The question is not will they get the cash. The question
has become: how much will they get?
After all the whining and attacking of executives for flying
into Capital Hill on corporate jets, those same executives are
driving into Washington in fuel efficient cars to ask for more
money than was originally proposed. Perhaps they learned from
the Treasury Secretary: if you ask for it in a financial crisis,
you will get it.
The United States Congress continues to show their unbelievable
weakness when it comes to dealing with a financial crisis.
This should have been obvious in watching the presidential
election. Neither candidate had a handle on what to do about
the economy. We cannot expect anything more from Congress,
who has not even pressured the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission to reinstate much needed regulations.
Executives from GM, Ford and Chrysler originally went to
Congress without a plan. Now, they've organized and are
asking for 34 billion dollars on top of 11 billion dollars for fuel
efficient subsidies. And it's almost as if the government is
excited about this. President-elect Obama is considering
putting up a "car czar" position where the government ends up with
leverage and control over the carmakers. Maybe they can run
it like the DMV.
When it's all said and done, during a panic you can count on
rationality going out the window. America is like a victim of
a shooting and the doctors, instead of taking the bullet out are
just flailing around trying to stop the bleeding.