I would argue that Ron Paul anti-government Libertarians are much better equipped to debate economic issues than their progressive counterparts. Progressive's simply don't understand economics, most libertarians I know make it a point to study economics in detail. The fact is a free-market economy is the ONLY type of economy on the planet that actually works. Any other system has to be constantly managed, controlled and monitored. It is this management and control that causes problems such as prolonged recessions, over supply of money & credit, devaluation of money and the list goes on...

The question of whether taxpayers should back an auto-maker that makes cars for the rich is flawed. To begin with the sole reason for taxpayer bail outs for any company, country or industry is to bail out the financiers who bankroll these companies. Even though the media portrays the company or industry as the entity or group of entities being bailed out, it's the banks that loaned money to these organizations that receive the benefit of bail outs at the taxpayer's expense.