by Shirley Hussar

When I was a teenager my brother put a sticker on his car “Save DOS”. Today I asked my kids do you know what “DOS” is? NO they replied. I love the oldies some of my best songs are on 8-track now that sounds crazy if you have not changed to an mp3 player. Today, if you do not own an mp3 player or if your phone doesn’t have one then you’re behind. Americans have always learned to “let go” and allow progress to happen.

Yet why did two of the largest American auto leaders not see the writing on the wall, hybrid and electric on the way. Are we Republicans who believe in the freedom of capitalism? If big business like GM and Chrysler fails that is the risk they took while being in business. How can the dealership claim they did not see what was going on in American these last 5 to 10 years? This is why freedom and free market capitalism works in American today. It and it alone allows people to progress, to think, to make decisions, to fail and then to learn from their mistakes.

So why is government {President Obama’s Auto Task Force} still being pressure to bailout the world of GM and Chrysler? In theory, governments should help their people develop themselves, and this is why freedom in any sphere is ultimately helpful, while slavery, welfare, or servitude in any form is ultimately harmful to a society. GM and Chrysler are also liable for any problems that arise from their automobile business, and all compete with each other for business. In other words, in free market capitalism the government would not fund or subsidize or treat anyone differently than anyone else.

Car Businesses should be allowed to fail in 2009. This means that if one’s car dealership is not visited and one cannot make any profit, one is allowed to go out of business. In free market capitalism, the government does not “bail out” anyone, and everyone. Congress leaders are to working for the people and by the people.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I honor and respect the history of the American car dealership, yet why were they not watching there competitors Toyota and Honda with the change that led to electric and hybrid cars? Instead they pushed V8 and V10 trucks and lease programs to keep us in debt. Lease programs! Lease programs! What happen to “it’s good to pay off and own the car” in 5 or 10 years?

The owners of the dealerships also need to take some responsibility for not talking more to the creators of there brand of cars. How could they not see the future is changing and GM and Chrysler will be out of touch? Yet here is a business that was not “present” about the future of the automobile future. With gas prices on the rise for many years, it does have me wondering if the CEO’s of this company were not paid off by oil driller lobbyists to keep the American people in debt and line there pockets with over priced cars for more money. Not planning for the next generation of Hybrid cars to come. Building bigger and more gas consuming cars was not thinking in the people’s best interest. American automobile companies need to “Be in the present, learn from the past and help create the future.

Shirley Hussar  is an urban freelance writer and proud Hip-Hop Republican living in Los Angeles, California