Case in point: The favoritism of government for compact fluros, to even writing laws that do away the the reliable incandescent, and structuring lighting requirements that do not take into account the growing and improving LED industry. Those who manufacture and sell compact fluros have been given a near monopoly, even though their light is quite honestly…crappy, and their mercury content adds an environmental hazard that has not been addressed.

BTW…Is a ‘green’ car really ‘environmentally friendly’? Electric cars need to get their electricity from a coal or oil-fired power plant (Unless you have a couple of thousand acres of solar panels at max capacity handy.).

Given how well Congress has been run, this Congressman really has no standing to talk about wasteful spending. What this really is, is Congressional grandstanding without any attempt to actually solve the problem.

Anti-trust law prevents the heads of the big three automakers from being alone together at any time or most other forms of private contact. They might be conspiring to fix prices, etc. Sharing a flight would be out of the question. See what inefficiency results from stupid government rules?

For the record, my opinion is the big 3 should not receive a dime of taxpayer money. They should just bite the bullet and go Chapter 11 and get rid of the UAW contracts that are killing their cost structure in comparison to the Japanese car companies who are successfully building cars in the U.S. with American workers. This is not an automaker bailout, it is a UAW bailout. Once you understand that, the behavior of the Dems is perfectly clear.

“American Axle CEO Richard Dauch was awarded an $8.5 million bonus for defeating the three-month strike by 3,650 auto workers and successfully imposing deep wage and benefit cuts on the company’s hourly workforce.”

Works for me. American Axle may have a chance to survive.

No, its more like Donovan McNabb not knowing that NFL games can end in a tie. When you are in overtime, like the auto industry has been since 1985, you have to know your time is limited. Chapter 11 does not put the employees out of work. It lets the company restructure the lethal contracts that force them to design a car, then take 1500 dollars out of it to match the price of the competing Honda or Toyota.

We just bought a flex fuel Tahoe because my wife likes SUVs and we can afford the gas. The auto industry should be willing to do what they have to and that means Chapter 11, to get competitive again. Begging for a bailout went out with British Leyland. Read Bob Zubrin’s book.

American Axle CEO Richard Dauch was awarded an $8.5 million bonus for defeating the three-month strike by 3,650 auto workers and successfully imposing deep wage and benefit cuts on the company’s hourly workforce.

I wonder what kind of quality product is coming from the motivated workforce they have there now. I own a small business and am disgusted by these actions. Enriching himself while cutting the workers wages in half.

That’s right – commentators. Not auto analysts, economists, or anyone else that might know something about the auto industry. Just people with pre-conceived notions about American autos that are based on what they knew back in 1975. Times have changed since then.

there is a damn good argument for sorting this out in the bankruptcy courts

Except for all of the bad arguments, like those of us who live here, but are not directly connected with the auto industry. Or those who are indirectly connected, who depend on that auto industry. Just what did we do to deserve this other than stay living where we were born?

and getting rid of a corrupt and inept executive class and bloated unions and starting over with something more modern and tech savvy.

The executive class at all of the big three haven’t been there that long. It takes a lot of time to turn around a large company, and they were on the right track until the gas crisis and credit crash hit in the same year. Blaming them for all of the problems is like blaming Donovan McNabb for losing a game in 1983. Regarding the unions, however, I admit you have a point.

Government caused the oil shocks – not enough domestic drilling, multiple blends of gasoline (thanks to you Californians), not enough refinery capcity, among others. And government caused the credit crisis thanks to the CRA and Fan & Fred. And government caused market shake-ups by forcing CAFE standards on the big three and causing them to lose money selling small cars. Government ought to help them since they’re the main cause of this in the first place.

The auto industry shutting down would idle millions of workers. The banking industry crisis idled what – 25,000 workers? Come on. The misinformation being spread around the rest of the country concerning the big three is amazing.

TV

No, but they way we were doing it, we were headed out of it anyway. We need genuine innovation, not the same old, same old. Think Silicon Valley, not Detroit. Barney Frank,ironically, is the most old fashioned thinker around.