Bailout Sellout

Congressional Republicans are mostly right about this one: there are not enough reforms written into the Big Three bailout bills offered up so far. Real innovation is needed, and so far, it's all bass ackwards. Demand the changes first, then issue loans with plenty of strings attached.

The car companies should not be allowed to continue lobbying in Washington AT ALL. End lobbying for any business seeking either a bailout or bankruptcy protection. It is the strong lobbying efforts of the Big Three and the United Auto Workers union that have lead to much of this trouble (thus making Congress itself a part of the problem for being suckers to -- and sucking up to -- the lobbyists for decades).

The car companies should not be allowed to make certain wasteful, poorly designed private vehicles at all. Start with the Hummer and other cars that get less than 15 mpg , real symbols of America's decline. Cut these immediately. End production by December 31st. And starting in two years, add just about any car that gets less than 25 mpg to the hit list. Produce no more sub 25 mpg cars after 12-31-10. Don't just hope that CAFE standards are met by fleets overall. Specifically outlaw gas guzzlers, including gargantuan RVs. We can't dig ourselves out of this mess by continuing to drive dinosaurs.

And the car makers in dire straits should applaud the implementation of higher gas taxes, to keep the price of gasoline near half the current minimum wage per gallon (which would currently be about $3.50/gallon). If cigarettes can be taxed at dollars per pack, certainly we can tax gasoline at a dollar a gallon. The additional federal revenue would be used to clean up this mess.