Feds consider bailout for "Big 3"

The past few months have been interesting for our economy with the record fall of the stock market, and then an unheard of 700 billion dollar bailout. Whether you agree with the bailout or not, its what the government decided. The feds are now debating whether to loan 25 billion dollars to GM, Chrysler, and Ford to allow them to survive until 2010. This bailout is seen as an alternative to bankruptcy for these three major auto makers. If the bailout were to not happen, and they filed for bankruptcy, it would be one of two types.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to continue business as usual as it pays off debt and liquidates assets it can't afford.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy means that the business will be closing quickly and all of its assets are sold to cover their debt.

If Chapter 7 bankruptcy were filed, more then a million jobs would be at stake. The idea of a bailout stems from the current credit crunch which is vastly limiting the amount of money that these companies can borrow. After the 700 billion dollars thrown at wall street, 25 billion seems minuscule. Which is horrifying considering all of the things you could do with just ONE billion dollars-

One billion dollars is equal to-

• The total amount of taxes collected from you and 103,424 of your closest friends.
  
• Buying the entire global black market of illegal firearms trade.
• The cost of fighting 48 hours of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  
• The winnings of every Powerball lottery from 2007 combined.
• The annual income of you and 25,856 of your buddies.
• A fifty year supply of Big Macs.
  

Info from http://www.wallstats.com/blog/visualizing-one-billion-dollars/

Now if this information scares you, multiply your fear by 25. While I know the devastating effect that the loss of all those jobs would have on the economy, there must be a better way then giving money to these companies to cover the debt that they created. Chapter 11 bankruptcy would'nt be ideal, but it would force these companies to stop doing things they can't afford and possibly return them to profitability. Eventually this will all get figured out, but in the mean time it looks like the federal government will be looking to the taxpayers for help.