The following is the text of a letter I sent to my US Senators and my Congressman. I encourage you to do the same.
Dear Senator,
I am not in favor of providing a bridge loan to nowhere for the Big Three automakers. Please do not approve a bailout as currently proposed by the Big Three.
If we are going to provide the Big Three with a loan, it should be with the understanding that the Big Three will agree to use the money to build the kind of cars our nation needs to break our dependence on foreign oil.
If you want an example of how we can do that quickly and relatively cheaply, please read this article.
http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi
I haven't read anything that gives me more hope for our future in a long time. I went to hear Shai Agassi speak at Harvard University on Thursday night. He has a brilliant plan for solving this current crisis.
With no long term sustainable plan from Detroit, a bailout of $34 billion will be good money after bad and Detroit will be back asking the taxpayers for more before the end of 2009.
With a long term and sustainable plan like Shai Agassi's we can once again be proud of our nation and our auto industry.
Thank you,
Mark Sandeen
1 comment:
I think maybe the big 3 should go bankrupt. It's not so bad. There'll be mergers & so forth, not an outright collapse. The kicker with a bailout is the competitive blow to the NEXT company down the line that wasn't quite so inefficient as to require rescue. Seemingly they (Toyota? Kia?) don't deserve to find themselves at a disadvantage in recompense (should I say punishment instead) for their competence.
All forms of bailout have similar inflationary consequences as lowering the fed rate don't they? If we are willing to ramp up the debt to amp up the economy, why not instead cut taxes to zero for a year? Helps everybody, and let the people decide which car company should go broke. Regarding sustainable and eco-cars, remember that subsidies hide real costs. A Prius costs a lot because a battery has a large environmental & hence economic footprint. Saw you on twitter, but I think I'm NOT gonna be that "hip" after all, sry. -mark
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