Critics of a bailout argue that the industry's problems are rooted in the inability to design vehicles that appeal to American consumers and that the automakers should restructure themselves in bankruptcy court. Thomaston resident Gene Barber is a bailout opponent. “I don’t think the government should do that. I think General Motors made a huge mistake years ago by just totally ignoring what should have been done. And I know it’s going to be a tremendous trickle-down effect if they’re not bailed out. But I don’t think the government should step in and do that.”  However, Barber is not opposed to a federal loan package with "strong" payback stipulations. “Whether feet are held closer to the fire, but just to bail them out I think that’s absolutely not in the best interest of America.”

 

Elliot Brandwine of Portland hasn't made up his mind yet. Brandwine says that, like other members of the public, he's confused about what the ramifications would be if the three major automakers should fail. “Will it create more poverty? Tremendous unemployment? Do we let an automaker like GM fail? I don’t know. My instinct is let the big, greedy companies who didn’t do things well for years and years; didn’t heed the signs. Let them fail. But there are too many implications. So, I don’t know.”

 

Meanwhile, the members of Maine's congressional delegation are expressing some of the same reservations, and First District Representative Tom Allen says that, at this point, the prospect for some sort of federal package to save the big three American automakers remains in doubt. “There’s opposition both within the administration and in the Senate. I really don’t know the feeling in the House yet. So, we’re still waiting to see what happens. I don’t think they’ll be a vote until Thursday. But, we’re waiting to see.” But the Maine Democrat points out that the option of allowing such large companies to fail and go into bankruptcy means that scores of creditors will go unpaid. “If you think about all the auto suppliers and auto parts manufacturers in the country and other people to whom General Motors may owe money, going into bankruptcy in the short term is probably not going to be that helpful to the economy as a whole.” Allen says on the one hand, money will be lost if there's not some relief for the auto industry, and on the other hand the automakers got themselves into trouble by bad decision making.

 

Second District Congressman Mike Michaud says other issues also need to be taken into account before a bailout is approved. They include the disadvantages American manufacturers face when competing with foreign automakers. “If you have an auto dealer in Germany and they’re to sell that automobile over here in the United States, that auto dealer gets reimbursed all the taxes that it pays in Germany. When we export an automobile to be sold overseas, they do not get reimbursed any taxes.”

 

Michaud points out that it's not only automakers but other manufacturers that also face value-added taxes when marketing abroad. The Second District Democrat says the U.S. has to put U.S. manufacturers on a level playing field before agreeing to bailout plans.

 

Willy Rich, a spokesman for incoming First District Democrat Chellie Pingree, says

Pingree wants to examine the details of specific legislation before staking out a position on the bailout issue. “She’s actually, as we speak, in Washington meeting with congressional leaders and I’m sure this will come up as a subject.”

 

Though they were unavailable for comment today, both of Maine's Republican Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have indicated that if bailout legislation is passed, it needs to provide accountability for how the funding is used.