More bailing out - but don't forget who is in charge of the country right now

I see that the Big 3 auto industry is on the verge of receiving a bailout. See Automaker Plan in Bush's Court. I'm not getting into the logistics of all of this, but merely point out two aspects of this that are troubling. First, although the "Big 3" auto players are in trouble, I fail to understand how their plight is such that they require government help when other auto manufacturers who also have plants in the US are not suffering. See generally The Becker-Posner Blog: Bail Out the Big Three Auto Producers? Not a Good Idea-Becker. Granted, they have a much bigger employment base, but still. How many dozens of businesses have went under or have declared bankruptcy and survived nonetheless.

Second, unlike the banking industry, the auto industry is a significantly more private enterprise. This sort of relates to the first point, but isn't the whole idea of the free market to have minimal government interference? Maybe with this bailout the government will be able to do something about the unions, or at least interfere to the same degree.

Hopefully the president shoots this down (or better, it fails to pass Congress) and the effect on the market is minimal.

Tags: auto bailout a bad idea