To the Point

Do Ford and Other US Auto Manufacturers Have a Future?

The Ford Motor Company is following General Motors with factory closings and brutal cutbacks in North American operations. Henry Ford invented assembly-line mass-production and paid his workers enough that they could buy the cars they were making. Now great-grandson Bill is laying off some 30,000 North American workers, because the cars they produce aren't selling. While the CEO says he plans to fight Toyota and win, skeptics say he's not confronting the real cost of union labor, and that it's too late to go green. It's a financial crisis that dramatizes the pressures of globalization and the decline of American manufacturing. We speak with journalists and economists about health care, pensions, the environment, economic inequality and what's hot in the world's biggest market for cars. Making News: Party-Line Vote Sends Alito Nomination to Senate FloorAs expected, the Judiciary Committee has sent Judge Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination to the Senate floor on a strictly partisan vote: 10 Republicans, yes, 8 Democrats, no. Jonathan Darman, an editor for Newsweek who covered the Alito hearings, has more on the upcoming vote before the full Senate.Reporters Notebook: Canadian Voters Swing to the RightAfter four Liberal victories in 13 years, the Conservatives won Canada's national election but failed to win a Parliamentary majority. Despite the Liberal Party's last-minute claims of extremism, voters appear to believe that Stephen Harper, who defeated Paul Martin, has evolved into more of a centrist than he's been in the past. John Ibbitson of Canada's Globe and Mail considers what Harper's victory will mean for the Kyoto Treaty, missile defense and relations with President Bush.