November 21, 2008

Congress is now dealing with more drivel from high-profile companies begging for money. Only this time, it isn’t the financial industry, but instead, the big three automakers – Chrystler, GM, and Ford. This is what happens when Congress decides to give away bailouts of biblical proportions; there is no doubt that more and more industries will continue begging relentlessly for money when the implosion of their companies is simply the result of botched handling of money and poor ideas.House Democrats, including Mrs. Bailout herself, Nancy Pelosi, have embraced giving $25 billion of the trillion-dollar financial industry bailout money to the big three in an attempt to keep their heads above water. The kicker is that this money was already headed their way as funding to help develop more fuel-efficient vehicles. This is the plan proposed by the White House, and Republican leaders are already opposing it. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama called the U.S. automobile industry a “dinosaur” whose demise was inevitable; this plan would simply slow the industry’s decay, and he’s absolutely right.Last year, after two decades of strident indolence, Congress finally passed a bill to increase the fuel efficiency of cars, SUVs and pickups, which sounded great at the time. However, not even Congress’ own slothful deliquescence could be eclipsed by the auto industry; the big three pleaded poormouth and are already asking for a waiver from the 2015 standard, which requires a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency. The standard doesn’t even take place for seven years, and Detroit automakers are already saying they can’t meet it.