But we should NOT try to keep the company solvent for the purpose of making cars (which you also said), because I feel that the company is destined for failure. We can’t afford to continually prop up every major company (banks, auto, etc) or entire industries, because this will hasten our pace towards possible financial insolvency as a nation.
No, I didn’t do the math or any in-depth analysis, because 1) time, 2) I’m probably not smart enough. But I did refer to “trickle-down effects”, which would cause pain and billions and hurt lives and our economy. My point is: These effects *will* happen regardless. I do not want to throw billions of debt on top of *that*. Thanks again for your response. – Phil

We’re already on the hook for most of this. Most of GM’s debt is for medical care. If GM goes under, who’s going to pay for the retiree’s medical bills? The U.S. will, either through Medicare or soaked by the hospitals who will in turn soak the government for it. So at the very least, the U.S. should provide Medicare for all GM retirees, which in itself may be sufficient for them to survive.

The idea that GM is borrowing money to make cars is just wrong. The debt is from health care requirements. If we “go through the pain now”, how does this help? The people working at GM won’t get any older? They won’t need health care? Bullocks.

Which do you think costs the government more? A guy working at GM for a year, or a guy who’s unemployed for a year? Have you actually added up the money that another 175,000 unemployed people would cost the U.S.? The 280,000 retirees suddenly without health care? And of course there’s all that tax revenue we’re getting from GM employees, which we won’t be getting if they’re unemployed.

Maybe you should try math, instead of platitudes. It’s not always true that there’s pain now or more pain (or even the same pain) later. For GM, I think you’ll find that keeping it alive by taking over its health care obligations is a big winner long-term for the U.S. in terms of debt and income for the U.S. government.