Why Can't We?

All the noise about bailing out the Big 3 has generated some questions in my tiny mind.

The government seemed to barely blink at overriding the overwhelming "NO!" from the public to allow Henry Paulson the 700 billion to hand out to his buddies in the financial sector, seemingly with little or no oversight. Then the Big 3 come along, hat in hand, asking for a measly 35 billion bailout, and are slapped around for it.

Why the difference?

We're hearing a lot about how the Big 3 can't be allowed to fail. They are somehow the last bastion of America's industrial power, and it's only patriotic to use tax dollars to prop them up.

But they can't seem to compete. They have monstrous overhead, paying outrageously above-market compensation to their unions and executives. And they still build an inferior product, at least as far as public perception is concerned.

So my question is, why haven't some gutsy automotive engineers gotten together and created the great new American car company? One that produces innovative new vehicles at a lower cost that Americans will line up to buy? Isn't there a great void in the market needing to be filled by a young, innovative, and aggressive new company?

I know the barriers to entry are extremely high. The amount of capital it would require to build and test the prototypes, build and staff the first production plant, contract the suppliers, create the marketing campaign, recruit a network of dealerships, etc., is staggering. Not to mention scaling all the government-imposed barriers.

But it could absolutely be done. All it takes is visionary leadership; a charismatic salesman to convince investors to take the risk.

There is where I might have stumbled on the answer. Our country is suffering from a terrible drought of leadership. In government and industry.

Will the Big 3 become the Big 2? Or 1? Or will we soon see America forever lose its industrial capabilities to the East?