Congress reconvened this week to take up the controversial auto bailout bill. The legislation would have given the Big 3 automakers a $14 billion loan. It also would have created an "auto czar" who would supervise the loan and the restructuring of the three companies. An "auto czar"? Have you heard of anything more absurd? The Democratic-led House passed the bill, 237-170, but thanks to a filibuster threat by Senate Republicans, it failed in the upper chamber, 52-35 (60 votes were necessary).

The $15 billion bailout for Detroit automakers that the House passed Wednesday died in the Senate due to the Senate Republicans and we say, "Thanks".  We do not want a bailout for the unions who will not give up any of their pork-barrel benefits.  The unions can spend hundreds of millions of dollars in political campaigns, but cannot help the auto industry in its crisis.

The liberal Democrats who receive the political contributions from the unions said, "These rescue loans are necessary - not to reward bad decision-making in Detroit, but to protect 3 million American jobs, 3 million livelihoods; 3 million families depend on the automakers."  House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, said during floor debate, "Are we really willing to put those workers at risk in this deep recession, after a month in which our country just lost 533,000 more jobs?"

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky did what most American tax payers requested by stopping this unnecessary bailout. 

Members of Congress suffered fierce criticism from their districts for the $700 billion Wall Street rescue and potentially face more constituent outrage for backing another bailout, especially in conservative states where the auto industry is not predominant.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed that the failing car companies need help but disagreed on whether a federal bailout was the best remedy for the auto industry's ills.

The public also is split on the issue. A Gallup Poll this week showed that 51 percent of Americans oppose the bailout and 43 percent support it.

The Bush administration said it would continue to work to convince senators that the bill will spur desperately needed restructuring of the U.S. auto industry while providing ample protection of taxpayer dollars.  However, when Senate Republicans asked the unions to do their part, they refused.  Let the companies restructure through the courts so they can really craft a restructuring plan.

I am opposed to a "bailout" of Congressional responsibility for the economic mess that we are now experiencing.  We need to ensure the market has the money to loan "qualified" borrowers, not the politically correct who cannot pay back their loans.

We need confidence in the ability of the political process to produce a rational, bold response that lets the market correct itself.  Let's start by unwinding the many government mistakes that created the housing bubble, repealing the various laws and regulations specifically designed to put people into homes that they could not afford. Let's scrap the Community Reinvestment Act, break up Fannie and Freddie, and put the pieces back in the private sector. If "liquidity" and the availability of capital is the immediate problem, let's repeal the tax on capital gains and other tax provisions that punish savings and capital accumulation. The Flat Tax does all of this in one fell swoop. And, finally, let's repeal the various distortions in corporate accounting policies like Sarbanes-Oxley.