05/07/2008 01:07. General Motors' planned new wave of shutdowns, including its Janesville plant, represents an escalation of its corporate decision to effectively secede from the United States. While it remains headquartered in Detroit, GM has wiped out some 85% of its U.S. jobs since 1990.

As the company abandoned U.S. communities like Flint, Mich., causing economic and social devastation, it became Mexico's largest private employer. GM has also doubled production in China over the last several years.

Meanwhile, GM has withdrawn its considerable political clout from promoting health-care reform, even though it costs the company about $4 per hour more to build cars here than in Canada, due to higher health-care... // Isthmus Daily Page