But yes, this is hardly the sole area where the left bruits its support for the working people without actually supporting them.

Better to buy a sophisticated Euro car, so much more cosmopolitan, my dears.

The benefit structure was developed in a different world, when lots of car buyers and fewer, weaker competitors made it appear to be a reasonable option to improve the workers’ economic situation to that extent.

No more, the customers have too many strong options, and they do not want to pay the cost of those very generous benefits any longer.

No point in blaming union or management, each made deals they can’t sustain. If they can adapt quickly enough, they can survive. But nobody wants the party to end until absolutely necessary, so they put off adapting until it may be too late.

Just to be clear, the $73/hour is what it costs the automakers per hour of labor, that is fully loaded cost, the current worker’s share of that is significantly less, the retirees and health plans get the remainder.

And even the green, sophisticated, liberal folks are not willing to pay the bill any longer.

The UAW benefits have been so costly to American manufacturers that they must focus almost exclusively on how to keep these cost under some sort of control—before they can even spend a few minutes on trying to improve their vehicles. An auto expert remarked a few years ago that GM needed a CEO who was primarily an expert in benefits management. The individual’s ability to manage the other aspects of the business was deemed of secondary importance!

Ron Radosh is not sufficiently cynical concerning America’s left-wing community. There is one central reason why they reject libertarian economics: a hands off approach to economic activity does little to provide them with power and financially rewarding careers. Roosevelt’s New Deal was a godsend to the “elites.” It allowed these arrogant fools to ruthlessly exercise power.

Even sensible conservatives realize foreign-made cars are infinitely better than American cars. I’ve had my Tacoma since 2000. It gets reasonable gas mileage for a medium size truck, it’s a very good drive and I have maybe spent less than $2000 in repairs since I bought it. Used! Can’t say the same for the American cars I’ve bought.

I avoid Starbucks like the plague. I will continue to buy Toyota vehicles. My next truck will probably be a Tundra. It’s one big ballsy truck! Other then that, I buy American every chance I get. If I had a bike, it would be a Harley. I try to avoid cheap crap from China as much as I can.

The Big 3 got themselves into this mess by not building cars the average American wants to hang on to. It has nothing to do with unions. It has everything to do with quality.

The reason we have Japanese and Germans building cars in the USA at all is because their native workers in their home country plants are also unionized and payed a much higher wage than our UAW workers. Unfortunately, American manufacturers cannot build non-union plants in Japan or Europe.

Regardless, the major cost of an automobile is the components (many made in Mexico, China, and other foreign places now), and not the final assembly wage … so the wage disparity (labor unions) IS NOT the base cause of American car company woes.

Now, all that being said … I do agree with the author about “hypocricy” in not buying American … but this hypocrisy applies to the left and right both. Most everything the most workers in America enjoy today (the 40 hour work week, group health coverage, paid holidays and vacations) were hard fought accomplishments by organized labor.

For the record, I still have my 13yo Oldsmobile Cutlass (great car- almost problem free, and driver’s seat comfortably worn into a perfect fit by now).
I also enjoy a good Starbuck’s coffee every morning, but I have a good strong liberal manly Mondo (coffee with two added espresso shots), not a foo-foo sissy conservative style lattee, cappucino, or mocha.