President Bush just announced that the government will lend GM and Chrysler over $17 billion to help them stave off bankruptcy. A better plan would be to allow each taxpayer to decide how much he or she believes the car makers need to be saved by sending them money directly. Oh, that's right. We already have such a plan in place. It's called buying stock. And apparently there aren't many people who believe the car makers are a good investment.

So Bush rides to the rescue of companies that the people have already decided aren't worth saving. Or, more accurately, he rides to the rescue of unions that the people have already decided aren't worth saving. We have several car companies that are operating at a profit without the help of the UAW. But we have only one UAW and the government is afraid that it will collapse without a bailout.

Propping up failing companies will work in the long-term about as well as the practice of promoting students to the next higher grade despite their inability to perform at that level. Come to think of it, perhaps the government and industry are now being run by people who received social promotions in grade school. Perhaps they are contributing to our current economic woes.

One thing is certain. Our economy will collapse completely if we establish the policy that no aspect of the economy is allowed to fail. Preserving the inefficient, the unneeded and the unwanted, will harm the efficient, the needed and the wanted. Can you imagine where we would be today if we had refused to let the horse-drawn industries disappear? What about typewriters? Would you buy one if retailers still stocked a wide selection? How about at a government-subsidized low price?