What goodwill they have left centers on the their being the victim of circumstance. Start focusing on truth about, well, anything about their business but certainly on their claims about being broken by labour costs and currency manipulation and such and suddenly how badly managed GM has become is instantly apparent.

It wasn’t the recession. It isn’t the Big Bad UAW. It certainly wasn’t evil, slant-eyed currency manipulators as Bob Lutz liked to trumpet. It’s the generations of corporate aristocrats and the yes-men they float on that brought them down.

The other annoying part of this editorial is that, when it was written, I was completely comfortable with GM biting the dust. That they waited and flailed and continued to burn money like gasoline until suddenly letting them fail wasn’t an option (well, to some) was either brilliant strategy, or sheer dumb luck on the part of GM management. Going bankrupt during boom-time would have exposed them as the incompetents they were

This is a government, however, that is OK with selective intervention. It accepts our tax money and over-regulates our businesses onshore. Delphi’s workers’ compensation bond alone is $108 million just for the privilege of doing business in New York State. Then it is also must protect us from this type of shameless exploitation that is currently being called “private-sector business methods.”

The so-called hands-off approach allowed the steel industry to be systematically dismantled. We are sitting quietly by, watching our nation be turned into a two-class society of the very rich and those who serve them.

If the government really wants to help, it could step up to solve the health care crisis in our country. These soaring costs become another good reason for American business to ship our jobs offshore.

Elected officials can do as Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has done and aggressively pursue and prosecute corporate criminals. They can close the loopholes that allow corporate leaders to steal workers’ pensions through bankruptcy, while giving themselves huge bonuses and maintaining offshore operations. They can put strings on tax incentive programs tying benefits to American job creation. They can legislate labor-friendly laws and appoint labor-friendly judges. There is plenty our elected officials can do.

In this anti-labor climate, people forget that labor unions work for the good of all workers. They have brought workers many advances, including the eight-hour workday, Social Security, minimum wage, safe work standards and child labor laws. Labor is the lone voice for the workers in a climate where it is fashionable to sell our technology and therefore national security in the name of profit.

The language has been sanitized but do not be fooled. When you hear “legacy costs,” substitute mom’s or granddad’s hard-earned pension check.

When you hear “outsource,” it means good American jobs shipped out of the country to a place where people and the environment are exploited.

The public needs to know that the financial problems of Delphi Corp. are not the fault of the workers, but a deliberate plan to systematically put this portion of GM’s onshore business out of business while breaking the union.

Although 6 percent profit for hard manufacturing has always been a good return on investment in this sector, greedy accountants at the top wanted more. The new profit goals are unattainable without exploitation of labor and the environment.

Ask yourself, “Is the American dream gone, and will my job be next?” Help us draw a line in the sand today.