There's no real connection between Midtown Plaza and the colossal problems facing Detroit automakers. But something Mayor Bob Duffy said in an interview several months ago resonates.

After hearing so many people romanticize the glory days of downtown Rochester and Midtown Plaza while lobbying him to do something to preserve the plaza, he had one reply: Where have all of these people been for the last 20 years? If Midtown is so darn important, why don't more people go there?

It's the flat opposite of "We'll build it and they'll come" mindset.

The Big Three are not without sin.

But the truth is that most Americans turned their backs on US automakers a long time ago, just like they turned away from US small electronics makers and dozens of other products that workers once made here.

Two US senators were making the rounds on the news talk shows last week and ended up on MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews. Before they could go into their bailout pitch, Matthews asked them both what kind of cars they drove. Of the two households, there were four cars - and only one was a Detroit-made vehicle.

Even if Congress and the White House agree to some kind of bailout package, which it appears they may, there is nothing that guarantees that Americans will support GM, Ford or Chrysler.

Even if the Big Three come out with so-called "green cars," it's unclear if the marketplace is really there. Americans may continue their love affair with foreign versions.

For capitalism to work, the government can't tell consumers what to buy even if it means employment of US workers and keeping that income at home.

Congress is scurrying about to come up with a $15-billion rescue package for the Big Three because "they are too big to fail."

But someone ought to let taxpayers know that if they want to get their money back, they are probably going to have to buy it back.