Guest Blogger: Dean Zatkowsky

In The Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade reminds Caspar Gutman that it would not be in Gutman's best interest to torture Spade to death. Gutman then reminds Spade that in the heat of emotion, people do not always act in their own best interests. Spade recognizes the sobering truth of this statement.

Naturally, this reminds me of the ongoing bailouts for the big three automakers. It may be a huge mistake to let the car companies collapse, but a lot of us are angry enough to take the chance.

CEOs of GM and Ford drove fuel-efficient vehicles to their latest round of DC panhandling, recognizing the public relations blunder of flying private jets for their previous beg-fest. Watching GM CEO Wagoner and his cohorts emerging from a hybrid vehicle, I looked for big shoes and a never-ending entourage because I could only think one thing: clown car.

The bankruptcy of the American carmakers would cost millions of people their jobs, deepening the country's economic troubles. Yet these companies deserve to fail. In fact, their frequent need for government intervention demonstrates that they have already failed. Can we properly balance free market principles with the economic well being of millions?

Congress will likely authorize bailouts for the car companies, because "jobs" are a political issue, regardless of how we create them. California has created so many prison guard jobs that their union pretty much controls our electoral process. Makes you wonder if Guantanamo stays open to keep torturer's apprentices out of the unemployment statistics.

I'm glad that congress expects something in return for our next thirty to fifty billion dollars in automaker support, despite having given Treasury carte blanche to distribute hundreds of billions with no accountability whatsoever. But I think congress should take a different tack with their demands.

Instead of requiring specific fuel economy and cost-cutting measures, congress should become an activist investor and demand that the American car companies make less crappy cars. The CEOs say they'll work for $1 a year, but why should we pay even one dollar to people who should be fired?

Consumer Reports continuously tests and rates automobiles, and if you check out their Best In Class ratings for every category from Fuel Efficient to SUVs, Wagons & Pickups, the top five cars in every category come from foreign makers. Foreign cars dominated the Safety and Owner Satisfaction categories too. Ford, GM and Chrysler can spend as many advertising dollars as they like to convince us otherwise, but their cars are not designed or built very well.

So maybe it doesn't matter whether Detroit makes hybrids or Hummers, since they cannot seem to build anything very well. Supporting these pillars of carelessness and incompetence constitutes yet another use of taxpayer money to ensure survival of the least fit companies, just as we did on Wall Street. Perhaps this is a natural consequence of electing so many people who do not believe in evolution. 

In the heat of emotion, people do not always act in their own best interests, but in the heat of economic panic, people do not always know their own best interests. Another unconditional short-term bailout for Detroit creates a long-term degradation of our economy, our dignity, and our values. If we the taxpayers are going to buy these companies, let's run them right.

Here's a great article about 10 cars that damaged GM's reputation.

Dean Zatkowsky is managing partner of Dizzy One Ventures LLC.