A reader writes in, explaining Jim Tedisco’s furious denunciation of IBM layoffs, calling their seeking of stimulus funds “worse than AIG”:

Tedisco is from Schenectady and his dad worked for GE.
GE WAS Schenectady until “Neutron Jack” Welch took over, and got rid of people while leaving buildings standing.
“Life with General Electric Co. has taught Schenectady some tough lessons. GE was once the city’s top economic driver, with peak employment at more than 45,000 during World War II and 28,000 afterward. But the 1980s, ’90s and the new century were marked by significant job cuts. The most recent blow was in 2002 when the company eliminated 1,000 local jobs. GE Energy now has 3,200 employees in Schenectady, and in November 2007, the company said it would add 500 more. But the Schenectady site has shrunk from 13,000 to 2,000 union workers since 1971, mostly because of outsourcing.”
While Schenectady is not within the boundaries of the 20th District, the heavily populated suburban counties of Saratoga and Rennselaer are. Tedisco needs to win big here since it appears he is not running well in the Glens Falls area.
Needless to say, it’s not like there might not be a receptive audience locally for this message.

All valid points. But we’ve already had this unchecked anger drive one bad idea, the 90 percent retroactive tax, and who knows what other bad ideas will emerge before the populist rage subsides. I expect ever-louder bellowing cycles of “HOW DARE YOU” in the manner of a JournoList thread from Democratic lawmakers; I’d like to expect more from Republicans.