Writes a friend about the pro-mercantilist auto industry:

Last week the [American car] company sent us a long e-mail encouraging employees to call their congressman to support a bail-out, and to encourage all their friends and neighbors to do so. In my 10+ years of working at the company I have not yet heard a single executive explain how we can compete against foreign automakers with a $1000-1500 cost disadvantage per vehicle to fund pension and labor obligations. Never. Now they want the taxpayer to cover the cost to ‘protect workers.’ What the heck is Social Security and unemployment insurance for? Weren’t these ‘safety nets’ put in place to protect workers against economic catastrophe brought on by the ‘free market’? Well, apparently this is not enough. The arrogance is astounding. A GM spokeswoman said the bail-out should be approved because ‘Chapter 11 is not an option’. Not an option? Where does she get off? Sounds like a Mafioso telling a victim that they are about to receive an offer that they can’t refuse. (By making the comparison I mean no disrespect to Mafioso).

The Best of Kathryn Muratore