Apparently, the American government can fork over $700 billion of our money to Wall Street gamblers to pay for executive bonuses and meetings at luxury resorts, but it can't spare $25 billion to tide over the big three automakers and save 3 million jobs. Why bail out one industry and let another drown? Could it be because Wall Street isn't unionized? Is the government willing to let Chrysler, Ford and GM flounder because they're hoping it will break the back of the United Auto Workers? We've seen the figures showing that a union lineworker in Detroit makes over $70 an hour in income and benefits, while a non-union lineworker at a Nissan or BWM plant in Tennessee or Alabama makes about $25 an hour. Apparently we are all supposed to be outraged that union workers are "getting rich," and by the same argument we're all supposed to cheer lower wages for American workers paid by their Japanese and European employers. That attitude is more than a bit sick to me.
