Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The U.S. automakers need a lifeline... but it's not clear at this point whether the Bush Administration is willing to throw them one.
So a lame duck session of Congress could be Detroit's best hope.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing for help for the battered auto industry. She says if the administration doesn't step in to help out the automakers, "it needs to be done one way or another."
Congress could convene as early as next week to sort this out– among other economic concerns–which could start a clash between the Democratic leaders of Congress and the President. It may not make the cash-strapped American public too happy either.
Watch: Cafferty: Aid to corporations?
A Gallup poll released yesterday found only 20% of adults say providing loans and other aid to automakers is "crucial" or "very important" to improving the economy. That's slightly less than the 21% who say it was "crucial" or "very important" to aid large financial institutions. Both figures are well below the 34% calling for a second stimulus plan where the money would go to individuals as opposed to corporations.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that only 20% of Americans consider aid to large corporations "crucial" or "very important?"
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Tony from Michigan writes:
Corporate greed, outsourcing of jobs, pay cuts, benefit reductions, golden parachutes. The list goes on and on. Jack, many of these large corporations are acting as if they are entitled to this money or else. We should not reward such poor performance.
Richard from McKinney, Texas writes:
It is simple really, Jack. Most people see anything that makes more money than they do as evil or bad. They don't think about those corporations providing jobs, insurance and benefits for others. Of course, now if it is their corporation going under then by all means, 'Bail me out Federal Government'. It all depends on where you are standing.
John from Santa Barbara, California writes:
Our industries must compete with companies that get assistance from their governments. That is why our corporations are getting clobbered. If our government assists our industries, we change the way we have been doing business. There is nothing in the Constitution that says what kind of economy we should have.
Veronica from California writes:
Jack, maybe we can give you back a question: What would happen if they filed for chapter 11? Would it give them time to re-organize and maybe give us products we need and want?
Susan from Canada writes:
I am surprised the number is so high. Where do the bailouts stop and how do you get in line for one? If we always do what we always did, we will always get what we always got. Maybe it’s time to sweep the executive offices and bring in new blood with new ideas. It was shameful to see AIG host a conference for 150 people that cost almost $350,000.
Simon from Syracuse, New York writes:
Could it be perhaps, Jack, that 80 percent of us drive Toyotas and shop at Wal-mart for cheap Chinese products? Just a theory I'm kicking around.