From the opinion page in the StarTribune:

• 1926 Ford Model T
• 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe
• 1939 Lincoln Continental
• 1941 Willys Jeep
• 1955 Ford Thunderbird
• 1956 Chevrolet Nomad wagon
• 1957 Chevrolet Belair Two Door hardtop
• 1963 Corvette Stingray
• 1964 Ford Mustang
• 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda

Or banks and insurance companies?  Name 10 classic American products from your bank or insurance company.

What...no Gremlin?

I have mixed feelins for "bailing out" the American auto industry...seems like we did that once before...for Chrysler. What did we get in return? The "K" car, Omni....
No thanks. Let the dam Presidents/CEOs of all of the companies(including the bank/mortgage/insurance thieves) take it in the rear, not the American people.

The above cars were, and still are, icons for a reason. The manufacturers gave us what we wanted in a car. Now, we get what the government wants us to have, so they(gov) can protect us against ourselves. It's the gov. regulations, and the $$ million + salaries of the automaker high-ups that is killing the industry...not me.
Just how is giving them more $$$ to blow on yachts gonna help ME pay for fuel, or a mortgage?
I see where GM is "voluntarily" turning in TWO of their corporate jets they have leased...out of a fleet of how many? 20? Wow...what a sacrifice...

I really feel for the rank/file workers....they didn't create the problems either...

Joel.............speak up........say what's on your mind.........REALLY you said it all, there really isn't anything that you missed......amen to you, brother!!!

  I can only say that I agree with Joel in theroy, but not in principle. Citing Chysler, it was a loan that kept a lot of people employed and it was paid off ahead of it's due date in full plus intrest. Not saying that it will be the same this time. If we are going to "bail" them out, all the perks are gone. They work for a salary and nothing else. If they want a company car they have to buy it just like everyone else. If they want to go somewhere, they go commercial, they must account for everything they spend and they will be accountable for their time on the job. They should have to surrender all stock options and stock and will not receive any more. Do not pay rediculas fees to the board of directors. They will get a set fee for attending meetings and an expense account that will be limited to those meetings. All accounting will be done by a outside company. No more in house double set of books. I could go on and on, but time is limited. That's just a start.

It's true Chrysler paid their loan off early...no dispute there, but still...the OMNI???

I agree with Jim that ANY "bailout" MUST have strict guidelines that must be followed, such as the stock options, etc. That's part of the problem...the rich keep gettin richer, while the companies that made them rich go broke, and then they(the rich CEOs,etc) simply float off into the sunset with their golden parachute, with absolutely NO accountability.
Let's see THEM give up something for a change...like food on the table, or gas in the car...or a home to live in...

btw...here's another "Letter of the Day"

If I had the floor at auto hearings

This column originally appeared in the Sunday Free Press.

OK. It's a fantasy. But if I had five minutes in front of Congress last week, here's what I would've said:

Good morning. First of all, before you ask, I flew commercial. Northwest Airlines. Had a bag of peanuts for breakfast. Of course, that's Northwest, which just merged with Delta, a merger you, our government, approved -- and one that, inevitably, will lead to big bonuses for their executives and higher costs for us. You seem to be OK with that kind of business.

Which makes me wonder why you're so against our kind of business? The kind we do in Detroit. The kind that gets your fingernails dirty. The kind where people use hammers and drills, not keystrokes. The kind where you get paid for making something, not moving money around a board and skimming a percentage.

You've already given hundreds of billions to banking and finance companies -- and hardly demanded anything. Yet you balk at the very idea of giving $25 billion to the Detroit Three. Heck, you shoveled that exact amount to Citigroup -- $25 billion -- just weeks ago, and that place is about to crumble anyhow.

Does the word "hypocrisy" ring a bell?

Protecting the home turf?

Sen. Richard Shelby. Yes. You. From Alabama. You've been awfully vocal. You called the Detroit Three's leaders "failures." You said loans to them would be "wasted money." You said they should go bankrupt and "let the market work."

Why weren't you equally vocal when your state handed out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Honda and others to open plants there? Why not "let the market work"? Or is it better for Alabama if the Detroit Three fold so that the foreign companies -- in your state -- can produce more?

Way to think of the nation first, senator.

And you, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona. You told reporters: "There's no reason to throw money at a problem that's not going to get solved."

That's funny, coming from such an avid supporter of the Iraq war. You've been gung ho on that for years. So how could you just sit there when, according to the New York Times, an Iraqi former chief investigator told Congress that $13 billion in U.S. reconstruction funds "had been lost to fraud, embezzlement, theft and waste" by the Iraqi government?

That's 13 billion, senator. More than half of what the auto industry is asking for. Thirteen billion? Gone? Wasted?

Where was your "throwing money at a problem that's not going to get solved" speech then?

Watching over the bankers?

And the rest of you lawmakers. The ones who insist the auto companies show you a plan before you help them. You've already handed over $150 billion of our tax money to AIG. How come you never demanded a plan from it? How come when AIG blew through its first $85 billion, you quickly gave it more? The car companies may be losing money, but they can explain it: They're paying workers too much and selling cars for too little.

AIG lost hundred of billions in credit default swaps -- which no one can explain and which make nothing, produce nothing, employ no one and are essentially bets on failure.

And you don't demand a paragraph from it?

Look. Nobody is saying the auto business is healthy. Its unions need to adjust more. Its models and dealerships need to shrink. Its top executives have to downsize their own importance.

But this is a business that has been around for more than a century. And some of its problems are because of that, because people get used to certain wages, manufacturers get used to certain business models. It's easy to point to foreign carmakers with tax breaks, no union costs and a cleaner slate -- not to mention help from their home countries -- and say "be more like them."

But if you let us die, you let our national spine collapse. America can't be a country of lawyers and financial analysts. We have to manufacture. We need that infrastructure. We need those jobs. We need that security. Have you forgotten who built equipment during the world wars?

Besides, let's be honest. When it comes to blowing budgets, being grossly inefficient and wallowing in debt, who's better than Congress?

So who are you to lecture anyone on how to run a business?

Ask fair questions. Demand accountability. But knock it off with the holier-than-thou crap, OK? You got us into this mess with greed, a bad Fed policy and too little regulation. Don't kick our tires to make yourselves look better.

   You really have to admire a government that can give away 10 Bilion dollars a day and get nothing in return but, can not find a way to loan one of the largest emplorers in the world. Not to even mention the countless jobs from related industries. These jobs pay taxes, they spend money on everything, buy homes and food, fund our schools,build our roads. It's time the american people tell the Legislature that we want our money to stay here for us to use the way it was always intended. If we stop taking care of every nation that is to darn lazy to go it on their own, we would not have been put in this situation in the first place. Where were these nations during the floods, how many stepped up after the hurricans but you can bet they are still getting your tax dollars while we suffer. Well thats got to stop. That money could be put to better use right here, right now.