To me a huge part of the general problem is that most people don't want to work at the lowest levels, which are the MOST IMPORTANT. Everybody wants to start at the "top" of the system with banks and mega-corps. The entire human race is built on the ready availability of food, raw materials and energy. How do you stabilize the economy? Get more people working on agriculture, forest management, mining, smelting, alternative energy installation, all that sort of thing. Hard, heavy, industry. This are where real value starts. Cars and computers and cheeseburgers are all many steps removed from what actually makes things work, and you can't build a palace on a foundation of muck.

ford and GM are definitely coming up with some nice vehicles. i always wanted to want a volvo, now i do. the current c30 is nice, but upcoming s40 and 60 are slick 3-series killers.

Very true....as important over here as it is for you in the US....we cancelled out our heavy industries and outsource everything to China or wherever...then we wonder why we have problems in society and high unemployment...

NAFTA makes cheaper goods available for consumers, but it also removes the disincentives that used to keep jobs in the U.S. I'm not a big union supporter, but I've read about too many cases where workers make concessions, upper management gets obscene bonuses/options/salaries, no investment is made in their U.S. facilities until things are falling apart, at which point they move production out of the U.S. I think that there should be a maximum legal compensation limit for any employee (or contractor lest CEOs redefine themselves as contractors) set as a factor against the wages of the lowest-paid employee for an 8-hour period.

So, if a company operates a facility (outside the U.S.) where workers are paid $1/hour and the maximum limit factor is 30, then the maximum total compensation for any position within the organization would be limited to $1/hour * 8 hours/day * 30, or $240/day. Even if the factor was set at 100, and the low employee makes $10/hr, the compensation limit would be under $3 million/year.

If upper management wants to make huge money, then it should be based on a company's competitive success, not squeezing their low-level workers, and laws shouldn't continue to reward "American" companies for moving jobs overseas. if a product isn't made in the U.S. then it isn't American no matter who's label is on it. I realize that this is an unrealistically simplistic approach, but there should be some way of limiting the ever-widening gap between the very rich and everyone else.

i'll agree with the bottom being most important, economically speaking, taking into account the pyramid structure of the work force. the most people make the least money, and as long as they have money the economy has many people with the ability to spend.

unfortunately, more of these people are losing that ability and the people at the top, who are very few, just put their money into savings. the opposing force to that is they're paying their workers less, since machines are doing most of the work, and so everything gets cheaper. still not cheap enough for the broke who used to comprise the bottom of the pyramid.

that's why it's okay to tax the top of the pyramid heavier than the bottom. at least the govt spends that money. mind you, i'm a conservative.

Look at it this way, your company is doing so bad that its about to close its door. You are the CEO, and you need to go to the fed to get some $$. You fly to capital hill with your 40 million company jet. If your company is doing so bad then don't you think its about time you sell those jets? I'm sorry but if you are going to the fed for money then your company doesn't have much of a good image to the general public. Before the company go ask for money, why can't they do some cutting within the company? I'm sure the union would not disagree with them selling some jets. I'm sure the union would not disagree with not giving the CEOs any holiday money this season.

Bestbuy co., one of our largest retail store is also having trouble. Their sells for the past months took a deep dive. If they go to the fed now and ask for 50billion will they get it? no, company should really REALLY exhuast everything that they can WITHIN the company first before they beg for $$. And sadly, begging for money with fed has become the trend. Again its not fair for taxpayers to have to pay for big companies mistakes.

I was watching the hearing with the fed and the big 3's CEOs. They don't even know if the 25 billion that they ask for is enough for them to live thru the next 4 months. It is how unprepared they are. I'm all for American made prodcuts. but the CEOs have gone too far in sucking all the money they can with the company and not even care about the company's future.

Wow, what are these two, Magnum? Got my interest.

I'm surprised to hear that the big 3 approached Washington for financial aid as well. They're doing the same thing here, approaching Ottawa for monies to keep afloat. Sounds like their trying to do one heck of a big money grab.

They look like the Chevy Volt and Cruze - supposed to come out in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

What does Adolf Hitler, Lance Armstrong, Napoleon the Great, and Tom Green have in common?

determination? charisma?

gotta say the tom green thing throws me off.

One nut?