PS: Sorry I meant US auto workers…my sympathies and prayers are with totally with you…unfortunately they are not with your fat, lying , scheming, myopic GM BOSSES who’ve f-ed over the system…so give it up already and no bailout money for your bloated, stupid pigs. It is easy to come up with an efficient automobile..the technology is there..you just are in league with the oil companies and staked your future on them instead of consumers….so FU!!! I buy and am thrilled with EU cars like MBZ/VWs/Jaguers….. again FU!!! AM so happy to see you fold. Bush-tax incentive supported SUVs when we needed anything but—you deserve your demise…your workers don’t. Tghey were true…you were a lie.

I think my Wowowow response email wok me up, literally - I went to bed wondering how and when Americans in general are going “wake up!” The “fault” for this crisis we’re in must be laid at the feet of many, many humans who for some reason had brains that development into scheming, manipulative, gluttons, with a sociopathic “bent,” backed by a presumption of lofty connection with the creator - their own perceived bail-out. Yesterday, I visited my dentist to have a crown with post re-glued in: the bill $155. I nearly had a heart attack. Worse, when it happened and I phoned his after-hours line, I never received a call back. If such pompous idiocy continues, these blokes are going to find themselves without clients, customers, patients, investors. It’s coming down to that in short order. Blindly, those amassing funds off of others followed the Far-Right only because the discipline supported their feeding frenzy, their natural inclination to destroy everything around them with the least amount of effort and learning. Most of “them” haven’t read a book on any of the topics now concerning America, much less American history; I have asked them! We, in essence, are no longer dealing with educated masses, but a pseudo-faith-based revolution. (read Susan Jacoby). Nothing, absolutely nothing will stop this until the fat at the top is trimmed off, and we are all moved on to a more level playing field. Can our president-elect do it? Not without our help and cooperation.

Well Charlie It is just that we have been down this road before with the Automakers. My neighbor switched from Toyota to a Saturn and she says she will never go back. I read a report that said several GM cars now get 30mpg. I don’t know which do or don’t. I never drove an SUV, nor would I. They have a couple of hybrid SUVs out now, but I don’t know what the mpg is. Being a small business owner, I don’t want to see anyone unemployed, especially around Christmas.

Well Congress yawned in the face of the Big Three today. Ted Stevens (Felon-Alaska) lost his Senate seat. And Cheney and Alberto Gonzales were indicted. This just keeps getting better and better.

I bought the imports not because they were cool or because I thought they were better, they were better and are still better, in price and in quality. I get much more for my money and it lasts much longer. I have a Acura Integra sitting in the driveway that has over 200,000 miles on it that still runs like a race car. And a little Hyundai that is 5 years old that I love. I drive my mother’s Ford or a rental American car and feel like I am in a boat, the body feels like it floating loose from the wheels. And I grew up driving Cadillac’s cause that’s what my dad loved. I have to go with what I am able to afford nowadays, my husband has health problems and I have had serious health problems so we are on a limited income and we can not be worried about providing the income for others, we have to be worried about our own. If they are going to help the “BIG 3” it is shame on the “BIG 3” for getting in the situation, not shame on us for not buying their products. And they better start making products that we all want and can afford in our driveways. Because they aren’t what I see there now.

Keep in mind that the $71.00 include health care which is a very important aspect for any employee. And, I am sure that includes their part in pension contributions too. And, without the bailout, those collecting a pension may lose the only income that is keeping their families afloat. Health contibrutions do take up a great deal of the total package, even with sub-standard HMOs. But I for one would fight the right to keep my health benefits too. Remember, these companies were making billions and it was only fair that the employees get their fair share since they contributed to that profit. As for Mitsubishi, you only state the wages. Do you know if that includes benefits? And if they do agree to a wage cut that results in their not being able to afford their current expenses (and I don’t know any auto worker who lives in high-priced neighborhoods) would they be forced to sell their house in a market where no one is buying??? That’s the real Catch-22. Have you noticed that in major cities, the cost of transit and other services will be going up, yet wages are not. It seems that everyone is getting hit in their pocketbooks when the pocketbook is near empty by government. Amazing, we didn’t start this mess, but are supposed to clean it up. So there I have to agree with you. Unions are not the enemy, but are becoming the scapegoat. I can say one thing about the Japanese from what I had heard—-and that is they treat workers with respect. Imagine if all industries did that, Norma Rae would not have had to stand up with that sign, women who were killed in the Triangle Factory fires might still be alive. People forget what horrors Americans faced without protections.