My friend, who I NEED to go visit, haven't seen in ages, Topher posted a comment on a recent entry in regards to a solution for Detroit. Many people are one way or another on this bailout mess and the situation Detroit is in. The op-ed contribution by Mitt Romney (yeah, that guy) "Let Detroit go Bankrupt" is the best piece I've seen on what to do yet. It's an honest to goodness GOOD solution. Some of the parts that really just hit the nail on the head;
The need for collaboration will mean accepting sanity in salaries and perks. At American Motors, my dad cut his pay and that of his executive team, he bought stock in the company, and he went out to factories to talk to workers directly. Get rid of the planes, the executive dining rooms — all the symbols that breed resentment among the hundreds of thousands who will also be sacrificing to keep the companies afloat.
The playing field has to be leveled some, and not under rules, legislation, and law of Government. That type of leveling is far worse than even the resentment workers can have for the rich elite of these companies.
Investments must be made for the future. No more focus on quarterly earnings or the kind of short-term stock appreciation that means quick riches for executives with options. Manage with an eye on cash flow, balance sheets and long-term appreciation. Invest in truly competitive products and innovative technologies — especially fuel-saving designs — that may not arrive for years. Starving research and development is like eating the seed corn.
PLEASE, get America innovating again! We've allowed the world to catch up, STOP playing at that level. We started the modern world and we can surpass and exceed what we've done better than anyone on the planet. America has this history, don't squander it in a failure after a measly almost hundred years.
In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.
...and this last statement just summed it up perfectly. If the Government is to play a role, it must be autonomous enough to not infringe on progress and actually allow progress to be made. Invest the money research, but also don't stop there. Get rid of the archaic regulations and limitations that cause Americans to be forced to build some of the most arcane and backwards automobiles in the world. Let us step up and get that web of strangling Government manhandling out of the way. Let's play for a win-win and not a win lose, we've been doing that since the 80s and it isn't working out so hot.