Rick, etal.

While I can understand all the angst about the dealers and their investments, isn't all of that what bankruptcy is about?

When I started to work in the oil field in 1981, there were 4400 rigs running in the US. By 1983 there were less than 2/3 that number and some 475,000 people had lost their jobs; just in the energy sector (drilling, production, service). No drilling czar, no bills in Congress to help the displaced workers, no efforts to help guys who lost their businesses from investments that no single car dealer has ever pushed up on the table. It all just evaportated.

Those of us fortunate (or unfortunate) to have jobs were left to work 100 hour weeks with little time off and not very good working conditions so the companies we worked for could compete and survive the downturn. Maybe the destruction of the industry was fairer since it basically took everyone down, but in the end nothing stopped the massive bankruptcies and bank failings due to the oversupply of product, equipment and services.

While I am no less concerned about the plight of the car dealers, they are but a single entity in what is sure to be a pretty massive meltdown all across the board. Right now there is 2.5 times more service equipment in the US for energy than is needed. This time last year people were screaming for more production to offset the high prices. This year no one gives a rat's ass.

What's the difference between the auto industry failures and energy? The US energy companies have managed to decrease the cost of producing natural gas and increased the supply to their own detriment. While they don't set the price of their product they certainly have to live within the market forces.

Auto makers made a deal with the devil in all their union and legacy costs. They had a chance to level the playing field with bankruptcy and they couldn't even get that right. It's truly like wiping your ass with a wagon wheel; same crap just keeps coming round and it's never going to get clean.