One more...

Ryan sent me a text about the CARS program (or whatever it is called... Cash for Clunkers...). He said he had seen numbers where 4 out of 5 cars purchased under that program were imports.

Now, this may seem like a bad thing, but it is a GLARING example of what is wrong with THAT kind of incentive program... as well as being a good example of why such a program can be good for the economy, if structured correctly.

Why did people pick imports over domestic products? Do the Japanese, Korean and European manufacturers make better cars? I think so, in a general sense. Do they make them at a lower cost that can be passed on to the consumer? Certainly. Do they have an advantage in working within a system of employment that isn't centered on collective bargaining? Absolutely.

American manufacturers will be FORCED to structure themselves in a manner that allows flexibility that they do not now have, if they hope to survive in a post-TARP bail-out world. THAT is the genius of Adam Smith's free-market system and the manner in which American industry functioned only 30 years ago. The "stimulus" of the CARS program gave back some needed confidence to the American consumer, and (hopefully) showed the Big Three just how important it is to function at a competitive level with foreign manufacturers. I'm not saying it was a good idea... only that the good that comes from it should be a yard-stick as to how best to proceed with incentive-based policy in the future, and that the manufacturers themselves should take it as a last-chance look at what they need to do to survive in a world where there will be no more bail-outs for the next 60 years or so.