Editor, The Wall Street Journal
To the Editor:
G.M. CEO Rick Wagoner's case for a taxpayer handout to his firm is a lemon ("Why GM Deserves Support [1]," Nov. 19). The bulk of it is annual-report-style bragging about G.M.'s wondrous innovations at lowering costs and improving product quality – all of which, if true, makes one wonder why his firm so desperately needs a handout from taxpayers. And the rest of it is either irrelevant – many of the firms that will pony up more taxes to pay for the bailout also have operations that "reach into every state and community in our nation" – or plainly false. Transferring money from taxpayers to profitless yet high-profile firms is not "creative and courageous;" it is simple-minded and politically expedient.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Don Boudreaux is the Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University and a Business & Media Institute adviser.