Key Vote “No” Big 3 Bailout

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to VOTE “NO” on the Big 3 Bailout.  The bill claims it will “create jobs, prevent large tax increases and cuts in state services, strengthen our nation’s manufacturing sector, and assist those struggling to find a job.”  However, by artificially propping up an outdated business model, the bill creates further hardship down the road and prevents these companies from making the hard, but much needed reorganization required to remain competitive.

The automobile manufacturers who would benefit from this legislation already received $25 billion in loans in a recent continuing resolution to allow them to build greener, energy efficient cars and trucks.  In addition, executives at these companies say that they will need future injections of $15 billion in the coming years.

Rather than additional market interventions and more mandates on how these companies operate, Congress should let the Big 3 go down the necessary path of bankruptcy.  This legal process would allow these corporations to reorganize and come out from under the crippling mandates of unions and their dealerships and emerge as streamlined, efficient entities.

This legislation does nothing to address the fundamental problems that brought these companies to the brink of financial crisis.  Recent problems have far less to do with the current economy than with long term mismanagement that ignored market trends and resulted in falling consumer ratings, inflated wages, and benefits far above industry averages.

Congress should not be choosing winners and losers, or robbing Alabama to pay Michigan.

We will count your vote on the Big 3 Bailout as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard for 2008. The FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.