Some thoughts on the news . . .

GM

My first thought upon hearing that the United Auto Workers union is going to end up owning 55% of GM and 39% of Chrysler, with Barack Obama essentially owning most of the rest, was this question:

What happens the next time Ford goes to sit down at the bargaining table with the UAW when the union has a huge vested interest in the success of Ford’s competitors? Does anybody think the union is going to bargain in good faith?

The tragic irony is that the U.S. auto makers primary problem has been the strangling kudzu of union contracts and work rules that make adaptation, efficiency and innovation impossible. It’s sort of like the Swine Flu Virus being given controlling interest in the Centers for Disease Control.

Arlen Specter

Off you go, Senator. All the best with that clinging-to-power-for-power’s-sake thing. Principles are overrated.

Specter’s about to discover that those mean conservatives who vote in Republican primaries are cuddly beanie babies compared to lefty zealots that populate Democrat primaries. He hasn’t seen real viciousness. But he’s about to. Good luck with that, too.