The solution is simple - Simply let the US government purchase GM. At present stock prices, the total price would be a fraction of the cost of "bailing out" GM. Then, the government can build whatever sort of cars that are poliitically correct. 50 mpg CAFE  standards ? No problem !  They can even make all the cars they build run on alternative fuel, as soon as somebody figures out what that is.

Why aren't the oil companies stepping in to help out the big 3?  They have been reaping in the profits for years.

Also, GM paid all of it's employess an AVERAGE of $71/hr.  It's still too much, especially since foreign auto makers (i.e. Toyota) are paying less.  Why do the US companies have to pay so much?  Blame it on the unions.

My 2¢ worth.

Apparently, a lot of you don't care to understand the facts.

It appears that the $71 per hour price for a worker includes fringes that must be paid by the manufacturer/employer - and is not the hourly wage that goes directly to the employee in the form of cash.

Ask your employer how much you actually cost them per hour.  If it is the same as your hourly wage, then I am wrong.  If it is higher, then it might be beneficial to look at facts before venting.

By the way, there is always someone who is making more or getting more than us no matter how much we make.  It's unfortunate that most bloggers seem to be trying to drag others down to their level instead of trying to get themselves up to the next level.

Thre are many misconcetions in the comments.  The auto makers made large cars because we Amercans wanted their great big SUV's.. Toyoto also made large SUV's and big trucks...

Ford and GM both make very fuel (Ford has a clean diesel car 46 MPG) efficient cars that sell in Europe but cannot sell here because of the gov't crash test amid other auto regs that hamper them. Ford and GM build the only cars that can run soley on ethanol, which is  Brazil's market- because they have 100 ethanol form sugar cane.

The biggest misconception is Japanese quality....I have owned many GM cars and their quality is equal to or superior than many of Japanese cars....Poor quality argument has changed, Americans have not accepted "made in America". Ford has several cars in top 10 J.D Powers satifaction list.

Yes it is the legacy costs to build the Big 3 cars that has hurt and it is tied to increasing health care costs, which is another problem.

Also japanese and Europe automakers are also have difficult times; we don't hear about them because they are Japan, Germany's issues, not ours.

Get rid of all the INSANE REBATES AND INCENTIVES. Build a better vehicle and LOWER THE STICKER PRICE. PERIOD. We need to get rid of the REBATES because, as a DEALER NOT EVEN WE KNOW WHAT THEY ARE SOMETIMES. The FACTORY LEAVES US IN THE DARK, so how can we effectively price it right to the CLIENT. Get rid of all the GUESS WORK. BRING BACK CONSUMER CONFIDENCE. If the rebates were gone it would not matter when a customer decided to buy because they would not worry about who much they paid for it.

no one in the big three automakers union forces are making $71 dollars an hour for monday thru friday work....companies like to say that....the $71 has to be cost of pension+healthcare+wages....NOT ON A WEEKLY PAYCHECK....$20 an hour pay+healthcare+pension would be about $60 an hour to the companies as they like to tell it......the company I work for says it costs $75 to write a manual check out....sounds crazy....don't believe everything you read....companies like to get you to believe the bluecollar workers are the problem....I didn't get any million dollar bonus...did you ???????

Instead of trying to buy another poorly run company (Chrylser)...or trying

to get a bailout from US taxpayers...GM management should be actively

trying to get the most value possible for shareholders...at $3.00 per share

Toyota could probably buy the whole thing and show them how to run a

car company.  Sell it to Toyota.

declare a Jubilee year and set all the clocks back to zero, everyone keeps what they have and no debt, then sit down and work out equitable wages that are prudent and will result in prosperity for all.

Dont' be fooled by that $71.00 per hr.   I would surmise that is a total cost including payroll, admin, training vacation and pension etc.    I would like to see a breakdown  of how they arrive at 71.00 per hr.  I was a new hire for several months this past summer at 14.21 per hr and know for a fact that the non-skilled hourly workers that were hired before this summer are between 21.00 and 29.00 per hr.  Their benefits have been cut with each new contract. i.e. they are only allowed 5 doctor visits per year per family after which it is on the employee to pay the full amount, so don't get a wrong impression The average factory worker is not taking home the big bucks.  GM and others definitely put themselves  in a hole and should come up with a cost cutting plan to submit to Washington.    I do feel that if our auto industry goes down, the ripple effects will really hurt this country.    

As a steelworker who when thur closures I can assure the autoworkers their will be life after GM.