You know, I am a huge believer of Michigan and the Metro Detroit region and have faith in its revival. I am the one who you will find arguing with others when they talk “doom and gloom about Detroit” because I believe that “Detroit is down, but not out and will prosper again soon”.

Yet today, I feel a bit pessimistic. With Kirk Kerkorian selling more than $7M of his Ford shares and with the prediction that a GM/Chrysler merger may result in another 30K to 40K job losses, many of those in Michigan, it’s natural (don’t you think?) that I feel pessimistic!

But pessimism leads to nothing so I want to present an argument for why the Big Three needs a bailout like the banking institutions got one from Congress.

I hear time and time again that the Big Three have dug their own graves. Ok, I agree that there’s a lot of truth to that! People also say that the government has no obligation to bail the Big Three out. Ok! Purely from a taxpayer perspective, I sort of agree with that sentiment too.

But, wait a minute, I’m not just a taxpayer!

I am a Michiganian. I am a “everything I learned, I learned at Big Three” veteran. I have lived in Michigan for all of the 23 years that I’ve lived in the US and have worked at one of the Big Three for almost 19 of those 23 years.

My family is a “Big Three” family, meaning, not just myself, but most of my family has worked at one of the Big Three. And of course many of our friends currently work at one of the Big Three. So given the fact that day in and day out what happens in and with the Big Three will impact someone I love or care for, how can I just be a taxpayer with a selfish viewpoint of saving my taxpayer money?

Remember, what Henry Ford did when America was suffering from the Great Depression? He offered at least $5 per day to his workers back when $5 was a lot of money! His motives were questionned by many but regardless of whether he had ulterior motives for such a move, Henry Ford helped revive the US economy with his bold move.

Now Michigan and Ford along with the other domestic automakers perhaps needs the help of our government. The same help that we so freely offer countries that don’t deserve our help. With the government’s help, the Big Three can perhaps survive and survival means jobs and growth of not just the local Michigan economy but that of the entire US.

Additional help in the form of tax breaks, incentives to keep jobs locally, and education and training programs to retool the workforce (not just the factories) are all creative forms of help that the government can offer and which can only create a fantastic Return on Investment (ROI) for them.

The alternative is staggering and horrific. That’s because if even one of the Big Three were to shutdown, imagine the impact to our country! Job losses, idle factories, & downstream impact to suppliers who supply to the Big Three are just a few consequences of just one of the Big Three shutting down!

In my opinion, if the government can bail out the banking institutions who were not just greedy but deserve to be thrown in jail forever for unethical practices, why shouldn’t it bail out the Big Three?

After all, we all agree that the Big Three automakers are guilty mostly of “short-sightedness” and “some stupidity” because for the past 10 years, instead of spending time on making more fuel efficient vehicles or ones that run on alternative fuels, they sat fat and happy on SUV sales.

P.S. It is a controversial viewpoint, but, it is my opinion!