The automakers DID make this mess, I'm sorry to say. First they deliberately set out to buy the street car lines and other efficient public transportation modes during the 1940s to make us car-dependent - that part of Who Framed Roger Rabbit was not a made up story, just like the water rights issue in Chinatown was not fiction. Then they dragged their heels on making fuel efficient cars. Then they decided to push pickup trucks and SUVs like they were meant for cities and they're obviously not...instead of investing in hybrids and other more fuel-efficient models. In essence, they created a car-dependent society...so, in my view, they don't deserve to be bailed out.