Corporate welfare

With nothing but budget deficits as far as the eyes can see, some members of the House apparently figure a few million dollars more won't matter.

Rep. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, now offers a bill that would provide tens of millions of dollars in handouts to the auto industry, wrapped in environmental green and funneled through the Department of Energy.

Ultimately, Rep. Peters hopes to increase by $500 million a year the amount Washington spends on research and development for advanced-technology vehicles and auto parts. This, of course, is on top of the billions of dollars the Obama administration has already showered on Detroit in hopes of saving the domestic auto industry.

Without the money, Rep. Peters argues, those evil foreigners will rule the day.

"There is no doubt that in the years ahead more Americans will be driving hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery-electric vehicles and cars and trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells," he said. "The only question is whether these new technologies will be researched, developed and manufactured here in the United States, creating American jobs, or whether this technology will be built overseas."

Well, if the market does indeed dictate that little green cars are the waive of the future, let GM, Ford and Chrysler invest their own cash to develop and produce such vehicles. Such spending is best left to the private sector -- at least what's left of it.

Rep. Peters' proposal, which passed the House on Wednesday, is corporate welfare, pure and simple -- at a time when the country can least afford it. At the very least, the existing Energy Department R&D programs should be killed or frozen, not larded up to help ensure the re-election of Rust Belt congressmen.