Our first priority in GM bankruptcy should be with families and workers (Rep. Dave Camp)

General Motors’ bankruptcy is one of the biggest events in the history of Michigan and this country. It is the largest ever Chapter 11 filing by a U.S. manufacturer, and will have far-reaching and long-lasting effects on our economy.

But as we talk about this event, our first priority should not be numbers or political ideology. This bankruptcy is about families and workers, the people it will affect the most.

GM’s bankruptcy will ripple through our economy, having an impact on not only the core company but a network of small businesses and manufacturers that supply and sell cars. The workers, retirees, and the Americans who invested their hard-earned dollars into these facilities and GM, are facing the loss of not only their jobs but everything they’ve worked and saved for.

The President has said he wants to get out of the auto business as fast as possible, and he should. The government should never run private companies or tell them how to run; where the President has tread is unprecedented and dangerous. We should leave the management of private industry to the private sector.