However, the Tea Party’s stance against the bailouts is something I can’t support. I know they are very unpopular but I do not think many realize what would have happened had the auto-industry not been saved.
Let me explain to you a few things… I’ve grown up in Michigan all of my life. My dad, his brother, and his dad have worked in the Auto Industry most of their lives. Growing up most of my friend’s parents either worked directly for an auto company or one of the thousands of suppliers that make up the majority of our economy here in Southern Michigan. 75% of the our economy in Michigan is tied directly to the auto industry. The other 25% relies on the income brought in by the auto industry to continue.
Had GM, Chrysler, and Ford been allowed to go out of business all at once, like the Tea Party insists should have happened, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana would have been plunged into one of the worst economic depressions ever experienced.
Don’t believe me? An example of something very few consider. Our doctor’s office is an independent practice. Its not tied to any other company, let alone the auto industry. None of the doctors work or worked for the car companies. However, when word came that the major plant in our area was going to be closed they were notifying their patients that they would be closing the practice. Why? Because even a doctor’s office totally unrelated to making cars depends on the customers who are 75% employed by the Auto Industry.
I do not believe the government should interfere without lives, but in crisis I believe the government must respond. The People of this country need to help. Had General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler folded last year the government would have spent far more in welfare and health care to save the millions upon millions of people in my state alone who MUST have the auto industry to survive.
Companies should die when its their time and yes there are some bad consequences to running a business badly. But rescuing the auto industry had nothing to do with saving big business. It had everything to do with saving the people of Michigan, adjacent states, and Ontario whose entire economy from cars to health care to fast food restaurants rely solely on the auto industry.
So although I sympathize with the concerns of the Tea Party Movement and the majority of their views. I personally can not call myself a Tea Partier. My family would be homeless right now if not for those bailouts and I dare say most of my friends and family would be in a similar boat. It is much easier to solve a debt that can be paid off then to give shelter, food, and jobs to the millions upon millions of people who depend on the car industry.