Detroit Baillout Goes Through
September 27, 2008
What a disaster (via AutoNews):
WASHINGTON – In a rare Saturday session, Congress gave final approval to funding that will launch a $25 billion low-interest loan program for automakers and suppliers.
The program, designed to help companies retool for more fuel-efficient vehicles, also is expected to provide a financial lifeline to struggling companies, particularly the Detroit 3.
The funding that is needed to begin the program, about $7.5 billion, was attached to a wide-ranging spending bill that will keep the federal government running in the new fiscal year that begins Wednesday.
The Senate vote Saturday was 78-12 in favor. The House approved the bill last Wednesday. President Bush is expected to sign it.
I am a libertarian, so I am skeptical of most government programs. That said, if we're going to spend $25 billion, I can think a few thousand causes more worthy than the American automobile industry.
Republican cannot oppose this legislation, and Bush cannot veto it, because Michigan and Ohio are swing states. (Map here). With our all-or-nothing Electoral College, massive wealth redistributions like this are bound to occur.
The only rational solution is to abolish the Electoral College, or change the all-or-noting system. This will never happen, because then states like Michigan and Ohio would lose their ability to extort $25 billion from us taxpayers.