Time for a scolding

Somebody call CNN and President Barack Obama — representatives of companies getting taxpayer bailout funds are partying it up.

This time it's at the Fountainebleu Resort in Miami Beach.

That's where Vice President Joe Biden visited on the taxpayer dime for a Thursday speech to members of the AFL-CIO.

The labor organization's coalition includes members of the United Auto Workers. Many of those workers are employed by American car companies which are using taxpayer money to stay afloat, in part because the companies can no longer afford lavish pay and benefits packages UAW members enjoy.

While at Fountainebleu, Biden and the AFL-CIO folks can enjoy $52 dollar steaks at Gotham Steak, rounds of golf at a $30 million golf course and hotel rooms ranging in price from $399 to $1,559 per night.

It sounds a lot like the Las Vegas largesse bank workers from Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs missed out on recently after CNN, President Obama and a subsequent parade of commentators shamed them from attempting to have a good time when the economy is in tatters.

Will the labor group suffer similar public shaming? Or do politicians and TV yakkers reserve their outrage for easy targets like nameless, faceless bankers and places with low-culture reputations like Las Vegas?

Here's a link to an account of Biden's Florida trip: http://www.truthout.org/030609LA