On the home front...

Originally, I thought Mitt Romney's NYTimes piece on the auto industry bailout was surprisingly realistic and reasonable. However, I find this piece from salon.com to be more on target. It recognizes the historical fact that Henry Ford and the industry he led helped to create the American middle class, along with the UAW, which rose standards for all worker, and made reality the idea that a factory worker could make enough to live the same quality of life as his company's management.

This piece gave me more perspective on the recent outsing of my former Congressman John Dingle from his commitee chairmanship; though Dingle can easily be portrayed as defending the auto industry at all cost, he has also been introducing legislation for univeral healthcare every year for the last half century. The fact is that Dingle cares about the people involved in the industry and the reprocussions that its failure would have, while someone like Romney doesn't.

I also like the point of view that the salon piece takes on the SUV boon of the last decade: though it is widely viewed as irresponisble, it was a way for the Big Three to countiue to live up to their obligations in the social contract.