I agree...just buy the Big Three.

Did anyone read L.A. Times automotive critic Dan Neil's piece today on the Big Three?

Here's the link: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-neil2-2008dec02,0,7103298.story

I've got to say, I agree with Mr. Neil.

If we're going to dump billions in bridge loans into the Big Three's accounts, the government might as well buy them and let the force of taxpayer money and the government push GM, Ford and Chrysler toward vehicles that are truly ready for the 21st century.

Call it socialism, or whatever you want, but something has to give.

As Neil points out, GM is way too big for itself. Yet, it's full of talent that, if channeled in the right way, could not only create green-running vehicles for a new age, but wean our country off of our oil dependence.

As long as the kind of thinking that drove board directors to choose short-term profit of SUVs over a long-term future prevails, billions in loans to automakers will likely evaporate before our eyes.

That's because creating a profitable green-energy running car is likely many years away.

They simply can't be profitable right now. But they could be. And as Neil suggests, the Big Three, and their talent, could help us get there. And once we're there, the government could sell GM, and even the other two, at a profit. But it can happen only if there's willingness to sacrifice short-term profit for longterm gain.

In a radio interview this morning, Neil echoed a point I think many Americans these days share -- or at least are seriously pondering.

We are at a historic moment. Yeah, we could sit back and let the "free" market do its thing and let new players emerge. Or, we could seize this moment by seizing an entire American auto industry and re-gearing it for a new world, and in fact to lead change in that new world.

It was a world that this very industry changed when the first Ford Model T came off the line.

It's a world that American automakers could help change again, if we're willing to set aside ideology and put new ideas on the assemby line.