quattroworld

VW - as a corporate entity - is the responsible party. That one person (or twelve it doesn't matter) made the decision and knew about it, does not change the reality. VW extended decision-making to a few people that got it very wrong. Adequate oversight or controls or a system of checks and balances were not present. In automotive industry jargon, this represents a systemic failure. As such, suitable corrective actions needs to take place - and the quicker the better in terms of damage control.

Your political arguments on EV subsidies may have a fraction of a point, but again - you are shaping perception through your personal lens. We all do that. Personally I think that we should do away with the massive subsidies to the Ethanol industry and Big Ag. What about other industries that receive a massive amount of tax payer dollars?

What's your position on the F-35? Is that program worth the Estimated $1 trillion life of program cost? Or is that another example of massive funding of a private company with taxpayer dollars? I know you know more than a little about aviation - and I honestly don't want this to devolve into a political / economic discussion. And you know what - don't even answer on the F-35.

Government spending (and I think we would all agree on this) should serve the people - right? Sometimes this happens, sometimes not. The issue is always what the definition of "serve the people" is.

Government spending has ALWAYS been used (in the last century or so - likely longer) to shape social habits, to drive an agenda (internal or external), etc. It has also been used to reward campaign contributors and cronies - and this will likely be the case for perpetuity - no matter what party has control. The party in power has some discretionary determination as to how that money gets spent. Sure, Congress has to approve the spending, but overall that's the way the system is set-up. Point being - if you're in the red camp or the blue camp, it doesn't much matter as surely there will be a large percentage of the populace that just doesn't like what the other team is doing and they will whine about it until the tide turns or whine about it forever. That's just the way the sick game of politics is played. Just stop whining - it's unbecoming of a gentleman. We know how you feel about EV's and we've stopped caring.