Bailout spending

One of the questions we asked readers last week was whether the federal government ought to bail out the auto industry. Excerpts of the responses:

Enough with the subsidies and bailouts. Heaven forbid we actually expect a company or industry to be profitable (or even self-sustaining) these days. Whatever happened to free enterprise and competition (with only the best of the bunch surviving)? Why are we paying farmers not to plant crops, bailing out banks and Wall Street, etc.? Now we're going to pump more money into a dying auto industry? The auto industry had decades to get its act together.

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Our elected officials need to get a spine and put an end to this deficit bailout spending. How are we and our children supposed to manage our lives with such an enormous cloud of debt hanging over our heads? Enough is enough. These companies need to be held accountable for the poor decisions they made. Period. No more bailouts.

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All these big business giants fight tooth and nail against any type of regulation, then when the hard times hit we are expected to bail them out. Why? Failure can be a wonderful lesson.

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I am a realtor and my company is broke. When do I get my bailout? I just need a half million or so. I can buy an office, hire a few employees and get the local economy humming. I might even buy a Chevy or a Ford, but I doubt it. I drive a Toyota and it will run forever.

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If government money can be used to help the big three raise their average fuel economy standards to about 40 mpg in less than five years, it would be money well invested. We should not bail out the big three so they just can continue to put monstrous gas-guzzling SUVs on the road .