Look Who Made The List

And here's why.

For 30 years my father worked at a General Motors plant in Anderson, Indiana. He once said: "If this factory ever closes it's because the whole country is in serious trouble." Well Daddy ... you were right!

The economy is in the crapper. A lot of families are sweating it out right now, wondering if they will even have jobs in 2009. The automobile industry's reach into our economy is enormous -- if the Big Three fail, it won't just be auto workers that suffer.

Senate Republicans know this and see the bailout as an opportunity to finally bust one of the biggest unions in the country. There are a lot of reasons the auto industry is in trouble, but the union isn't one of them.

Union workers didn't decide which cars to manufacture, or how many to build -- the suits did. And while thousands of workers have already lost their jobs, executives have had to be forced to even CONSIDER giving up their BONUSES.

And don't forget the $700 Billion bailout to banks, who are now refusing to extend credit to auto makers or buyers. Sounds like a catch 22 to me.

US auto makers need to stop manufacturing huge gas-guzzling SUV's and re-tool to produce energy efficient cars. And they need to consider reducing the number of models they make, to become more competitive with foreign auto makers.

And Senators with foreign auto plants in their states need to start considering ALL Americans when they are voting. We are all in this boat together.