Quote:
Originally Posted by Jammer
that SOME other companies have forms of Universal Health Insurance,
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Do you mean they're in countries that have universal health coverage?
If so, you have a very valid point. The playing field is not level. And who cares? Nobody actually wants a level playing field. Regardless of anti-monopoly laws, every manufacturer wants as big a piece of the pie as he can possibly get. If they could have it, GM would prefer to be the only manufacturer, Toyota would prefer to be the only manufacturer. They don't want level fields at all, they all want the high ground, the least overhead, the fewest obligations. That's the environment we exist in, and everyone involved knew it from the get-go.
Regardless of that fact, other points need to be made: the Volt is a series hybrid. The engine isn't connected to the wheels at all. Well, series hybrids aren't news by any stretch. Trains do that all the time, submarines, etc. The Volt reduces how much engine is needed with a big battery pack, but still that isn't anything earth-shattering.
Sure this technology is already in China. GM isn't breaking new ground at all. Shoot, I think the batteries are even being built in China, so again - what's the big deal?
I want to clarify that I didn't at first much care one way or the other about whether or not GM and Chrysler should've been thrown a life ring. I'm actually kind of glad they were, since I'd rather not have the US find itself even less of producer than it already is. But here's my point: we've thrown a mountain of money at GM, and to a lesser degree Chrysler. If we permit GM to fail, the odds of getting even a portion of that investment back drops precipitously. At least this way, if we keep shocking the corpse back to life, we have a chance of getting some good use out of the zombie.