Of course many of us knew this from the very beginning. Bankruptcies and business failures are the free markets way to protect itself from bad business practices. It's how the bad gets weeded out and the good continues to grow. Assets from bankrupt or failed companies don't disappear, they are absorbed by the marketplace into businesses that are being run on more sound principles. Pouring billions of dollars into failed companies that inevitably bankrupt themselves down the road is ludicrous and hurts the economy. Preventing bad businesses with bad practices to fail by supplying them with artificial infusions of taxpayer money is both ludicrous and harmful to the economy. Not to mention we just threw a ton of taxpayer money down the toilet.

Read a little of Walter Williams, Professor of Economics at George Mason University. Here is what he said almost a year ago:

http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/articles/08/LessonsFromTheBailout.htm
Source(s):
http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/

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No.
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I think that we will get all of our money back. I have not found reporters to be especially prescient when it come to money. This is an ideal time to restructure the American auto industry. The changes in energy efficiency, the trend toward smaller cars and different fuels make for exciting opportunities for new and younger managers. The rise in labor and transportation costs in Asia will make us more competitive. The tendency toward socialism in Latin America will hinder their progress. Looks good to me.
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No, you will not get your money back. The country is already in a deficit.
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Never. These companies lost money because they don't know how to run companies. More money won't solve the problem. Lets just burn the money.
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No, we the people will NOT get our billions back from the auto industry. The money was spent without any "strings," being attached, it was a deliberate attempt to evade and avoid legal process. There was no method of accounting, except the disbursements. This was one of the steps to waste and corruption that permeates throughout the U.S. government, and to the inevitable socialism of the USA!
Source(s):
Experience, history and "Downfall of Civilizations."

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We will get our "money" back, but it won't be worth much! ha ha! The Fed is just going to print more and more money to pay for our wars, bailouts, social security, Medicare and other entitlements. Our money is not backed by gold any more, it's a fiat currency, like all world currencies, so that is why this can be done. Throughout history, money has been debased time and time again. And you know the result when that happens, the inevitable collapse of that country. Money has supposedly two functions, a means to facilitate commerce, and as a store of value. The latter has been significantly compromised. Use this inflation calculator: and you will discover that the dollar has lost 96% of its value since 1913, the founding of the Federal Reserve. What cost $1.00 in 1913 would cost $21.52 in 2008. In contrast, using the same calculator, you will discover that what cost $1.00 in 1800 would cost $0.49 in 1900! The value of money actually increased! So educate yourself about money, and how money systems work! Think about how much money is in circulation right now. Think about how much our national debt is. These numbers are in the TRILLIONS of dollars. Where did this money come from. It was created out of thin air! This kind of money did not exist 100 years ago. Eventually, I'm afraid it will all collapse. I'm personally fond of the Austrian School of Economics. Maybe Mahalo can create a private money system that will retain the value of the Mahalo dollar. Do not peg its value to the American dollar!

duenhsiyen
Source(s):
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
http://mises.org/
http://www.moneyasdebt.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_currency

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It wasn't our money. It was the governments money they took from us. It stopped being our money as soon as we lost all control of it.

Will the government get their money back? of course!, but not from the auto industry. They will simply get more from us. If they did somehow magically get the money back from the auto industry it wouldn't reduce our taxes or inflation. They would find something to spend it on and continue on. I doubt we tax payer would feel any difference either way.
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