A vibrant' domestic auto industry is what Bush wants

Photo: Ron Edmonds / Associated Press

Finally, after trying for months to try and meet with President Bush, the auto executives from GM, Ford and Chrysler were granted a 45-minute meeting.

Wow, forty-five minutes! So that meant GM's Rick Wagoner, Ford's Alan Mulally and Chrysler's Tom LaSorda got 15 minutes to plead their cases, assuming everyone got equal time. Not a whole heck of a lotta time—especially for such an important topic relating to our country's well being, I would say... Bush said the CEOs had a "constructive and meaningful dialogue."

"We talked about our mutual desire to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," he said. "Obviously, as these automobile manufacturers begin to incorporate new technologies that will enable us to power our cars in different ways, it will make it easier for me to be able to tell the American people we're using less foreign oil.

"My message to our trading partners is just treat us the way we treat you. Our markets are open for your products, and we expect your markets to be open for ours, including our automobiles."