As Americans we should refuse to buy cars with forighn name plates untill the curency exchange rate is equal. We also should stand behind the U.A.W living wages for manufactoring employess. I would be ashamed to purchase a car built with sweatshop,slave or child labor. Then they open non union shops in the U.S.A where employees are paid as little as $11/hour. This is toppling our economy. These people cannot contribute to our inferstructure (thus bridges collapes and schools are unfunded) They also do not consum the goods needed to support our manufactoring. If we even the wages Here and abroad and fix the currenct exchange rate. I will then test drive a forighn vechile making a decesion based on a fair playing feild.

Before you 'pontificate' to the blogging masses....
You should learn how to SPELL first....

Some Americans can't make more than $11/ hour becuase they can't spell FOREIGN VEHICLE or the location of the U.S. on a world map. C 'mon, really. Make American cars cheaper and more reliable and people will buy them.

I guess John was okay with high-school dropouts making the standard $28 per hour for a 40 hour work week and $42 per hour for overtime. It sounds to me like the union bargained for John, who can't even spell the word vehicle - the item he is manufacturing - quite a deal. I think the U.A.W. has sapped the largest U.S. automakers of the resources they need to compete, not the foreign automakers. There is room for everyone to make money in this market, and beyond, but using uneducated, unskilled LABORERS making $100k per year with stock options, great healthcare, and pensions that Physicians, Attorneys, and Engineers would enjoy is no way to compete. I'm sorry if buying an Accord seems unpatriotic to you, but maybe when you are forced to sell your $500,000 house, yacht, and hot-rod that those unions afforded you while you were bankrupting the U.S. companies, you will see that purchasing an actual quality "vechile" that is worth your now hard-earned dollars is very American indeed.

I ain't bought a Honda since when they had you pay more than the sticker price for a Honda, because they had you by your family jewels. I say screw Honda--
they also do not discount off the sticker price-------I say
screw Honda

Waldo F

Spelling is not an issue on E mails MY unhappy, disgruntled bussy -----------------it is always acccepted as typing errors----------so get off your high horse and get a grip on youself

The post about car workers buying $500,000 houses is a real crock of bull chips. He sounds like a loser who never made a decent salary.
What is wrong with people having a decent wage level so thay can come home with enough money to give their family a decent living. You sound like a sadm mean, bitter, loser.

I am tired of people running down the USA time and time again. If you want to be foreign, then move.
I want our USA workers to get decent pay to support their families. If it weren't for unions, many workers would still have a 60 hour week (six days) for as little as possible, because if you didn't want the job, there were people waiting to take your job------------no foreign stuff for me, if I can help it-----------support the USA all the way, when you can.

Aaron.
All the bashing aside, I'd challenge you to do some of those jobs for 10 hrs. & then tell me auto workers don't earn their wage. I'm one of those uneducated, unskilled LABORERS who's seen a much different workforce than the one you describe and/or envision.
A large percentage of my fellow workers have some college and it's not unusual to find one with a bachelors or masters degree. And we haven't even mentioned the ones who have some kind of trade school backround.
No Aaron, I see a domestic industry who's senior management is very short-sighted & prone to repeat the same mistakes over & over again. And you know what; it's the workers who pay the price in plant closings and downsizing. How do you reconcile paying a ex-CEO millions of dollars to go away after he nearly bankrupts one of the ex "Big three"??? And then two iterations later shell out $26 million to a guy who hasn't a clue about the industry.
I think 90% of the industry woes are senior management related. To be sure, the pension & health issues are huge; but that's a national issue & not isolated to one industry.
And YES, I agree with John; this is America & you can buy whatever you want. But I think it's unpatriotic also.

John,

Honda Accords are assembled in the USA (in Ohio) by American workers who need their jobs and spend their income here, in America. The currency exchange rate is irrelevant and "sweatshop,slave or child labor" is irrelevant. And John, yes, look into Dictionary.com and perhaps some English and grammar classes.

Regardless, the Honda Accord is sure to remain the standard by which family sedans are judged.

By the way, the new Saturn Astra is assembled in Antwerp, Belgium (that's in another country, John), and many so-called "American nameplate" cars are assembled in Mexico or Canada (those are also different countries, John).

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John typed (poorly):
>As Americans we should refuse to buy cars with >forighn name plates untill the curency exchange rate >is equal...(blah blah blah)...I would be ashamed to >purchase a car built with sweatshop,slave or child
> labor...(blah blah blah)...

I will agree that much of the current problem lies with management of these companies. Living in Detroit my whole life, I am exposed to the woes of this industry first hand, trust me. And after all, the auto manufacturers did accept the deals. However, Dean, while I do not mean to say there are no good workers in the industry, don't you think the concessions are a bit much? I don't mean to insult those without degrees, but to pay that kind of money, and to supply the best benefits, a manager in any other industry would expect a resume with more on it than G.E.D. And Waldo, this is not communist China here! 60 hour work weeks are a thing of the past in this country, and yes, partly because of the unions. But in the past, the manufacturers made money! You may think of me as a loser. Fine. But I will tell you, in my industry, healthcare, there would not be a single hospital operating in this country if they had to pay people the way U.A.W. workers are paid. Face it: the U.A.W. is a thing of the past, and Ford, GM, and Chrysler will be too, unless there are big changes. To me, two come to mind: stop paying employees more than you can afford, and improve the quality of your product. As the owner of a Ford for the last 12 years, I can't vouch for an improvement in quality. So when I buy my new Honda this year, it will not be without some sadness. My grandfather and father worked for Ford for 75 years combined. But I won't confuse being loyal with being taken advantage of.