By Nina May, rwnetwork.net, townhall.com

            Thirty years ago when Chrysler received a bailout from the U.S. government, I was pretty young, but old enough to declare I would never buy a Chrysler. And I never have, and probably never will for a lot of reasons. First of all, as a strong supporter of the free market system and open competition among entrepreneurs, I am dead set against the government having anything to do with a natural process that survives or dies on the excellence or failures of a product or service. The Chrysler bailout for me was a red flag that the Chrysler product was flawed, they had failed to compete with intelligent decisions and designs, and blindly ignored the handwriting on the wall that smaller, more fuel efficient cars were the future.

            Thirty years ago when Chrysler received a bailout from the U.S. government, I was pretty young, but old enough to declare I would never buy a Chrysler. And I never have, and probably never will for a lot of reasons. First of all, as a strong supporter of the free market system and open competition among entrepreneurs, I am dead set against the government having anything to do with a natural process that survives or dies on the excellence or failures of a product or service. The Chrysler bailout for me was a red flag that the Chrysler product was flawed, they had failed to compete with intelligent decisions and designs, and blindly ignored the handwriting on the wall that smaller, more fuel efficient cars were the future.

            For years we only bought American, mostly Chevrolets, because we wanted to do the patriotic thing and support American manufacturers who were providing good alternative choices to the small foreign, fuel-efficient cars that were starting to catch the attention of the American consumer. We stubbornly refused to budge, proud of our patriotic choice to buy American, until a friend who owned a Toyota reminded us of who was really running the big three car manufacturers in America . . . the unions. He said, “why are you supporting an industry that is virtually controlled by the unions that give millions of dollars to candidates who oppose your free market ideals?” Good question.

            That actually was quite liberating and freed us to consider other options like Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, etc. and we could actually choose a car based on its mileage, efficiency, consumer ratings, safety test, etc. without feeling compelled to buy only American. Ironically, with all those options, we still chose a Chevy Trailblazer, but again, for political reasons. This was the year that Norman Lear, Ariana Huffington and other liberal hypocrites were paying huge sums of money to get people not to buy SUVs for their own political reasons.

It was very odd coming from a man who had a 23 car garage, and a woman who flies around on private jets and employs limo services as though ordering pizza. We researched the SUV and discovered that it was basically a sturdy family van on a pickup truck chassis which meant it was much more durable in bad weather and in rough terrain. I wondered if Ariana would reject a plumber who showed up at her house to solve the issue of leaking pipes if he was driving a pickup truck on the same chassis that an SUV is built on. The problem with very rich liberals is that they are clueless as to how the things they own are built and maintained. They don’t realize that there are hundreds of regular people, driving around in pickup trucks and SUVs tending to their maintenance needs, freeing them up to condemn the rest of the nation for not being as energy conscious, as global friendly, or as enlightened as they are.

            So, after buying our Chevy Trailblazer and naming it Ariana, we bought a Chevy pickup truck, and gave two cars, a Buick and an Oldsmobile to a Katrina victims’ fund. All were American cars, changing hands, stimulating the economy, helping those in need and leaving us feeling very patriotic.

            Now we are back in the market for a car that is comfortable and fuel-efficient and have literally driven everything from the VW to the Hyundai including GM and even Saturn cars. We still don’t go near a Chrysler dealership after all these years and in spite of the fact that the government made money on the bailout . . . it is about principle.  I had a 1965 Ford Mustang in college but determined never to own a Ford when I discovered that Henry Ford was anti-Semitic and had supported Hitler. So my field of choice is getting slimmer as I get older, but that is what the free market system does. It weeds out the bad products and services and rewards those that perform and live up to their promises and even allows purchases to be made on political considerations.

So now, imagine the dilemma we are facing in choosing yet one more car for the family when we learn that our choice for years, Chevrolet, is standing in line with the other failed car manufacturers, hat in hand. They are expecting taxpayers to foot the bill for their refusal to change directions when they have known for years that they needed to.  And the huge irony is that the car we thought was the best out of all in its class as far as mileage, comfort, price and esthetics was the Chevy Malibu. So, we are on hold, waiting to see if Chevrolet is going to receive a bailout, go into Chapter 11, or just cease to exist.

            On one hand, there is a sadness to think of such an American icon, remembering its Chevy emblem burning a hole in the map of the Ponderosa, going under. But on the other hand if reorganization is what will make it once again competitive, then that should be an option. But only if they jettison the corrupt unions who run a dynasty to make sure only liberal Democrats are elected. How smart can that be? Liberal Democrats hate the free market system and think that the government should control all businesses and all aspects of our personal life. They have basically undermined their very existence, yet they want the rest of us to bail them out. They have so much power that they were able to convince the governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, to reject the offer by a non-union car manufacturer who wanted to set up shop in Michigan and hire all the people being laid off by the poorly run “big three”. She rejected it because of union pressure. They put her in office, they dictate what she does, and the industry they claim to represent is hurt in the meantime, while Americans are made to feel guilty that it is all unraveling around them.

            I have my checkbook in hand and will head to the dealership that does not benefit from an impending bailout. I will choose a car that is not only fuel efficient and comfortable, but one that sends a political statement that the free market system works when dynastic arms of one political party are not running the companies            If you multiply my story by millions, you will have a pretty good overview of how Americans feel about this bailout and where their loyalties rest. They felt that way during the $700 billion bailout vote when 90% opposed it but were ignored. If they won’t listen to our phone calls, maybe they will hear our purchasing protest.

We have stood by the American car manufacturers for years in spite of the control the liberal unions have on them. But to spend one dime of taxpayers’ money on a failed system, controlled by people with political agendas that undermine the very industry that makes them rich, is stupidity. We are in the season of unaccountability and excess with industry execs running their companies as recklessly as the government, expecting an unfettered faucet on the barrel of bailouts and giveaways while hardworking Americans are left manning the pump.

Where will this end? The golden goose is heading toward retirement and is wisely restructuring assets so the politicians can’t fulfill their campaign promises of wealth distribution. You would think in 30 years, that these geniuses that are making the big bucks, would have figured all this out.

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