For many years now you would have been considered very patriotic to buy American cars in light of their inferiority. Now that we are dealing with a harsh new financial reality in our country, I feel strongly that we should buy only cars made by the three American companies.

1. If the government decides these companies are too important to fail, then we can conclude that by not buying their cars, we as taxpayers will end up paying in the form of government loans to the auto makers.

2. If, on the other hand, our government chooses to let them fail, then we again as taxpayers will end up paying the bill in the form of lost government revenue, government guarantees of their corporate pension plans, unemployment compensation, and the overall impact on vendors and all other interrelated companies.

Since American auto makers have narrowed the quality gap, I do not believe buying American to be a great sacrifice considering the potential harm to the American people. If we choose to buy foreign, for whatever reason, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. Nelson Berman Cherry Hill