From the Wall Street Journal….

The Bush administration’s plan to provide up to $17.4 billion in loans to GM and Chrysler will keep the two companies in business but pushes the problem on to President-elect Barack Obama and the next Congress, Mr. Jackson said.

“This is a punt. The congress punted to the president and the president punted it to Obama. But at least we got something. Without it [a bailout], it’s lights out for these companies.”

The difficulty of getting auto loans is a big reason auto sales have fallen so dramatically in the last two months and pushed GM and Chrysler into such deep financial holes, Mr. Jackson said. Many dealers around the country confirmed they are losing sales because even consumers with good credit aren’t being approved for loans.

As I have said before; if the consumers have money, the automotive industry will survive even if the Big Three go bankrupt. But the flip side of this is also true. If consumers don’t have the money to buy cars, it does not matter how much money is spent bailing out the Big Three.