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I received an interesting survey phone call this morning and since it peaked my interest, I took the entire survey. It was about the troubles in the automotive industry and where the blame lies.

Up front, I want to disclose my job background. Prior to my current career, I worked for Chrysler for about 18 years. Leaving automotive 8 years ago was difficult for me, I left because of personal reasons. I loved my job, loved the industry and loved the people around me. I still keep in touch with many of my friends and it breaks my heart to see how worried they currently are. Retirement savings are at stake, homes, families ... you get the picture.

Back to the survey.

The purpose of this particular survey was to identify where Americans put the blame for the problems the Auto industry is currently experiencing. One in every 10 Americans make a living from the Auto industry, so the problem is far-reaching outside of the Detroit area. To sum up the survey in one question:

Where do you put the primary blame for the Auto industries woes:

1. Management
2. Government
3. UAW

What is your age group and political affiliation? Are you female or male?

How can one entity take the blame for this disaster? Impossible. Option 4 on this survey should have been "The Perfect Storm" - a combination of economic, international and political issues spun together at precisely the right moment to cause the most intense upheaval.

The bottomline question that needs to be answered is should the government help bailout GM and the automotive companies in general? Is GM about to declare bankruptcy? A GM bankruptcy could create a cascading set of bankruptcies among OEM part suppliers, other auto makers and suppliers. That's because a bankrupt company could take months, if ever, to pay its pre-bankruptcy bills. Such delays would put stress on suppliers that already run on thin working capital and that feed just a few end auto makers.

What is your opinion - should the government help? If the government does help can it cause far reaching problems in other areas? Can they afford to do this? Can they afford to not do it?

The only thing that can be said for sure is the underlying goal should be to help Americans get through this crisis and come out of it with a stronger economy. Repeat... stronger economy.

Labels: automotive bailout