But now the Big Three are in trouble. Sales for all automakers have dropped dramatically, but for American automakers, who were dependent upon sales of light trucks and larger autos, sales have been dismal. The car companies are having meeting payroll and GM is saying that is might not make it through the year. Meanwhile, the Center for Automotive Research, funded by the automakers, was able to get its data to the New York Times on Monday, showing that if the Big Three were to shut down, 3 million jobs would be lost in the first year.

I can’t say whether or not these numbers are accurate, but I am sure that if the Big Three did shut down, it certainly wouldn’t be helping our dismal unemployment numbers. So, like with the financial industry bailout, we’re in a bind. I’m not sure whether the failure of the US automakers would be on the same scale as system-wide bank failures, but the political pressure to bail out the automakers is perhaps stronger than it was to bail out the financial system.

So, I’m disappointed and I’m upset. How to alleviate my personal pain? Strict emissions standards for automakers would be one place to start. Maybe we could make them reinstall the streetcar networks that were systematically destroyed by automakers in cities like Detroit. Actually, by retooling the automakers to manufacture light rail and trolley cars we might be doing them a favor. There’s going to be some big money in rail cars in the future.

Well, let’s wait and see what happens. I have bigger hopes for a stimulus package from the lame-duck Congressional session.