[thereisnospoon]

and I'll buy what you're spouting somewhat, but it's odd that gas prices started going up when foreign automobile manufacturers made the decision to ship their big new trucks and SUV's to other places besides the USA. My argument is not with the unions so much as the effect it has had on the oil. I know how the working side of it is all shot to hell - that' not my argument. Re-read.

I will admit - Unions are not very cool to deal with. My Brother-In-Law has a job where he deals with unions day in and day out and they sometimes demand some impossible things. However, they usually DO give in because the unions are more powerful than people think they are and he's usually very scared of what will happen if he and his company make a stand. Plus, whenever he's fighting with unions, he'll get strange phone calls at all hours of the day and night, weekends, etc. Although he says that these phone calls aren't necessarily threatening, you can read between the lines.

Even still, it chaps my hide when foreign auto manufacturers give this "We're American" image when they are nothing of the sort. Even though Dodge trannys are probably made somewhere other than the US, the money is still here. Even though some of Ford's line is PARTIALLY assembled in Canada, the money is STILL HERE. Americans are still fooled. The Toyota dealership keeps getting bigger - the skyscrapers in Japan keep getting bigger - and American Auto manufacturer stocks slip another percent.

You know, I may be and sound stupid for saying this but, I'd rather buy an American vehicle that has an occasional problem or two in the first 100,000 miles than buy a foreign vehicle that has zero issues in the first 100,000 miles. However, then again, my F-150 has had zero problems in the first 65,000, so....