5 hits, misses at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show

Ask Mitt Romney, he should know.

Obama calls his Air Force One...

Buy a bus and take Mitt Romney and the rest of the remaining circular firing squad on a trip to Mexico, Romney's ancestral home, the polygamist colony where Grandpa Romney had 8 wives. Take the Fox "news" bunch along for "moral?" support, and please make sure and run out of diesel just as you arrive at the compound, so you and the "republican field and support staff" can vacation there, for about 4 years at least. It may take another 4 years for the country to recover from the 8 years of DUBYA. It has taken 3 years to regain the 4 million jobs lost in Bush's last 6 months in office. And by the way, don't let any of the republican candidates drive the bus. They have a history of running the bus into a ditch. In Mexico, without all the guardrails on the roads, they might run the bus over a cliff! If they INSIST on driving the bus, save yourself. Get off the bus, grab your bags and hitchhike. You will have a much better chance of survival.

Most turbo diesel's will give you better mileage than a smartcar.

Oh you gifted one-- the smart diesel gets much more mileage, but the idiots from Daimler don't have it here. Most of us smart owners don't give a rat's ass about mileage anyway. That's not why we buy the car, good mileage is just a side product.

Most of us non-smart owners don't give a rats ass about whatever else it is that you smart owners care about. It's a fad. Deal with it.

A Ford Fusion is a 1% car, what are you smoking?

Hairdood, you need to find some cheese to go with your whine.

You have to love that Bruce, but do you think it actually carry the tire for repair?

I wouldn't buy a Chinese car if they cost half what an American made car cost. If we keep buying Chinese products, no one in America will have a job to pay for the Chinese junk. Why is it that my 4 year old "stainless steel" CharBroil "commercial series" grill is a $300 rust bucket? The grill was only a few months old when the "stainless" hood and doors began to rust, and the "porcelain on steel" interior parts started flaking off chunks of porcelain. The grates flaked porcelain into the food, and when I checked the company's web site, they actually had questions posted from customers at the time, like "why is my stainless grill rusting?", and "why are my grates flaking off chunks of porcelain?".. The company's answers were "stainless steel doesn't mean it won't rust" and "the porcelain flakes are harmless if you ingest them". Porcelain is GROUND GLASS, and, of course, when the porcelain flakes off, the steel underneath will start rusting. What's even worse. the grill was actually unsafe to use within two years, because the small flame carriers which divert propane from one burner to the next rusted and disintegrated, so after the first burner was lit, propane could accumulate in the grill until it exploded. The "porcelain on steel" flame spreaders above the burners began rusting out and one by one have disintegrated into dust, so the flame is now directly exposed to the burgers, chicken, or whatever you are cooking which causes the food to catch on fire. I purchased the grill from Lowe's, and was told that they didn't handle warranty issues on the grills and I that I needed to contact Char Broil. Char Broil was completely giving customers the run around as far as even parts replacements under warranty. I've noticed that they now offer replacement grates (which look like they are made just like the originals) for $50 per pair at Lowe's and Wal Mart. This same brand of grill is sold by Wal Mart and Home Depot, but the other brands I've seen are all made in China and look like they would have the same defects built in. My old grill was a Jacuzzi made in Arkansas, and my son took it to college. The Jacuzzi never rusted and in 25 years, I spent $20 on a new burner.. Chinese steel, I've discovered, is inferior compared to American steel. China makes about 9 grades of stainless steel, and these grills are built with the cheapest grade available . I believe this same type grill could be made in the USA with good quality components for about $20 more. I would bet the Chinese Grills selling for $300 cost no more than $30 to manufacture in China., and could sell for $350 versus $300 retail and at a very substantial profit.
This $300 lesson was valuable to me in that I learned the hard way about Chinese junk steel. Apparently the government offers little protection to consumers who buy unsafe products such as these Propane TIME BOMBS. Is there any chance that I would buy a Chinese car, knowing the quality of steel that goes into Chinese products? NO WAY!. I can imagine driving down the interstate when suddenly the engine falls out out because the frame had rusted.
And of course, there is the CRITICAL ISSUE of Chinese imports destroying American manufacturing jobs. Trade with China COULD be a great thing, if we were like Germany, Europe's strongest economy, and required China to IMPORT the same dollar amount of goods that they export to us. We are running about a $25 BILLION TRADE DEFICIT EVERY MONTH with China, putting China a position to control our government with our debt instruments they own. The Chinese government can now SECRETLY buy politicians in the US, thanks to the Koch brothers' Citizens United case, WHICH IS THE GREATEST THREAT EVER TO OUR DEMOCRACY.