flocking to dealerships to buy Escalades and Ram pickups again.

The big 3 need to restructure, they need to dump all of the dying and irrelevant brands and excess dealer capacity and pension/healthcare liabilities and the UNIONS. If they do it through bankruptcy it will put a serious short-term hurting on our already battered economy. So like others have said, we can't let them fail, and bailing them out will achieve little. Lose/lose.

How about this- bail out the Big 3, but only after they commit to a restructuring plan that puts them on a path to long-term success. They stay alive and maybe our $25 billion doesn't go to immediate waste. The problem is that it's political suicide. They'd be cutting jobs, closing plants, closing dealers, breaking the unions, and doing all sorts of other nasty things no politician would touch with a ten foot poll number. I don't think any real change can happen without the legal protection of chapter 11.