Aside from the "Big Three" automakers arriving for their panhandling expedition aboard multi-million dollar private jets, what does the whole nasty picture we saw yesterday amount too?  They all claim that bankruptcy is not an option (expect for Ford that says they have looked into it but didn't like what they saw.)

The Big Three are asking for $25 Billion in loans to "hold them over".  By their own admission they  just require capital to maintain the status quo.  The UAW has already swore no wage or benefit concessions.  So let's do some math.

$25,000,000,000 dollars divided by 250,000 employees = $100,000 dollars per UAW job.

If we take into consideration that there are 750,000 people employed in the manufacture of parts for the Big Three:

$25,000,000,000 dollars divided by 1,000,000 employees = $25,000 dollars per job.

Now the other claim is that there are 1,000,000 people employed by auto dealerships nation wide bringing the total number of potential job losses to 2,000,000.

$25,000,000,000 dollars divided by 2,000,000 employees = $12,500 dollars per job.

When you look at that low cost it seems like a bargain!  All you have to do to keep 2,000,000 jobs is find 2,000,000 other people with some means and steal a paltry $12,500 from them! They will hardly even miss it! What can $12,500 buy these days anyway? Definitely not a product produced by The Big Three.

All joking aside (as if I was joking) even with the massive $25 Billion dollar package, there is no promise of maintaining the jobs at stake.  This is a band aid.  The Big Three are burning through cash at alarming rates.  They have out outmoded business models and products that have as much as $2,500 dollars more overhead built into them.   Our auto business is not dying, only the old, slow to adapt dinosaurs of Detroit are facing extinction.   Hundia, BMW, Mercedes, Mitsubishi are all making cars in the USA and not experiencing the same kind of massive poundings that the over sized and poorly managed Detroit automakers are.  Why is that?  Partly it is the fact that all these "foreign" automakers are not burdened with old inefficient plants and legacy debt burdens from past mistakes. But primarily is the UAW, Union of Auto Workers.

There are non-union, right to work states that are providing great automotive assembly jobs.  Jobs that provide more than just a living wage, and also provide great benefits.  I read that the employment burden difference between union and non-union shops is massive.  UAW employees cost, on average, $73 per hour, while non-union shops cost on average only $40 per hour.

Compound lower costs basis with cars that are generally more appealing and you have either a recipe for disaster or success, depending upon your point of view.

Is the automotive industry important? Yes it is.  According to Fox News, one in ten jobs are directly or indirectly tied to the automotive industry.  Is Detroit the only automotive industry our country has? Nope.  We have the world's largest automotive assembly plant in Alabama, and many southern States have thriving auto industries.  Should we let Detroit's Big Three fail? Yep, the time has come to let the market run its course.  The Big Three will emerge from bankruptcy unencumbered with the yoke of the Unions and of their own foolish past mistakes.  If they seize this massive opportunity they can become the innovators once again and regain their dominance, if they only try to hold on to the past they will repeat the cycle of failure while new, efficient, innovative companies emerge to take the throne.