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A few questions (and statements):
1. Where were the UAW and other union workers in the 60s and 70s, when the electronics industry in the USA was hurting due to imports? From my experience, they were lined up purchasing Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, etc. Do not get me wrong, I am not condemning this action, I was there purchasing the imported products too. However, now that their jobs are at risk, they are screaming. Do not get me wrong, the last thing I want to see is the decline of the auto industry. Not only because I work in it, but also I believe that if GM and Ford go out of business, this country is in big trouble.

The auto companies put a lot more into this country than the transplants. Most of the transplant vehicles contain less USA/Canadian content, and the primary profits go back to Japan or Korea, not into the USA economy.

For those who believe the country would survive without GM and Ford, I agree with you, the country will survive. However, not counting the number of GM/Ford/Chrysler employees who will no longer be working, let us count all the suppliers, truckers, rail, dealers, technicians, etc. Look at the taxes these companies, suppliers, dealers, etc., pay into the economy. The USA will survive, but it will be a large dent in our country.

The country is not only in trouble because of the income lose, but for national defense. If we ever need the industrial capacity to build for another world war, what do we do, outsource to Mexico? If it was not for the big three in WWII, we might all be talking German or Japanese today. Just look at the tanks, planes, and even machine guns that the car companies were able to start manufacturing in months after the war started.

2. Why do union workers always condemn Wal-Mart, yet every union worker I knew in TN, shopped at Wal-Mart? It used to kill me that the UAW news out of Spring Hill had a message at least once a month about stores that were not union friendly, and a good union worker should not shop there. However, when I was there purchasing cleaning, auto, household items, I always spotted union workers and their families. Talk about hypocrisy.