Obama's ex-auto czar pulls a Cory Booker

Getting mighty crowded in that woodshed: Obama’s ex-semi-auto czar, Steve Rattner, goes off message and says he doesn’t “believe we can reverse” the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs. Apparently it is not Mitt Romney’s fault. Rather, the wage gap is just too great. Using GM as an example, Rattner says the company’s Michigan workers make $55/hour, its Mexican workers make a little more than $7/hour — while in China it’s $4.50 an hour and in India $1/hour. … Caveats: Rattner’s obviously including benefits in his $55 figure — I’m not sure it’s directly comparable. The difference between $7/hour in Mexico and the $14-plus that Volkswagen is paying in its Tennessee plant doesn’t seem insurmountable in itself, given the compensating advantages (e.g., better control) of manufacturing in the U.S. …