This government bailout reminds me of the exercise that the Brits did in an attempt prop up their industries after both World Wars. It didn't help.

In the future, will the Democrats (or for that matter the Republicans) be able to lead this nation?

Finally, education will be the key. It will separate the "haves" from the "have-nots". Yet, some parents are not too overly concerned.
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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.

Yes we cannot continue status quo. The book 'The World Is Flat' is a tremendous eye opener that has me evaluating the definition of a successful career in the future. With so many refusing to perform manual labor and trade skills these day; could it be that even some of the skills such as machining, welding, fabrication, etc. might be in high demand some day?

Anyways I agree Main that our union mentality has chased precious middle-class sustaining jobs right out of this country. Remember when we were kids our friends parents were painters, bricklayers, concrete finishers, and they often ran successful family businesses as such? Perhaps the "paradigm shift" in this country should be to not only embrace technology.....but to re-establish our work ethic and willingness to actually produce something rather than manage something.

Bailing out the Big 3 right now makes about as much sense as handing a homeless drug addict $100,000 and demanding that he go cleam himself up and better his life. Don't like that example? How about giving an Alabama trailer dwelling Redneck a half mil and watch how he improves his life. It's amazing how much common ground these 3 have with each other.

...as liberal as I am, I really question the union mentality to maintain the status quo, regarding wages-benefits-pensions, within the failing U.S. auto industry. It seems that the union leaders would rather see the industry fail than to make any concessions. Do we really need unions in the 21st Century? Maybe the idea of "unions" has run its course, having provided a much needed service during the industrialization of our country back in the early 1900's. But this is the 21st Century and do we really need them any longer?

I remember being laid off in the oil industry back in the 1980's, several times, due to market fluctuations, supply/demand of oil, international unrest, embargo's and blockades, and we did not belong to a union. What did we do when this happened? As employees, we pulled ourselves up, dusted off our resumes and found other jobs. Some of us even went back to school and reeducated ourselves in an entirely new profession.

I just don't see the need for the unions any longer. Someone else, please argue your opposing opinion 'cause I'd really like to understand your position.

(Git... I'll have to read that book, it sounds like a good one!)

Put as simply as I can, there is no need to bust them, and if they are irrelevant, they will go away on their own, or cease to be a factor.

Keep your eye on the ball, because it is the money changers that have caused our current problems, and it is the money changers who have grabbed the lion's share of the bailout funds. I originally thought that it was the large numbers of dollars that were hard to grasp, now I see it is the amount of abject stupidity involved that I cannot fully comprehend.

"I can't wait until tomorrow, because I get more lovable every day."

You know what's scary for you? You sound like me on this issue.

Hey! About those oil field lay-offs. I finally bailed from my Oil Patch days back in 87. Twas definetly time for a career change. However, my body thanks me daily for not brutalizing my knees or my hearing any further from that time on....