Henry Ford, inventor of the automobile assembly line, founder of what is today the Ford Motor Company, said the following; "You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.". In other words, results are what makes or breaks success. Henry ford is no longer with us, and it seems today that the ideals he brought to the manufacture and sales of cars has been lost with him. You can't succeed on a notion or an idea. You can't succeed by saying you will build hybrids and green cars, you have to have to build them and then be able to sell them. And if there's one thing manufacturers learn very quickly, it's that you can't sell what people don't want, no matter how you market it. People like lots of room in thier cars, they like to be able to carry more than three people comfortably in a big strong car that will survive a crash and can handle lots of luggage or groceries or camping equipment. They want big, powerful cars and trucks for thier businesses. And they like to get them at a reasonable price. For a brief time, when gas was over four dollars a gallon, sales of hybrid vehicles were on the rise and orders for them were big. But now sales of cars such as the Toyota Prius are way down from what they were six months ago. So, what has replaced those sales of the hybrid? Big flashy gas guzzling cars. It's what a lot of people want. There's still a niche market for the more expensive Hybrids but sales show they simply are not popular and not desirable unless gas prices force people to make that decision. With gas prices dropping every day, the market forces have returned to pre gasoline price shock consumption. If the federal government forces GM, Ford and Chrysler to change thier focus to the diminutive hybrids and green cars, sales will hit the bottom of the barrel for these companies faster than Barak Obama can say "change you can count on". If you worked in a private business ( and of course a lot of people do..), would you be embarrassed to take a gift of tax money to support your paycheck? I would. I would be embarrassed and ashamed and would never get up and demand that my neighbors pay my salary because I'm suffering, or because they "need" my services. When I hear the GM executives begging, it's embarrassing.  It's an embarrassment on a national scale that we have leaders of industry groveling before a bunch of self serving liberal socialists in congress. These men have no sense of honor, no sense of pride in themselves or the ingenuity that makes the country great. It is a comic tragedy when one of the most innovative industries our country has ever given rise to can not put their own brain trust into action to save themselves from themselves. These CEO's do not deserve to have the jobs they hold, and may God forbid that the youth of our nation look at these leaders of disaster as an example of anything worth becoming.  And when a union leader... or worse.. a typical UAW worker at GM or Ford or Chrysler whines to the media about how they're hurting financially and want the bailout to happen, it sickens me that they would want to play on the sympathies of others , play the violin and expect us all to cry for them, instead of getting themselves out and pulling double duty, extra jobs, whatever it takes to make the bill payments and , call me hard hearted if you want but no tax dollars should go to prop up the benefits and pensions that GM is on the verge of defaulting on. I don't paint them all with a sweeping brushstroke, but it's a sad commentary when an able-bodied person will become a beggar if they think they'll get tax money out of it. There are, of course, people who are genuinely disabled and can not fend for themselves, and we should always be ready to care for those people. But we are not a nation of sob stories, we're a nation of successes built on individual courage and the determination to make it happen. To see our government foster those who would be bums and beggars with promises of spare change in the form of bailouts is just disheartening. I support neither the auto executives nor the Autoworker's Union if that "support" is by way of tax money forcibly taken from me ... and given to them. But that's Obamaism in action. Taking money from those who produce and succeed and giving it to those who don't. If I want to support the auto industry then I will "support" them by purchasing the products they make if they make something I want. It's the government's constitutional duty to provide for the common defense, but it's not the government's duty to provide for failing domestic auto companies and don't bother trying to tell me that Ford, GM and Chrysler are a key part of our national security, you won't be able to sell that bridge here.
 
- Mike Silverman