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while i agree with some of your post i disagree with other parts of it. The engineering is already mostly done offshore, with the bulk (over 60%) of the parts manufactured outside the US. While it is true that you cannot get alot of work for the foreign plants here in the US ( I work in automation and assembly line machinery ) we are making headroads in. But, at the same time, the US manufacturers are buying more of their machinery offshore. So, as of right now it is a crap shoot.... I heard a union guy stating that we need to support the big 3 because the profits stay here, and do not go oversea’s, but the union also bitches when profits are made because they do not get their “ fair share “ ...sorry, but there is little to no difference right now between them......

Nobody dislikes the UAW more than I do. They ARE the major reason that Detroit is in the situation they are in today. That said we need to maintain a manufacturing capability within the United States. This is crucial for our economy and national security.

Look I don't care if we get our sneakers and wicker baskets from offshore. That's something we could always reinvent with very little capital or effort if we ever needed to.

But serious manufacturing is not something we want to lose. For if you lose the capability you eventually lose the knowledge that goes into it. For example if we want to start to rebuilt our nuclear energy producing capability we will have to go overseas for the technology. This is because the number of schools of nuclear engineering has declined to just a few. We don't have the latest technology because we haven't been building nuclear plants for over 30 years.

The same is true with any technology or manufacturing. We cannot afford to lose the KNOWLEDGE based jobs involved in the automotive industry. This is where the so called free market guys make their mistake on this issue. Starting up an auto manufacturing company isn't like a software startup or a restaurant. It takes too much capital and time and we don't have patient capital any longer in the US. They money guys want a quick buck and that ought to be apparent to anyone paying attention lately.