Not anymore. GM is suing employees, retirees and a few widows of former workers who, the company says, gave out more than their allotted six discounts to family and friends. Times are tough and every half million dollars lost might as well be a billion these days. Expect that kind of bookkeeping to continue, and for it to extend into every aspect of the business.

As it should.

Carmakers, not charities

GM, Ford and Chrysler are not charitable organizations though they've acted like it in the past with everything from labor contracts to benefits and executive salaries. They cannot afford to let that continue. They're lobbying hard for direct government loans to help bring them out of their automotive abyss, but that can't happen until they plug a few more holes in the proverbial belt and tighten it even further.

Executive salaries and bonuses are a good place to start. Far too much is still being paid out in the management ranks and to appease hourly workers for the companies to claim they've exhausted all their options. Other perks need to be reigned in, too.

Ford, for example, offers executives (at various levels) multiple vehicle leases each year and some can get Mustangs for their teenage sons and daughters. There's nothing wrong with employees getting discounts on their company's products, but really, what's the business case to be made for giving sports cars to 16-year-olds?

The executive dining room at Chrysler is quite nice and serves a full menu everyday with plenty of wait staff on hand. But is it necessary?

Cutting perks matters

Getting rid of hand-battered pecan crusted whitefish or eliminating excessive employee discounts won't solve Detroit automakers problems, but those actions matter, even if only for symbolic reasons, because the rest of the nation doesn't care about Detroit's problems. And they certainly don't get the discounts.