They have nothing to do with this. It has everything to do with the broken business model. Management of the auto industry and the UAW have destroyed that industry. You anger, though valid, is misguided. I know you have probably grown accustomed to not biting that hand that feeds you, but they are firmly to blame. You are barking at the moon regarding Wall Street, meanwhile UAW is making bold announcements that they won't budge.... Are you kidding me?!?!?! Their 'answer' to all this is to force people into a public vote so they can use their union thugs to pressure family men into making the 'right' decision regarding Union membership. Times change. What you are asking us is to basically create a giant welfare state in Michigan that supports the auto industry and all corollary industries in that region simply because 'they've been there for xxx years.' The times aren't passing you by, they are gone. They aren't ever coming back. You need to realize that. You can blame Richard Shelby for this but they are bringing jobs to Alabama hand over fist and doing so without the pressure of 'forced' unionization. I've already read, rather jubilant, Union rags boasting that some of the big companies and contracts awarded to the state of Alabama will be stripped from them under Obama and simply handed to 'pro-Union' regions. What kind of business model is that? Raise the whole cost of the damn project, hand it to a region that has proven they don't know how to handle industry and further perpetuate the black hand of union bully tactics? You can't possibly believe that is the right way to do business. I am sure you do an outstanding job and that your company runs a good business model, but you are backing the wrong pony in this race. The South has been an untapped, or abused, resource for the country that is finally coming into their own... They are doing it by using what worked, and learning from what didn't work, with other business models in the past. Yet, you want to punish them for progress.
Corey, it's not only the south. There are large and prosperous Toyota, Honda, and Nissan plants here in Indiana. In contrast, there also are dying cities in this state like Anderson, which is heavily populated by retired UAW GM workers and is full of huge empty buildings that once housed manufacturing for GM and Delco.
Sid, I certainly don't mean to overlook the growth in Indiana. I am using Alabama because Dave keeps calling out Richard Shelby. There are people still upset and towns in this area that died when the textile business changed. Ditto that for the steel industry, but then again, steel in this state was just hijacked by US Steel anyway (seperate rant) and never realized its full potential... But like Indiana, business changes. Times change. Some towns die while others blossom. (fires up the soundtrack from Lion King) You have to look to the future and learn from the past.. something the automotive industry and the unions aren't too keen on doing.
True for Ohio as well Sid....Honda started manufacturing operations in Ohio and now employs over 12,000 in 6 plants and billions in capital investment......not bad from starting at zero in 1982. Important to note that the UAW has had a full court press on to organize the Honda plants since day one and have consistently been voted down by the workers by margins of over 2-1.....they efforts have been scaled back considerably in recent years.
Corey, my intent was to point out that in addition to the south the foreign auto companies have americanized their operations everywhere in the U.S., including the so-called rust belt states bordering Michigan. B-T's follow-up post emphasizes the success of these companies and the acceptance of them as significant contributors to our economy.
Sid, Gotcha. Just didn't want to think I overlook you guys T, I think it should be noted that the Unions are pushing strongly for an end to 'secret balloting'..... They can claim that it is for all sorts of reasons, but from personal experience I can testify that this is only an attempt to gather the names of people in opposition so that they can bully them into cooperation.
Here are the stats on your non-partisan boy from Alabama with regard to industry contributions: Lawyers/Law Firms $834,924 Securities & Investment $696,100 Real Estate $555,900 Commercial Banks $405,223 Lobbyists $319,016 ...Could this scumbag be any more beholden to the banking/financial industry? Is it any wonder at all he is so vocal against bailing out such a traditional Democratic stronghold as the auto industry???? This kind of crap is twisted and unethical....at best. :roll:
Can we please have the donations for other Senators please? You can use whatever source you used for that. But you are still missing the point, it has nothing to do with the automotive industry...
OK, let's talk facts. What is the old saying... don't let the facts hit ya where the good Lord split ya? From that bastion of conservative news... the New York Times A Curious Coalition Opposed Bailout Bil
more facts <r><URL url="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122221038063668953.html?mod=googlenews_wsj"><s></s>GOP's Shelby Leads Conservatives Against Bailout<e></e></URL><br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE></r>
Shelby voted NO Against Bailout This source of course.. that conservative troll MSNBC lol. On this article is an applet in which you can check to see who voted FOR the bail out and who voted against it. I believe you can also see it here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26953481/ You will see that both Shelby and Sessions voted against it. Wanna see who DID vote for it?? Or does your blind, misguided hatred for all things Republican just continue to cloud your perspective. And if anyone just jumped here to page 2, please do go back and read the other articles I posted at the end of page 1 So just a refresher for ya Dave.. You started this by saying: So please, kindly explain to me how Senator Shelby 'bent over backwards and jumped at the chance' to help his Wall Street buddies when he opposed the Wall St bailout from Day 1 and voted against it. Hell, he was the most outspoken critic.
On his support of a financial bailout for the banking industry I read your posts and it truly doesn't seem that he supports a bailout for any industry. He does seem to have conflict of interests going on as the ranking member of Senate finance committee however. I am very puzzled how the Congress and the President can get so enthused about doling out 700 billion to save 50,000 jobs on Wall Street but they can't come up with 25 billion to save 3 million jobs in the auto sector and the US economy that would go down the crapper with it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/19/AR2008111900309.html
You truly have no understanding of economics do you? You are an embarrassment to the Democratic Party. You make us look like we don't know anything about anything...that all we can do is spew venom at Republicans,,,,that whinng is our mission in life.
I see Sid has beaten me to the punch.....that is such a vast underestimation of the impact of an apocalyptic meltdown in the credit markets that I just don't know what to say........you, on the one hand, screech about the impact the the lack of credit availability on Main St has on auto sales and at the same time speak to only 50,000 jobs on Wall Street. Think about it..... Had the financial system been allowed to melt down as it was threatening to do, that impact would have made the issues in Detroit look like a corner lemonade stand closing up shop for the afternoon .....
Dave, I read the article you provided and I just don't see the conflict. Shelby is basically saying "If you want money, then show me what plans you have that will change how you do business because your past track record is one of failure." The Democratic counterpart comes back with 'We must protect the Unions!" That is exactly what this is all about!! Are we trying to save and improve an entire industry or are we going to bend over and take it in the starfish from the UAW that has already triumphantly declared that they aren't backing down on anything? What is more important to YOU, YOUR FAMILY and YOUR INDUSTRY...the preservation of the industry or the preservation of the current UAW contracts that have auto workers making on average more than college professors? Mitt Romney, who knows as much about Detroit and the auto industry as anyone said the same thing.. Give them the bailout, and you're just giving the heroin addict that one last fix he'll use to kill himself. Don't give him the bailout, you're forcing that junkie to rehab. In the long run, what is better for the junkie?
This congressional hearing is such a farce. First of all the Republicans are all going to play the anti-bailout role. After all, the majority of Americans were appalled at the Wall Street bailout and this give them the opportunity to show how tough they are on this issue. The Democrats on the other hand are going to rake management over the coals. They going to force execs to work for nothing to get a hand out. The fact is the Democrats are in the union pocket and they will vote for the bailout while keeping the legacy train rolling. And that leaves us with the White House. Who the hell knows what they'll do. I could see the president vetoing the bailout. GM might not be able to make it to Obama world and have to file for Chapt. 7, in which case they might be able to get free of their massive retiree obligations. I have a good friend who is very high up in one of the big three. I was told that the merger talks between GM and Chrys. stopped immediately upon a call to them from Pelosi that if they merged and did away with thousands of union jobs there would be no bailout. A merger with synergistic layoffs might have resulted in a stronger auto company. But it's obvious that "job one" of the majority in congress is not stronger auto companies but status quo of the union situation. I'd like to point out that yesterday I attended the deposition of a Ford tradesman, a pipefitter. He testified that he made $100,000 last year. I rest my case.
Does anybody know the current status/size of the Jobs Bank? I can't find anything current or really updated since the last round of contract talks. Surely it didn't disappear....?
Are you sure you wanna know? Another in a long line of brilliant conceptions from Detroit's leaders.... :shock: http://tedmathis.blogspot.com/2008/11/uaw-and-its-billion-dollar-rubber-room.html
It sounds like a new twist on the old Railroad "featherbedding" scam. I wonder if it's too late for me to be an Auto Worker!!