'Plunder' seems to best describe conservatives and big business. A plunder of the future - environmental costs for the next generation, debt costs for the next generation, unsustainable industry models to be solved by a future generation. While this took place, average wages for CEO's soared from fifty times that of an average employee to 500, 600, 700 times the average wage. In the face of all this, the unions tried to bargain a small share of the plunder for the employees. This they did indeed receive. However, I don't think I would ascribe Big 3's current crisis to the irresponsibility of the unions.
The biggest part of legacy costs for US companies is health care benefits. Most foreign workers health care is subsidized by their government. This puts US companies at a huge competitive disadvantage. The rest of your statement is on the money.

These are the guys taxpayers are being asked to bail out.
That's the problem with this bailout. Many taxpayers want to save these auto-workers jobs *Joe Assembly Line*. However, handing a wad of cash with no strings attached to the same management bozos that screwed the US auto industry over, and over-paid themselves in the process is unacceptable to me. The worst offenders should be fired and the rest can take a huge paycut if they want my tax dollars. Stop fighting fuel efficiency/environmental/alternate fuel innovations or end up on the trash heap of companies that failed to change with the times. Too bad my equally idiotic & corrupt political representatives don't have the integrity to see past their own personal welfare to force the issue....