Reply #6: First of all it's never too late

[1gobluedem]

And even if foreign cars are acknowledged as worthy competition, which they certainly are now, what about the unfair trade practices that allowed foreign automakers to flood the US market while closing theirs to US imports?

Consider this from yesterday's Free Press:

"The United States is the only country with an auto industry that it does not support, subsidize or in some way protect against outside competition. All we do is regulate it. The $25 billion Congress approved in September for loans to car companies was expressly for the retooling of factories to make vehicles that can meet new government mileage standards.

You can say the auto companies should not be rewarded for making bad decisions, like building big cars and trucks. But until recently, the auto companies were building what Americans wanted to buy. When gas hit $4 a gallon, as it will again, the public's appetite changed faster than the auto plants could."

Entire column is here: http://www.freep.com/article/20081116/COL32/811160392/1069/OPINION01