How bout dem bailouts

Remember when Presidents Bush and Obama passed much-maligned bailouts for the banking and auto industry? Those bailouts, unfortunate though they were, look pretty good in hindsight.

When President Bush bailed out the banks he ensured that those banks wouldn't collapse, and that they'd still be able to put a little bit of capital back in the market. Though many of those bankers didn't deserve the taxpayers' help, neither did the taxpayers deserve to further suffering had more banks failed. No matter how low President Bush's last opinion ratings were, my personal feelings towards him are probably even lower, but bailing out the banks was the right call.

Apparently, so was bailing out the auto industry. Check out the recent reports on Ford and GM. Like the bankers, the automotive bigwigs probably didn't deserve our money. But laying off more American workers and ceding the automotive field to foreign companies wasn't an attractive option either. Like his predecessor, President Obama deserves some credit for making a tough, unpopular, and good decision. As American auto companies rebound and grow they will provide jobs and money.

And when the time comes for me to buy a car, my first stops are going to be Ford and GM dealerships. Nothing like a quality American product.