The topic of the bailout that the auto industry has asked for from

Congress is a point of contention across the country. No where is it as

relevant as the state of Michigan, where many of us may either work

for, have parents who work for, or friends or family who work for one

of the Big Three automakers in the Detroit area.

While employees

here at The Oakland Post may not be thoroughly educated on the numbers

game, the has matter sparked discussion within the office.

Colleen Miller

Copy Editor

Why

keep giving a failing industry with a bad business plan a crutch?

Newspapers are going down too but sites like Politico.com and

Bloomberg.com are finding new business plans. Companies that can adapt

are the ones that should survive. What’s going to happen if we bail out

every failing industry and they keep operating under the same faulty

system and then the times change again? I don’t see media giants

Gannett and Clear Channel asking for handouts and they are laying

people off all over.

Paul Gully

Special Projects Editor

If

any of the Big Three go under, there’s a good chance that they may not

be able to recover. Jobs are going to be lost. A lot of them. And the

less people there are with jobs, the harder it may be to for people to

attend college. Oakland University President Gary Russi touched on this

last week at the OU Senate meeting. This could work out one of two ways

for OU. Either enrollment could decline, which would mean that the

university would be making less money (unless there was a tuition

hike), or, because OU is more affordable than other schools, its

enrollment number may remain stable (which I think is unlikely).

Steve St. Germain

Assistant Ads Manager

My

dad works for an auto supplier called TRW, they make seatbelts and

airbags for the Big Three and a few other companies but my dad, who has

been with the company for over 15 years, may be let go. I think a lot

of students and their families are facing the same thing, their

families’ futures are in jeopardy. These auto companies are just about

all Michigan has left, and if we are not careful we may end up ruining

our reputation like the city of Detroit has.

Tom Murphy Jr.

Senior Reporter

My

father took the buyout a couple months ago from Chrysler. It was a very

tough decision for him because he wasn’t ready to retire. But with all

the turmoil and negative projections for the future, he decided it was

the best option. It looks like he was right because things went from

bad to worse during that time. It’s scary to think about what could

happen to this state if the Big Three fold. [Thousands] of jobs will be

lost, the unemployment rate will be dramatically high. In a state that

already has way too many people out of work, what will happen? It’s

dangerous to bail out companies and set precedents for more government

control, but the truth is, if this bailout doesn’t go through, it’s

impossible to judge how bad things are going to get. But it will be

very bad.

Kathleen Quandt

Staff Intern

There are

businesses that surround the auto industry that could be affected by

the bailout that need to be considered. Not only are there businesses

that physically surround the factories that are supported by the

workers’ business but other businesses and companies that are related

to the auto industry and that are involved in the production of cars.

Financial trouble for the auto industry can mean financial trouble for

many other related businesses.

Nick Degel

Managing Editor

With

the arrogance exhibited by the Big Three CEOs, it is very hard for me

to side with them. But the truth is this really isn’t about three

billionaires, it is about the jobs of thousands in Michigan. It is

about an already troubled economy that could very well be in critical

condition should the automakers fold. In a perfect world, the Big Three

would come back to the table with a revised business plan that makes

Congress happy.