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Valid Response or Fighting Words?

The unnecessarily long and painful path toward the approval of government bridging loans for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC has exposed a new threat to Detroit. It’s one that Michigan consumers may want to keep in mind as they consider their expenditures, vacation options and even retirement plans.

The problem here centers on certain southern states — Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and, in particular, Alabama — where certain bone-headed senators seem to have forgotten that the Civil War ended, with the appropriate outcome, almost 150 years ago.

During recent Congressional hearings, these ‘good old’ southern boys made it clear they could care less about Detroit’s survival and blocked passage of emergency loans in the Senate, leaving it to a decidedly reluctant President George W. Bush to approve the financial relief package….

So what should be done about this attempt to put Michigan out of business? The suggestions from readers came in thick and fast.

Apparently Alabama is quite a tourist destination for Michigan residents, so perhaps they will want to find other places to spend their hard-earned dollars. The southern state is also heavily favored by retirees from Michigan, but maybe that could change, too.

One other thought raised by readers concerns disasters; not the financial kind we are all experiencing, but the natural variety — droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods — the sort of calamities that afflict southern states on a regular basis.

As you point out, federal taxpayer money flows freely in these circumstances, and so does free assistance from northern states, including Michigan. Detroit automakers, for example, gladly helped with vehicles and personnel when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast.

Is it time the South is reminded that a mean-spirited attitude is not a smart play when the whole country is on the ropes?

–full article at The Detroit News