Aid for automakers

Re “Bush extends aid to carmakers,” Dec. 20

I still believe that Chapter 11 bankruptcy is the best long-range plan for the U.S. auto companies. They need to be in a Betty Ford clinic for business. They need a form of tough love rehab -- not more addictive cash injections.

Many years ago I was returning to Los Angeles by plane from the East Coast. As we approached LAX, I noticed that the gentleman sitting across the aisle from me was shaking badly. I asked the flight attendant what was wrong with the man, and she said that he needed a drink and had run out of money.

Without hesitation I bought him a drink, and he immediately stopped shaking. I knew that this was no long-term fix for his problem, but I felt badly for him.

Maybe that’s the motivation for handing the automakers up to $17.4 billion.

Bob Jack

North Las Vegas

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That President Bush has to order a loan to the automobile companies as a last-ditch effort to save them makes me question the allegiance of the American people to the country in which they live.

Buying a car made in the United States is good for the United States, and buying a car made in a foreign country is not good for the United States. Buying an American-made car is a patriotic act; buying a foreign-made car is not.

Considering this, and the depression-like condition the country currently is in, one would think the American people would be rushing out to buy American cars. They are not. Rather, they sit back and express contempt for them.

Gene Pomerantz

Tarzana