American Dream or American Politics?
To the Editor: Roland J. Hwang has a curious approach to the issue of the auto industry's future (“Hybrids can propel Big 3 recovery,'' March 21).He begins by introducing himself as “the son of an immigrant” whose father came to this country with the dream of owning an American car. He ends with the wish that his son, the grandson of an immigrant, might someday own a hybrid built in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />America. Sandwiched between those two strained images is Hwang's call for a massive boost in federal energy controls and subsidies, as proposed last December by the National Commission on Energy Policy. But just how does that report relate to immigrants and the American dream? Through its call for massive subsidies that will inevitably go to special interests?Through its advocacy of higher appliance efficiency standards, supposedly so good for consumers that they have to be imposed by law? Through its proposed increase in vehicle fuel economy standards, which (according to the National Academy of Sciences) have already killed thousands of car occupants due to downsizing? The commission's report has nothing to do with the American dream and everything to do with American politics at its worst. And Hwang's column may be the most far-fetched invocation of immigrants' aspirations that I've ever read. I say that, by the way, as an immigrant myself. SAM KAZMANGeneral CounselCompetitive Enterprise InstituteWashington<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />