Squads made in U.S. better for economy

From my perspective the economy is getting worse. I'd like to suggest a partial solution, and hope politicians and village managers throughout Illinois consider my suggestion.

A recent newspaper article about squad cars said the Ford Crown Victoria, the Chrysler Charger and the Chevy Impala squads are all made in Ontario. The Tribune stated that each year police departments in the United States buy 60,000 squad cars.

Ford will be building a Taurus-based squad car in Chicago. In the early 1970s, the majority of squad cars used in the United States were built in Belvidere at a Chrysler plant. The state of Illinois provided incentives to police departments to purchase these cars because it would create jobs, produce taxes and improve our state's economy.

We must remember that Ford was the only company that did not take bailout money, and they should be rewarded for producing these cars in the United States. General Motors has designed a squad car and intends to build it initially in Australia and eventually in Canada. When it comes to the United States it will be called a Chevrolet, but unfortunately its design and manufacture were not done in the United States. General Motors did receive a bailout and most recently was disclosed that the CEO will make $9 million dollars.

We must begin to purchase goods made in the United States by American workers if we expect to reverse the current trend. In the event that all of the squad cars were made in the United States and if you assume that each of them would cost approximately $25,000, Illinois would be the beneficiary of $1.5 billion in commerce that it does not receive now.

I have never owned Ford stock.

Michael Victor

Schaumburg