PrintAugust 12, 2010
Taxpayer abuse
Not content mimicking the turgid European democratic-socialist political model, the Obama administration intends to follow failed European technological initiatives down the drain as well. Massively invested in the take-over of the obsolete auto-makers GM and Chrysler, the egg-heads at Big Government Motors decided that massively investing in greening the industry was the solution. Investors' Business Daily tallied some of the expense involved in developing the highly touted Chevy Volt:
Not listed on the window sticker is the $50 billions bailout of a bankrupt car company...We have to add in the $240 million in energy grants to Gm from the Energy Department last summer, the $150 million in federal money to the Volt's Korean battery supplier and the $14 billion got in 2008 to "retool" its plants.
After all that spending, one would think Big Government Motors could produce a winner. Hardly so:
The administration has labored mightily, at taxpayer's expense, and produced an Edsel that needs to be re-charged. If a camel is a horse designed by committee, the Chevy Volt is a car designed by government. It is a perfect example of industrial policy run amok, of what happens when government picks winners and losers. Without heavy subsidies and government ownership, it would never have been built. (Ibid ID)
One would think even egg-heads had heard of market research. A simple glance at the almost total lack of interest in electric cars subsidized by the Spanish government could have saved a whole lot of American dough. The BBC:
Spain's plan to have 2,000 electric cars on the road by the end of 2010 have been dealt a blow as figures showed just 16 have been sold.
That is not a typo. 16 cars have been sold since the electric cars went on sale in 2009. The government's REVE electric car and wind power project had announced a rather bold investment in the vehicles:
In April, the government said it would invest ...$775 million In the production of electric cars. It aims to have 250,00 electric and hybrid cars in circulation by 2014." (ibid BBC)
I suggest the Spanish government announce some aggressive rebate programs, as their current success indicates a fleet of Spanish electric cars navigating the country's highways numbering somewhere closer to 65 units by the year 2014.
The Volt, by comparison, generated an initial production run of 10,000 vehicles. Of course the Obama administration is already offering a $7500 tax credit to try to pawn them off on a public likely to be wary of purchasing a $41,000 sub-compact with a range of less than 200 miles.
If the Euro-weanies won't even by your electric lemons, how are you going to convince relatively red-blooded Americans to play along in your green fantasy?
Ralph Alter blogs at Right on Target www.rightot.blogspot.com
