Now that General Motors has filed for bankruptcy protection with the government to have over sixty percent ownership and the unions seventeen percent. The stockholders will get the short end of the stick, I can now say, No GM for me.

I was a loyal GM customer. Most of my cars were GM products. I started driving in 1958, fifty-one years ago. My father was a Chrysler fan. At the time my parents had a 1954 Chrysler and an old 1947 Dodge sitting in the back yard. I learned to drive with that old Dodge. After that I had three other Dodges during the muscle car years.

In the seventies I converted to GM products. Up to now I have had 6 GM vehicles. They have given me good service. They took me to point A and back with no major breakdowns on any trip. There were some minor expenses on repairs. Most of the repair expenses were just routine maintenance items. All in all I would say I was relatively satisfied with GM products.

During that time I had a Mazda small pickup and two Subaru station wagons. I have no major complaints about them either. However, the routine maintenance expenses were higher compared to the GM products.

I now own a 2001 Chevy S10 PU and 1999 Subaru station wagon. I like to keep a vehicle around ten years and then trade in. It is getting close to the time to make a trade.

I know for sure there is no GM for me as long as the government owns the majority of the company. Maybe after the government relinquishes the holdings of GM I will consider a GM vehicle. Chrysler is in the same boat, so Chrysler is also out. Ford is in a similar situation. They just borrowed a ton of money before all these automotive problems surfaced. Now they are just surviving on this borrowed money. What is left? Toyota is a possibility? Maybe another Subaru, Kia or Hyundai are other possibilities. Unfortunately none of these are American owned auto manufacturers. Is this the death of the American auto industry? Is this another industry that American manufacturers cannot compete in?

All taxpayers now own an auto company. I have heard it called Government Motors. Where is American capitalism going? Is this change we can believe in?