Motorhead

Sorry if the title mislead you but this is about the American auto industry, not about the English Heavy Metal band (I have nothing bad to say about Lemme & the boys). I realize that this is somewhat old news, but give me some slack, it's the holidays! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to wax-poetic on the ridiculousness of the "big three".
I find it rather irritating that small businesses when faced with hard times or our well advertised failing economy, are forced to suck it up, do for themselves, cross their fingers and pray and hope that they will be able to make things work out for the best. However, large multi-million dollar corporations that have over the past few decades continuously put out products that are inefficient and have considerably shorter life spans than products from decades past, while all the while becoming more and more expensive , both to acquire and to maintain, these companies can get government help. What the hell?!
A company that makes a below average product (as the big three have done) can pay their CEO's and "higher-up's" ridiculous salaries (more than enough for three well off families) with loads of benefits and private planes (and I'm sure they don't pay for their vehicles either), then they can wastefully overproduce their products and practice less than strategic or "shotty" business management practices, then ask the government to help dig them out of a hole.
Yes, they can ask for this help. They can do it with a straight face and no feeling of guilt or irresponsibility. And the real kick in the ass?! The government will be do it! Not only that, but the money being used to bail these fools out comes from us! We have been subjected to their poor craftsmanship and gouging prices for years, and now we get to fork over more money so they can continue to screw things up!
Don't get me wrong, I do understand that they employ a very LARGE number of people (surprisingly a lot of Americans since their product is barely built from American parts). I think that's the only reason the government agreed to help, sort of a "we'll help you to save ourselves" kind of move. I feel bad for the people that have, will or worry about losing their jobs, especially in areas where there are few or no other job opportunities that compensate as well.
You may think that I sound unAmerican for ripping on these morons, for portraying these iconic American companies as the bad guys. Well, I beg to differ. I full heartedly switched my automotive allegiance to Honda a few years ago, I know they are not an "American" company, they are Japanese (at least they're not Chinese or they would likely be laced with lead and Melamine, but that's another story), but they have numerous facilities in the U.S. where they employ Americans and they produce a product that has improved in quality and efficiency. I would say that makes them more "American" than the big three.
I'm not offering any grand resolution for this problem, I haven't the knowledge, understanding or experience to deal with a cluster-fuck this large, but I will say that the next time you go look at cars to buy or lease, perhaps you should consider whether you want to support a company simply because they were born in the U.S. or Support a company because they actually support the U.S.?