“In a move that should surprise no one, the Big Three Automakers have come begging for a bailout and are using their most potent weapon; dire threats of further economic collapse and job loss, as blackmail. The reason that this is the very essence of non-news is that not only has the government bailed out one of the industry thugs before, but anyone with two brain cells to rub together can figure out that a business model based on products with engineered obsolescence and manufactured in an environment of out-of-control pensions and locked-in union contracts is going to be at the mercy of market trends. It is no secret that the Big Three has long been behind the ball insofar as alternate fuel/high-mileage vehicles for quite some time; preferring to reap huge profits on the SUV/pickup market at the expense of redesigning for fuel efficiency.” (11/19/08)