New Car Czar?

I love Congress. They berated the car execs for asking for half as much money as Congress thinks they will really need, and then they gave them half of what they asked for. But at least half of the Midwest won’t be unemployed for Christmas.

Now it’s time to find the new Car Czar to oversee the renaissance of Detroit. This post is seeking your nominations, and I’ll get the ball rolling with a few suggestions. Here are three in no particular order:

1. Billie Gibbons of ZZ Top, in part because we need someone in government who looks like this, but this is also a man who knows cars. One look at his custom Cadzilla is all you need to know the truth of it.

2. Michael Vick, former Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback (currently residing in Leavenworth, Kansas). Mike is another car lover. In fact, he bought a $99,500 Mercedes S550 on the day he left for Leavenworth. Used a debit card to pay for it. Mike has bought dozens of cars of all types in his young life. You can read about how he spent over $18 million in two years in a recent Atlanta Journal article. That kind of power-spending could be very useful when you consider how much new money Detroit will have to spend.

3. Jay Leno. Jay is one of the great car collectors of all times, and is particularly knowledgeable about Detroit iron. He has a great web site that shows off his collection with both still and video art. And of course, he is a funny guy, and I have a feeling we’re really going to need a sense of humor before we work ourselves out of this mess.