I'm watching the heads of the Big 3 Auto Companies weave and dodge while trying to justify their future existence in a consumer economy that's already put them at a short sale.  The arguments are all tried and true and a little too late and self serving

1. Automobiles are our last great manufacturing enterprise.  Lose them and we all look like Tibet.  I have news for you...Michigan looks like Tibet anyway.  At least with Tibet you get minimum wages you can live with.

2. Millions of ancillary jobs will be lost.  Well, that might be true but millions are being lost anyway and they won't all be lost at one time.  The same company that makes seats for Explorers can make seats for Hummers with Gun Turrets.  Just redirect, redeploy, reassess, reprogram.  BlackWater's Military Contract would make up 10% of the value of GM.

3. Pensions and Retirement will be lost- The amount of unfunded pension liability, thanks to shrewd negotiating on the part of the Unions and collusion with the accounting industry has guaranteed that the pensions won't be there anyway.  The pensions, retirement, and health benefits that people are entitled to are just that:  entitlements with no basis in fact or economic reality.

4. Millions of high paying jobs will be lost- The fact of the matter is that the high paying jobs are part of the problem.  Not that robotics is easy to learn, but $55 an hour for high speed lug nut turning is a dream situation.  The high paying jobs are just bi-weekly extortion plans from employee to employer.

5. We will lose our manufacturing advantage Globally-  Thank God.  The last thing I want America to be known for is an assembly line with 10% improved efficiency.  Send these jobs overseas with the pollution with the complexities with the mess that comes with them.  I'd rather see a 20,000 acre Phizer Plant in Grand Rapids than another car assembly plant.  Let's develop a Global Reputation for curing cancer and Alzheimers and not one for putting CD changers in more effectively.

Manufacturing isn't over in the US, it's just going to be different.  It will be better for all of us and better for the rest of the world when it happens. American Automobiles peaked about the time of the '67 Mustang and  the movie, American Graffitti.  Detroit has been churning out Greatest Hits for a decade now with dwindling crowds and slow t-shirt sales.  The arrival of Industry Royalty in private jets ( admittedly they were leased and about to be turned in) shows how clueless these guys are.  All we needed was Leona Helmsley in a voice over saying:  "Wages.  Wages are for little people".

Let's just provide a 25 billion transition line of credit to the real heroes of that industry, the workers and sell the Corporate Jets and move on.. It will be great for everyone.