!@#$ The Big 3.

You know what? !@#$ the big 3. Let them declare bankruptcy. I’m sure all my Socialist pals will cry foul at letting economic nature take its course, but I really don’t care. I was against the original panic bailout, and I’m against this one too.

These automakers cranked out huge, inefficient vehicles, raking in profit hand over fist until Katrina hit and the upward spiral of fuel prices made carting 3 kids around in a Ford Excursion pretty !@#$ing stupid.

What was the stopgap? Hybrid SUV’s. So now instead of getting 19mpg, you get 20mpg. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. You can get that same (or better) bump in MPG by avoiding jackrabbit starts and keeping your tires inflated properly. None of that changes the fact that you’re driving a vehicle that weighs nearly 3 tons.

So the fuel price went up, and suddenly cars like the Prius didn’t look so crazy. Smaller vehicles with higher MPG (look at Europe where fuel is about $6 a gallon on average, they don’t drive effing SUVs, and they aren’t running out of kids) became popular, and what did Detroit have?

NOT A !@#$ING THING. The focus was on big trucks, big suv’s, and big cars. The scraps were set aside to build the Calibur, Focus, and Cobalt. I’m sure they’re nice cars in their own right, but generally American offerings fall short in their compact cars when it comes to refinement (which is why I drive a VW).

Once that big SUV fad died, which was inevitable, they were screwed. Their next solution? The Volt. Neat concept. Electric motors drive the wheels, tiny gas motor keeps the batteries charged. 100mpg, and $40,000 sticker price. Are you !@#$ing kidding me?

Let them go bankrupt, fire off the CEO jerks who lacked the foresight to know that the solution was more efficient vehicles – not more trucks, and maybe rise from the ashes with a new found respect for the free market.