Bailout for the Auto Industry??

Y'know, I'm all about getting this economy back on track, but anecdotal evidence gives me a gut-level "No" on the idea of an auto industry bailout.

And this is why.

A few years ago, when I was shopping for a car, gas prices were (what we then believed was) high, and people wanted to buy hybrids faster than they could make them.

And I was interested in the Ford Escape Hybrid, and I went to my local Ford dealer for a test drive.

My local Ford dealer did, indeed, have an Escape Hybrid on the lot. So I went to check it out.

As all new cars do, the Escape Hybrid had a sticker on it, on which was the sticker price.

But there was also a piece of paper taped to the window next to the sticker, and the paper said: "+$10,000."

And I looked at the salesman standing next to me, and asked for an explanation of the additional $10,000. And he replied, "Because we can."

So when someone asks if I'm in favor of a government bailout for the auto industry because nobody is buying cars in these tough times, I think back to my local Ford dealer's decision to increase the price on its hybrids by an additional $10,000 because the market would pay it. And my knee-jerk reaction is: "Live by the free market, die by the free market. Bastards."