Fund the U.S.A., Buy a Chevrolet

So my wife asks me the other day: For 2009 in lieu of paying federal income taxes could we just buy a car from one of the not-so-big-three U.S. manufacturers in an amount of at least our tax liability? That would bypass the government bureaucratic middle-man and give our bailout money directly to the recipient. By cutting out the handling fee more of our money would go right to the people who need it the most.

Dinosaur Death Groans

The U.A.W. believes that the Big Three automakers are too big to be allowed to go out of business and are demanding a federal bailout for them. How generous. Does anyone buy this? The bailout is really for the U.A.W., not the Big Three. The U.A.W. is a dinosaur that needs to become extinct. Because of their contract terms the Big Three cannot make quality cars at prices that people can afford and compete with foreign manufacturers. The U.A.W. has priced itself out of the market. Its high salaries, gold-plated bennies and cushy retirements will be its undoing. American tax dollars should not be used to bail it out. Automakers should file for chapter 11 reorganization and jettison the heavy-handed union contracts. The U.A.W. has made its bed, now it must lie in it. It is not too big to be allowed to fail. You know, when the dinosaurs became extinct they became the oil that powers our cars. Hmmmm, if the U.A.W. becomes extinct the money put back into the auto manufacturing industry may just power the future of that industry. How poetic.