The biggest problem I have with the whole Auto Industry Bailout thing is one of intent: when the American Big 3 automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) came to the government in search of aid, their initial line of reasoning was NOT “Look, we understand we’ve been jacking off for the past decade and are now reaping the consequences of our admittedly American business tactics.  For some strange reason, the Japanese pursued higher efficiency, better technology, and overall operational streamlining INSTEAD of our brilliant, bludgeon-the-consumer-over-the-head-with-advertising-while-our-vehicle-standards-plummet approach, and that has lead – QUITE unfairly, I might add – to the Japanese earning profits that cannot be adequately mathematically described as a percentage of our own because OUR profits are a fucking NEGATIVE NUMBER.  Therefore, we are in dire god damn need of a huge fuck-off loan or at LEAST a nice governmental stock purchase like the Financial Industry got.  And exactly WHOSE dick got sucked to seal THAT deal?”  No no NO, the overture of choice was “Hey, give us tons of relatively oversight free cash or we swear to whatever god you care to name that we’ll go right into bankruptcy and take millions of American jobs with us.”

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