Forgers will get a little bit closer attention for their role in the financial meltdown soon, as one of the most recognizable domestic forging companies joins the crowd of petitioners seeking federal assistance. FormTech Industries, barely three years old, is among the companies being led by the Original Equipment Suppliers Assn. and the Motor Equipment Manufacturers Assn., seeking to have government aid to the auto industry extended to automotive supplier companies.

When everyone else is getting something, it probably is a mistake (in a competitive sense) not to take the same advantage. But, these days, competition is a highly theoretical concept. What are those other supplicants really gaining?

More specifically, what's gained comes at a steep cost in terms of public perception. Already the most overworked quip in the U.S. involves casual friends or total strangers asking out loud, in exasperation, "Where's my bailout?"

Until now, all the bailout money has gone to "Wall St. billionaires," and other irresponsible characters, who have never cared much about their reputations for "quality" or "performance" anyway. And, in exchange for the financial support they've been obliged to show up in Washington to be bullied and berated by Congressmen (of all people!)

At least the bankers got their hands on the money first; the automaking execs were humiliated that way before they got anything. They're due for another round of "hearings" in March, and you can expect more staged outrage.

Which ought to be a signal to the auto parts manufacturers, but apparently they can't help themselves. Apart from recognizing that this money is not free, they ought to consider what they're giving up for it.

With a few obvious exceptions, these are companies that generally don't need to clear up "toxic" debts, don't need to restructure or to reposition themselves, and don't need to cut out excess capacity: they just need for consumer demand to revive so that their customers can get back to placing orders. They've spent the past 20 years right-sizing and optimizing. Some fresh cash will help keep the lights on, but it's not going to fix their biggest problem.

Once they do take the money, they'll have a whole new set of problems but they still won't have anyone buying their products.