[blackZbandit]

One thing that legislators have failed to realize that I'm glad Mullaly brught up during his testimony is that all three companies were viable and profitable or nearing profitablity early this year. It wasn't until the gas crisis that that left large trucks and suv's (which are the products Americans wanted) filling up lots and the credit crunch slashed the amount of qualified buyers by 20% overnight that these companies ran into problems. Now granted, they weren't perfect before, but it almost impossible to weather this sort of economic storm when you're at such a stated disadvantage (union costs) compared to your foreign rivals (no union costs). Foreign auto makers are seeing their sales decline at a similar pace as the Big 3 but their better able to weather the storm as they have lower overhead and an already stronger focus on cars. Besides, didn't Germany provide a bailout for their auto industry? Quickly? Before this year all of the Big 3 had begun shifting their focus away from larger inefficient vehicles to new, more efficient technology, but even the people who suspected the impending doom the economy was headed for had no idea how quickly it would arise.

Sorry for the rant, but I hate the way the media and our government has turned against its last bastion of manufacturing greatness. GM makes more 30+ mpg models than its foreign competitors and they're vehicles are all rated as high or nearly as high as their foreign competion in initial quality... all while offering great, exciting performance. I am somewhat glad that this has happened though because now the restructuring can be expidited and union contracts can reflect real-world, present day industyr/workplace conditions or better yet be dissolved.

*WARNING: RANT MAY BE CONTINUED AT LATER TIME WHEN I'M AM NOT AT WORK LOL!!*