Bush’s Trade Trip to Asia

If George Bush’s “highest priority” on his Asian tour is to create “good jobs for the American workers,” he sure picked peculiar members to accompany him.

The three major American auto makers--whose chairmen are guests on this junket--collectively have lost over $8 billion in the past 12 months. GM alone has lost $5 billion. They have also laid off thousands of workers.

It would be difficult to find another group of American business executives who through the mismanagement of their corporations have caused greater hardship and loss of jobs for the American worker.

These executives as a group have methodically drawn huge salaries and bonuses, bearing no relationship to the profits or accomplishments of their companies, and despite the bitter misfortune endured by their laid-off workers.

Instead of a Far East boondoggle, these executives should focus on manufacturing products which are well-made and competitive in the U.S. and world markets. This simple first step is necessary to restore and create jobs here at home.

RANDY L. ZUCKERMAN, Los Angeles