North vs. South

The debate over whether or not to bail out the Big Three is creating a divide between the North and the South:

Should taxpayers in Alabama be required to bail out automakers whose plants are concentrated in Northern states like Michigan and Ohio?

… Sen. Jeff Sessions, R- Ala., told reporters Wednesday, “I can not imagine a real justification for a worker in Alabama who does not have any health insurance at his company to be taxed to maintain a Cadillac health care plan for somebody in Detroit.”

Seems like a fair question, I suppose. But one might ask a similar question when it comes to federal aid to disaster-prone areas in the South:  Should homeowners in the North be taxed to rebuild homes in the South that are in areas known to suffer from periodic major natural disasters, like hurricanes, tornadoes or massive flooding?

As someone who leaves in a disaster-prone area of the country that’s received federal aid in the past after major natural disasters, I certainly appreciate the assistance of the federal government to areas devastated and unable to cope with the huge financial toll of such a disaster. I certainly think we as a country have some duty to assist our fellow Americans who may be facing a monumental financial disaster resulting from the impending major collapse of one or more major manufacturing companies that have historically been a bedrock of the U.S. economy.

Do I think there should be a bailout of the Big Three? Not in the manner in which they want it — with few strings attached and without a major restructuring of their companies. I don’t know what the best answer is. I’m more inclined to favor a bailout package that protects the workers and let’s the companies face the consequences of their extremely poor management over the last couple of decades.

In any case, this debate has created some interesting arguments, bedfellows and dividing lines. But, rather than diligently working on some sort of solution, Congress once again defers it to another day, leaving the problem for the next Congress and the next administration to deal with. Hopefully it won’t be too late in this fragile economic climate to come up with some sort of fix before it creates an even greater problem in the larger economy.