The difference is, what will GM do with our money? This money does not exist! If it’s taxpayer money, give me the chance to invest where I think it makes more sense. To throw it at the Big 3 would be to throw it out the window, $100,000 per second.

“If GM were to discontinue operations, the cost to local, state, and federal governments could reach $156.4 billion over three years in lost taxes, and unemployment and health care assistance.”

Newsflash: GM will discontinue opertations no matter how much we throw at them. We will need to adapt, cut government spending, and get used to living within our means. Might as well start now.

“The main argument that people bring up for not helping the auto industry is that in a purely free market governments should not stick their fingers in any company due to the moral hazard of not allowing certain companies to be punished.”

That’s NOT the main argument. The main argument is that the Big 3 have made poor decisions over the years and cannot effectively run a business. They are bloated, weighed down with debt, have unrealistic and uncompetitive UAW wages and pensions to contend with, and are too big to adjust to changes in the market. They’ve been living in a dream world and it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. They need to be smaller and smarter, and/or 1 or 2 of them need to go away. They need a controlled bankruptcy to shed the shackles of organized labor.

But in general, the people of Detroit need to understand that just because a standard of living was enjoyed during the glory days, doesn’t mean it will last forever and doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee. The rest of us (and those like me who worked for the auto industry and left Detroit because we saw the writing on the wall) should not be forced to pay for this unrealistic standard of living while we struggle to get by.

Bottom line Detroit: You are no longer the center of the universe. You are not needed. We are willing to see the Big 3 go under and willing to suffer the effects of it. We have more confidence that things will work out better with you gone than if we give you more money to waste on cars we don’t want to buy.

This is a very misleading and inaccurate statement. Tesla applied for $400 million of loans under the initial $25 billion loan guarantee program. They were not begging. They were taking advantage of low cost loan guarantees specifically to support the development of advanced vehicle technologies. Since they are in the business of producing only zero-emissions cars utilizing pure electric drivetrains they would have been stupid to not take advantage of this.