Hey, any of you suckers remember the "Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles?" I thought not.

It was a 10-year program that President Clinton put together with the Chrysler, Ford and General Motors to develop an 80 miles-per-gallon vehicle.

What a joke! Nothing was achieved and Toyota was so miffed at being excluded that it went ahead and developed its iconic gas-electric hybrid Prius on its own!

It's a story that's beyond parody which only gets better with its termination in February 2003 by President Bush so he could launch his "Freedom Car" proposal. Freedom car as in hydrogen fuel cell car which is so far out there in terms of a practical timeline that it's beyond parody.

Frankly, as a transplanted Brit, I don't get this country's aversion to anything that smacks of regulation on the grounds that it is the first step that leads to socialism.
And yet everyone runs to Washington cap in hand when they feel the need for a handout.

Current cases in point include the bailing out of Wall Street which represents the very bastion of capitalism, and the $25 billion in loan guarantees that the Detroit auto companies are seeking to fund research and development into alternative fuels.

I just hope the Detroit Three make a better job of it than they did last time.

It seems the epitome of hypocrisy decry government involvemen reguation and then run thumb-in-mouth to the safety of the state's skirts for spoonfuls of taxpayer's money when the going gets tough.

That's not fair. Hypocrisy is a British vice!

- Peter C.T. Elsworth