Bailouts

I go back and forth on the need for an auto bailout. I'm not a big fan of lending billions to an industry that has basically run themselves into the ground. Is lending money to an industry that has already proven it is so good at managing money a good idea? On the other hand there is a lot of truth to what Krugman says.

If the economy as a whole were in reasonably good shape and
the credit markets were functioning, Chapter 11 would be the way to go. Under
current circumstances, however, a default by GM would probably mean loss of
ability to pay suppliers, which would mean liquidation — and that, in turn,
would mean wiping out probably well over a million jobs at the worst possible
moment.

I would probably be a lot more pro-bailout if somebody could promise me that something like this wouldn't happen again.

In the six weeks since lawmakers approved the
Treasury's massive bailout of financial firms, the government has poured money
into the country's largest banks, recruited smaller banks into the program and
repeatedly widened its scope to cover yet other types of businesses, from
insurers to consumer lenders.

Along the way, the Bush administration has committed
$290 billion of the $700 billion rescue package.

Yet for all this activity, no formal action has been
taken to fill the independent oversight posts established by Congress when it
approved the bailout to prevent corruption and government waste. Nor has the
first monitoring report required by lawmakers been completed, though the initial
deadline has passed.