Death of the Free Market

I start with a disclaimer. I've disliked American cars since the mid-70s. That's when they gave me a speedometer that only went to 85 even though the car would go much faster than that on the autobahns of Germany. I never knew how fast I was going. Any my catalytic converter was unsuitable for leaded gas in Europe, and I had to have the constrictor removed from the fuel filler so I could put the pump nozzle into the tank. The real issue was the lack of quality and dependability. They simply sucked.

I gave them one more chance in 1983 with an S-10 Blazer. It sucked as well. So, I bought cars from non-Big-Three automakers. They ran well, performed incredibly, never left me stranded and I loved them. Now those companies prevail in the market and most of them are (drum roll please!) MADE IN THE USA.

That's why I've got no sympathy for Detroit. They knelt in obeisance to the unions and paid outrageous wages to unskilled workers. The product reflects the lack of commitment of the protected union member and the bloated edifice of the corporate headquarters of the Big Three demonstrates the lack of concern for any sort of economies on behalf of management. The choice of consumers in the marketplace speaks for itself.

Read what Krauthammer says about the proposed bailout:

Unintended or Intended Consequences

The New Speak of American Politics keeps referring to it as a "bailout of the US auto industry" but that isn't it at all. The US auto industry is a lot more than the Big Three. Many other marques have factories, buy commodities and employ hundreds of thousands of US workers. It is a bailout of the supporters of the left. It is a bailout of unions and their heavy-handed coercive labor policies. It is a reward for the corrupt state and local politics of states in drastic decline of socialist governments like Michigan. And, it is an unconstitutional interference in the free market competition of auto makers.

It should not happen.