FARLEFTFIELD

Solar Panel Company Headed to Saginaw

2009-12-21T01:00:00.002-05:00

The holiday spirit is in full force in the Saginaw area as a new employer will be setting up shop. GlobalWatt plans to build solar modules, or panels, made of crystalline cells that can be used to build solar energy farms and to power individual buildings.

Saginaw beat out Corpus Christi, Texas to win the new location for the California company. From a local Corpus Christi news source:

The Michigan city won out over Corpus Christi because of its proximity to a
large, new polysilicone production plant, a cell manufacturing plant and a
supply of skilled, unemployed auto workers, Mussio said. Saginaw is a city of
57,500 about 100 miles northwest of Detroit.

“Michigan and especially Saginaw Valley is in an established supply
chain that GlobalWatt could become an integral piece of,” she said. “That made a
huge difference. It’s different than plopping a business down in a city alone.”

Congratulations to Saginaw and one of its struggling neighborhoods, and what great timing in an area with so many out of work. Read more here.

Another Toyota Recall

2009-11-25T07:58:00.000-05:00

I have already documented the clear bias that media darlings Toyota receive in the under-reporting of massive recalls of their vehicles. But to have nearly 4 MILLION vehicles recalled in the span of two months and still receive back page status or not be covered at all when safety risks are involved is nearly criminal.

CNNMoney.com is reporting a recall of more than 100,000 Toyota’s this month with this warning:

“The agency urged Tundra owners to remove the spare tires even before taking the vehicles to a dealer to be remedied.”

In other words DON’T DRIVE THESE TRUCKS, EVEN OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY, until you remove the spare tires!! The recall also warns of possible brake system failures.

Last month Toyota had a massive recall of 3.8 MILLION vehicles because of a potentially deadly issue with floor mats and accelerator cable problems.

The under reporting of safety issues is unacceptable! As demonstrated in the link above the last Toyota recall could be fatal. The issue in the last recall was also a problem that was found to be years old and now a police officer, his wife and their children are dead. At some point companies that knowingly withhold safety recalls, for years in these cases, need to be made accountable.

Repower America

2009-11-17T05:54:00.000-05:00

NEW LINK! NEW LINK!

(Combining two of the most important issues facing our state Repower America addresses both environmental issues and the creation of new jobs. Here is a brief intro to the organization and a link to add your name to this important cause.)

Michiganders from all walks of life are today coming together to support bold action on clean energy and climate change. An unprecedented coalition of business people, faith and military leaders, hunters, farmers and conservationists is coming together because moving forward to clean energy and solving the climate crisis is good for the economy, strengthens our security and protects our environment for our kids and grandkids.

America’s addiction to foreign oil hurts our economy, aids our enemies and puts our national security at risk. Rather than continuing to send billions overseas for foreign oil, new clean energy policies mean spending that money here at home on clean energy sources, creating new jobs and building new industries, and making us more secure.

It’s not surprising that the big oil companies are fighting these changes with everything they have. They’re spending millions to protect their billions in profits and to maintain the status quo. But more of the same hasn’t worked for American families -- average household energy spending increased $1,000 between 2001 and 2007. We just can’t afford it anymore.

That’s why leaders of both political parties are coming together with environmentalists, faith leaders and some of the biggest companies in the world to push for bold action on clean energy and climate change in the Senate this year. Add your voice to this incredible effort at the Repower Wall (www.repoweramerica.org/wall) - a new campaign by Repower America that brings together Americans from all walks of life to address these critical issues. Share your story and your resolve to do right by our economy, security and our kids.

Now is the time for our leaders to finally act and put America back in charge of our energy future with clean American energy.

Teabagger sinks to new low

2009-11-16T03:05:00.000-05:00

I was able to get in to the health care town hall meeting put on by Rep. Mark Schauer in Delta Township on Friday Nov. 13th. a largely pro health care group was very well behaved and at one point before we entered the building to be seated I noticed that the only two teabagger’s had to each hold three signs because apparently they didn’t have the numbers they thought they would. Sad, they had no intention of asking questions or actually going into the meeting and one of the signs featured the misspelling of the word “creates”-who are these people?!

I was sitting next to a friend that was called on to ask a question. After relaying their story that less than two months earlier he was diagnosed with cancer and had then been through surgery and is currently receiving medication that is not fully covered by his health insurance to the tune of $400 a month to prevent CANCER from returning. His question had to do with prescription coverage’s and what sort of cost capping measures the bill contained. Several minutes later a couple on the other side of the room stood up and started to leave, they walked to the back of the room and passed right by me and my friend. As they left one of them leaned in between my friend and me, looked at him and whispered, “you should be ashamed of yourself!” and then quickly scurried out of the auditorium. I was shocked, and then I was pissed! I am used to absurd behavior from the “teabagger” set but telling my friend he should be ashamed for having cancer! I suppose this is a good example of what we are up against. Many of these people aren’t interested in dialogue, honest debate or actual solutions – many of them are simply interested in their way or the highway and if fomenting fear and creating confusion is a means to that end, so be it. I didn’t think that trying to guilt trip cancer victims was in their playbook but I guess I was wrong.

Layoff Due to Outsourcing

2009-10-30T22:45:00.001-05:00

The headline reads “GM to idle because of parts shortage.”

Apparently there is a labor strike in India. I guess in their hurry to outsource every job possible GM sent transmission parts production to India; I wonder how much per part they will be saving next week? I am constantly bitching about trade issues on this blog and this is a perfect example of why! The terms of when I work are now being driven by a parts plant in India. When you couple that with foreign transplants dictating what my wages will be its enough to make a guy wonder who he works for and in what country! What am I talking about? The concession package from earlier this year brought with it a very short statement regarding what will come in 2011.

“…binding arbitration with wage and benefits improvements to be based upon GM maintaining an all-in labor cost comparable to its U.S. competitors, including transplant automotive manufacturers.”

This is verbatim from our concession overview booklet (bold type and italics emphasis added by me) regarding how our wage structure will be worked out in our next contract.

I hope India will allow me to go back to work soon. Looking a bit further down the road; I also hope that Korea, Germany and Japan wont be too hard on us when they decide what our wage structure will be for the 2011 contract.

By the way if you believe that this sort of thing is spurred on by the sad state of this county’s unfair trade policy support the TRADE act by asking your elected official to co-sponsor this important legislation here.

Trick or Treat

2009-10-16T00:46:00.000-05:00

Halloween is aproaching quickly and here are some American made options for everyone buying candy:

Tootsie Roll’s and many of the products that Tootsie Roll Industries makes are not only made in the USA but they are made by UNION workers!! Check out their line of products here.

Hershey’s kisses and chocolate bars are also made in America by union workers!

Reese’s peanut butter cups … MMMMMM are made in America by union workers.

(Hershey’s has moved some of its production out of the country so make sure to turn the bag over and look for the old “product of USA” or “Made in USA”!!!)

There are long lists of candy made in the USA and made by union employees at
The UAW website
The AFT website
The CWA has a list
The UFCW’s list
Make sure to double check on the bag as many of these companies have production outside of the country as well.

Black Lake and the future of the UAW

2009-10-04T22:26:00.006-05:00

I spent the last week at UAW Black Lake training. What a wonderful week of learning, inspiration and fellowship with union brothers and sisters from around my region. The last time I was at Black Lake for training I was barely active in my union and was only just starting to be involved with politics. What a difference nearly a decade makes! I am now Internationally appointed, an UAW CAP delegate, a precinct delegate and am often referred to as the political guru of my UAW local (not to mention having my own blog!)

I absolutely loved all of the instructors and even spent time outside the classroom having long discussions with them and even arguing with them regarding politics and the UAW.

The grounds are incredible and should be visited by every union activist at least once! Here are a few pics:

An amazing view of the lobby area.

A view of the Reuther brothers statues.

The eternal flame for Walter and May Reuther.

To me the most important part of the week was getting to spend time with people from my local union that I didn’t really know that well. I enjoyed eating our meals together and was thrilled that the lessons in our classes spilled over to the dining hall nearly every day. We had a great mix of retirees, active members and union leadership. it was an interesting combination because at my local; our leadership has a lot of seniority and will likely retire over the next few years. Here, collected at one event was the past, present, and future of my local union. Some of them have no idea that they will be called upon in the coming years as I was called upon after I returned from Black Lake- so many years ago.

The leadership of the international spoke to us repeatedly and covered such topics as the recent concessions, the status of the Saturn deal, the VEBA (retiree health care) trust and many other topics. Many in the audience spent that time shifting around in their seats, much of the news was bleak. Our leaders were speaking to us in clear, concise language and they were not speaking from a position of strength. Sobering straight talk. Many in our membership need to hear that.

At the end of the week I found that I was leaving with a positive outlook. Bad news, straight talk, sobering reports; we are exactly where we don’t want to be- but here I was smiling on the drive home thinking of my weekend. Sometimes hearing the hard facts are necessary, sometimes straight talk and sobering news sheds a little light on who,what, and where you are. With membership at an all time low, with factories being shuddered across our nation, with entire name plates being left by the side of the road somehow I have optimism and a grin on my face. Have I lost my mind? Willful ignorance? No, I am now a little more familiar with whom I stand. I now know what the faces of our future leadership look like. I broke bread with, had long in depth conversations with and yes, even shared beers with the people that will likely be my local union and regions next generation of leaders. My optimism doesn’t come from the belief that we will suddenly score a string of immediate victories it comes from the belief that the most important victories are long term struggles. Currently our opponents have the upper hand so we will sit and bide our time learning the lessons that patience, endurance and perseverance are powerful forms of strength. With our ranks diminished the future will undoubtedly hold monumental battles that will pit us against impossible odds; yet I grin. One thing I am sure of; we have broad shoulders, strong backs and when we fight together nothing can stand in our way. Our history teaches us that we can endure nearly anything… and win!! The bloody battles with corporate giants to start our union, the no strike clauses during world war II, our women carrying the load during world war II, Civil Rights, OSHA, COLA, FMLA, Minimum wage raises and on and on. The future battles will have different issues and our future leaders will have new names but our cause will stay the same; labor will always fight the battles of working people everywhere. Just like the song “Solidarity Forever” says:

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.

And even as I write this – I grin!!

Massive Toyota Recall

2009-10-01T18:53:00.000-05:00

Big news from the automotive sector came out this week while I happened to be at Black Lake Educational center. The news of the Toyota recall of 3.8 million vehicles was a small blurb in national media markets but in Michigan it is very big news. I found it ironic that news of the breakdown over the Penske/Saturn deal was top national news but a possible deadly issue with nearly 4 million vehicles gets little to no attention. You can hear the 911 call that launched the recall, which the company is downplaying by calling it a safety alert instead of a recall in spite of the death of an off duty police officer, his wife and their two daughters.

Also mentioned in the article was the fact that Toyota knew about the problem that caused the accident. Toyota had issued a recall in 2007 over these same issues. I wonder what the U.S. media would have done if the recall had come from one of the big three?

The Devil's Healthcare update

2009-09-26T04:18:00.003-05:00

OK, first things first- The Baucus health care bill is horrible in so many ways. But, we must not lose sight of the fact that the 3 in the House are very good and the other in the Senate is good but could use some work. Some of us will be asked to express deep concerns with the Baucus/ Finance committee product. And we should. No, let me rephrase that- we must.

Opposition to the Baucus bill doesn't mean that you're opposing health care reform. It means that you're opposing provisions within the Baucus proposal but letting the process move forward so these bills can be put together and voted upon.

In a nutshell, we're not even in the second half of the game yet. But, just like in any game, you must play both halves if you're going to win. Honestly, we've put forth a good effort in the first half but we have to really turn up the heat in the second half.

A few of the issues are:

How do we pay for it? The Baucus plan uses an excise tax on insurance companies. Sounds OK. It's not. this tax will be passed on to consumers. Insurance companies readily admit this. The House versions don't use this funding. They use a surtax on people making over $300,000 annually. These folks get enough write offs and are more than making ends meet. They got the biggest tax decrease in history during the Bush years- we got bupkis. Even Warren Buffet, billionaire told Democrats a few weeks ago that the rich need to pay more in taxes. The irony.

Leveling the playing field- Most people get health care from their employer. Many of our employers competitors do not provide insurance. This puts our employer at a severe disadvantage. This is called the pay or play. If employers don't want to provide it, fine, don't play, but you must pay. Right now, the pay part is too low. We have to tell Congress that the play has to be more meaningful.

Public option- This is important. It has received a lot of attention. It's baffling and the lies around this are plain silly. Opponents (GOP and so-called moderate Dems/Blue Dogs) clam that the Gov can't do anything right. Really? The Veterans health care is government run- they get about the best prices for drugs. The delivery system needs some work but it's because they have been underfunded for years (think massive tax cuts under Bush and the influx of newly returned service members from Iraq) Medicare has the lowest administrative costs. This means that more money can be spent on delivering health care- a very good thing. Medicaid- has low administrative costs, get's better drug prices than Medicare and is government run. The problems that you hear about with these programs are not due to them being poorly run or bad programs- it's completely political. Want to "save Medicare"? raise the tax level above $90,000. Any income a person makes over this amount is not taxed right now. The number hasn't moved in I don't know how long, but it needs to. Many people are leery of government intrusion etc. It's time to sit down and read about how a public option will decrease costs for everyone because insurance companies will have to compete with these more efficient plans.

How serious are GOP about fixing health care? They still haven't offered a plan. In the Finance Committee, they keep saying that they have the workers in mind. The only idea they've offered, aside from saying no no no no no no no no, is to give people vouchers to buy their own insurance or tax breaks of like $5,000. This doesn't mean that you get $5,000. This means that you don't pay taxes on $5,000 of your income. So, let's just say that you're in the highest tax bracket (which you're not unless you're making about $250,000/yr. The max you would really receive is $1,500. How much does an individual plan cost on he open market? Around $8,000. You just lost over $6,500 dollars (over $500 month). Not a good deal.

How serious is it right now? Very. The House is starting to talk about an excise tax as being part of their financing. It will be much better than the Baucus lunacy and most likely will only hit plans of Goldman Sachs execs. Still, we need to beware and fight like hell against it.

we're the only major nation in he world that doesn't provide health care for all. We're the richest country in the world. It's time to change this so families are better off, businesses can compete on a level playing field and people, not profits, are the focus of health care.

Racism Alive and Well

2009-09-02T14:24:00.001-05:00

This story was recently covered in the South Bend Tribune:

He started to ring up the shoes as the shopper pulled a department store credit
card out of her wallet. When she looked up, the associate was leaning over the
counter."The next time you come shopping," he warned her, "make sure you bring
your green card with you."The statement stunned the shopper, who is
Mexican-American. She said she did nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that
could justify his behavior toward her.

This is not uncommon. If you ask any person of color or woman they will likely have a story about being discriminated against or being called a racial slur. What they may not share is the fallout from those stories. They may not share the part where they have to answer the questions from their children: “why did he ask you for a green card?” You will likely not be told of the sense of fury over having to explain what that person meant or defining the racial slur or explaining what bigotry is. You will likely not be told what it feels like to watch a piece of your child’s innocence be ripped away.

I remember my sister-in-law telling me a story of how as her and my two nieces were leaving a grocery store a large truck sped past them nearly hitting the two girls. As the truck drove off the passenger yelled, “go back across the border, beaners” as he waved the middle finger. She was quick to mention the white guy that witnessed the incident, dropped his groceries (except for a bottle of soda) and ran across the parking lot yelling at the truck and throwing his soda at the truck. I watched my sister-in-law relay this story to me and then I saw what was the worst part of incidents like this; her children didn’t understand what happened. She told me of her inner struggle over whether or not to explain what the man in the truck meant, why someone that didn’t even know them hated them and if she should explain the racial slur and comments. While she was relaying the story to me she wept openly and was visibly shaking; a mix of emotions overtaking her. In the end she decided that it was a rare opportunity to show the sort of mindless hate her children will experience in their life and the sort of goodness that they will also experience.

I dread the day when I have to explain racism to my daughter those racial slurs or the concepts of bigotry and racism. We dream that our children will never have to know bigotry or racism. This what bothered my sister-in-law most; that dream was lost for her children on that day.

The person in the news article above is a family member. She said she felt hesitant about reporting the incident and said that after some thought, she felt obligated to relay her experience so that the worker can’t treat someone else the same way. I agree, and I hope that more people are intolerant towards racism. The dream of our children never knowing bigotry is still alive for my family. We have come a long way but racism is still alive and well in our society. Hopefully with more people speaking out I will never have the moment where I watch my daughter feel the horrid sting of racism for the first time.

Sen. Kennedy R.I.P.

2009-08-26T04:52:00.002-05:00

Sen. Edward Kennedy passed away last night after battling brain cancer.

Kennedy will go down in history as one of the most effective Senators in American history. His time in the Senate was used to help pass OSHA, Civil Rights legislation, Head Start, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), fought for raises in the minimum wage, higher rates of student aid for GI’s, and countless other programs. The first time Ted Kennedy introduced health care legislation was in 1969, the battle taking place today was his life long fight. Ted Kennedy has been waging this war for more than forty years.

I had the privilege of hearing him speak while campaigning for John Kerry in 2004 and will always remember his memorable speech at the 2008 Democratic convention. The story goes that months after the May 2008 diagnosis of brain cancer Ted Kennedy rose from his bed on the day of the Democratic National Convention, combed his hair over a visible bald patch where his head had been shaven for treatment, covered the IV port on the back of his hand with a bandage and refused to stay home on the night the candidate he endorsed would accept the party’s nomination. Here is the video of his speech that night:

The last words of his speech were part of his speech at the 1980 Democratic National Convention as he was thanking his supporters and conceding to Jimmy Carter:

“The work goes on,
The cause endures,
The hope still lives
And the dream shall never die.”

Rest In Peace Sen. Kennedy.

Terrorist for Oil

2009-08-24T05:19:00.000-05:00

All weekend I couldn’t get the story of Scotland releasing a Libyan terrorist out of my mind. The story seemed incomplete. TIME magazine may have some insight into why anyone would release a terrorist that was found guilty of 270 counts of murder:

Libya watchers and oil analysts said they believed that the decision to free the only person convicted in the 1988 Pan Am Airlines bombing was connected to British investment interests. "It [Megrahi's release] was a matter of when, not if," says Molly Tarhuni, manager of the international security program at the London-based think tank Chatham House. "It's a very strong possibility" that a deal was struck, she says. "There are benefits to Britain having done it. This was the last in a long chain of deals."

FBI chief Robert Mueller was not happy! He wrote a very strong letter rebuking the actions to the Scottish Justice Secretary:

Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. Indeed your action makes a mockery of the rule of law. Your action gives comfort to terrorists around the world who now believe that regardless of the quality of the investigation, the conviction by jury after the defendant is given all due process, and sentence appropriate to the crime, the terrorist will be freed by one man's exercise of "compassion." Your action rewards a terrorist even though he never admitted to his role in this act of mass murder and even though neither he nor the government of Libya ever disclosed the names and roles of others who were responsible.
Your action makes a mockery of the emotions, passions and pathos of all those affected by the Lockerbie tragedy: the medical personnel who first faced the horror of 270 bodies strewn in the fields around Lockerbie, and in the town of Lockerbie itself; the hundreds of volunteers who walked the fields of Lockerbie to retrieve any piece of debris related to the breakup of the plane; the hundreds of FBI agents and Scottish police who undertook an unprecedented global investigation to identify those responsible; the prosecutors who worked for years--in some cases a full career--to see justice done.

Read the full letter here.

I thought about the families of all of the victims watching the freed terrorist make the exit from the plane the way their sons, daughters, mother or fathers never had the chance to; and then I saw the confetti and the heroes welcome that this person was receiving. I have no idea how the victims families were feeling but I am still struggling to understand. I imagine after more than 2 decades some of these wounds may have started to heal; I also imagine that they have just been torn wide open again. Why? I have the feeling TIME hit the nail on the head. Money. Again, men are willing to do just about anything to profit and I have the feeling we will hear more about this down the road.

Debate?

2009-08-13T11:04:00.008-05:00

The health care “debate” has been escalated to absurd levels from opponents that believe that halting discussion is a way to hand President Obama a big defeat. What is actually being lost in all the manufactured hoopla is the opportunity to actually discuss one of the most important issues in the country today. It seems that the right wing and insurance companies are intent on turning town hall meetings into mayhem rather than have the general public become informed and have their questions answered.

Here are some of the images from the folks that are hell bent on fomenting anger and fear:

Yes, that is a Hitler mustache on the President!

Here is more hate:

They actually combined thinly veiled racism with the widely debunked "death panel" myth! Well done young corporate apologist!!

CNN did a short piece proving Nancy Pelosi correct about swastika's showing up at the protests, here it is:

I hope that clears up any of the "no Nazi references at the health care protests" confusion.

This picture actually has a swastika and an image of the President in "Mao" clothes.
Disturbing images of people that have no interest whatsoever in dialogue or civil discourse

Chamber of Commerce double standard

2009-07-31T11:12:00.001-05:00

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce came out with “guns a blazin’” over the recent nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. Becker is the Associate General Counsel for the SEIU labor union. The Chamber sent a letter to elected officials claiming that Becker was worse than Osama Bin Laden! OK, not really but they did send a letter that was pretty heated! The letter (PDF version) stated:

Mr. Becker is currently Associate General Counsel of one of the most aggressive unions
in the United States, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has a record of using questionable pressure tactics with the goal of forcing employers and workers to recognize unions without the democratic protection of secret ballot elections. This close association raises questions about Mr. Becker’s ability to impartially judge cases that may come before the Board.

I could guess that you are aware that when captains of industry or corporate lawyers were appointed to the NLRB the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was not so concerned with their “ability to to impartially judge cases that may come before the Board.” In fact the letters sent for blatantly pro-business Bush appointments were the exact opposite of the letter above:

we have seen a disturbing trend in the tone of the debate. Instead of disagreement, we have ad hominem attacks, instead of criticism, hyperbole, and instead of reasoned discussion, vitriolic rhetoric.

I guess the Chamber only finds nominees with whom they agree defendable. Predictable. In my opnion it is about time that the NLRB had a member that has workers interests

the Chamber also threw a hissy fit about congress advancing legislation that would impose new rules on executive compensation.

This legislation would create a command-and-control regulatory scheme, Employee compensation should be a decision made by appropriate levels of management or the board of directors and based on a variety of factors, including merit and promotion.

That’s a quote from Tom Quaadman, an executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce; “standing up for Goliath isn’t easy!”

Republicans support Government run health care

2009-07-31T09:53:00.003-05:00

Given the opportunity to actually practice what they preach not a single Republican vote against Government run health care. None.

I gotta admit, I never heard of Anthony Weiner (D - NY 9) but I am impressed! Rep. Weiner really went on offense and called the Right wing out. The rhetoric just doesn't match up for the Republicans that are ranting about government run health care and its nice to see someone finally speak up.

Lonely Jim DeMint

2009-07-30T04:43:00.003-05:00

Jim DeMint, the Republican Senator from South Carolina, is usually one of the most hyper-partisan politicians that lobbying money can buy! However he actually came out in defense of the President dismissing the conspiracy theorists (read: fringe extremists) that believe that President Obama is not an American citizen. DeMint said at a Heritage Foundation event:

I may have disagreements with [the president] on issues, But he is my president, he deserves our respect, and we need forget that nonsense ... He is not only a citizen, he is our president.

Jim DeMint is known to disagree with Democrats on just about everything so it must have pained the far right wing Heritage Foundation crowd to hear their water bearer say such “controversial” things!

In case you missed the videos of the guy asking Republicans whether or not they think the President is a citizen you really need to check it out! Here is a link.

Hiller's Markets Supports America

2009-07-26T19:14:00.003-05:00

I was made aware of a blog post from the CEO of Hillers markets entitled “Why I Drive An American Car”. I was so impressed that I am going to cut and paste the entire thing! Anyone from my local union that recognizes this from the union newspaper I apologize, but I think this story needs more press.

I didn’t always drive American cars.

About five years ago I woke up one day with the realization that any purchase I make directly impacts people in my neighborhood, my town, my state. Plus, I expected and hoped my fellow Michiganders would choose to shop in my stores, support charities I believe in and otherwise contribute to the well-being of our community – but I didn’t behave the same way in return. My purchases weren’t governed by a local-business-first focus, looking for the quality, service or selection in products made close to home before turning to sources from afar, because I didn’t believe one person could make a difference.

I was wrong.

My epiphany came as I stood on slick-top pavement in a moon-lit night, waiting for my car after a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

I stood with General Motors Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz, watching foreign car after foreign car drive away into the rain-slicked night. He turned to me as those foreign luxury vehicles peeled out of the parking lot and said, “How many people realize that when they buy an American luxury vehicle, they’re providing work for a dozen people for at least a week?”

Before then, I hadn’t felt in my bones the direct connection between the car I drive and the people in my hometown being in, or out, of a job. Many of my friends had told me so, but I didn’t listen – friends from other countries, shaking their heads in disbelief at the thought of neglecting one’s homeland.

I see it now.

And I feel it in my heart.

It struck me that night that I expected all of these people to support my local causes – ALS of Michigan for one – with their presence and their pocketbooks . Why didn’t I expect the same from them with regard to the place that gave us life and ensured our freedom of consumer choice?

I don’t even remember what kind of car I was driving, but the next day I bought a Cadillac STS and loved it. All of my preconceived notions that foreign cars were better-made and were longer-lasting, well, they proved untrue.

As a son of the Motor City, I can honestly say that for years, I found it easy to look across the ocean and see nothing bad in a car born overseas– a rose-colored view of the exotic promise of a place I didn’t know the texture of or the smells. I can describe the air-clear scent of the Detroit River and the open-sky echo of children on a summer day on Belle Isle, but I couldn’t tell you about the rapid plod of workers’ footsteps in a Korean, German, Bavarian or Japanese town or the series of sunset hues in their dusk.

Intimacy doesn’t always breed loyalty. In my own backyard, I could hurl the easiest accusations, based on nothing factual at all, and believe them true.

It’s harder to see a beautiful thing from close up.

My Cadillac is a superior vehicle in every way. Yes, I feel duty-bound and even intellectually-motivated to buy American, but I have to say that I buy American cars first and foremost because I know I’m getting a great product crafted by hands I know and with whom I share a destiny.

Plus, as I drive down the road, I feel like I’m part of a secret society of people taking care of one another.

Of course, any car you buy locally and drive off a lot owned by a guy who lives on your block means you’re in some way supporting local commerce. Still, it’s infinitely compelling to know that 100% of the car I drive was created, assembled and finessed just a few miles from where I live. Dozens of Michiganders took part in the creation of my vehicle, from concept to the moment I drove it off the lot.

American cars have a long illustrious history. It’s OUR history, for we come from a place of innovation and belief in the discovery, invention and possibility of great things.

I hope you are as impressed as I am!
Here are Hiller’s locations and hours, happy shopping!!

Back to Work

2009-07-17T13:30:00.001-05:00

The news for Lansing Delta Township (LDT) has been very good amidst a company and industry in turmoil. Nearly everyone on lay off has been called back already or has received their notice as to when to report back to work.

The supply of vehicles went from nearly 300 day supply when I left to around 70 day supply of vehicles currently. The plant went to working a 10 hour day 4 days a week schedule with some Friday overtime already scheduled. The news of the Chevy Traverse coming to LDT has been widespread and the increase in sales of all three of the vehicles made at LDT and the Traverse was the only news of increased sales in the corporation. We are hearing rumors of three shifts next year and that we will likely be running a lot of overtime to catch up with demand and to prepare for the Traverse coming.

What a difference a few months make!

In the plant a very small article barely noticed outside our world made quite a stir:

Ex-GM CEO gets retirement package worth over $10M

Nice.

I wonder how much of our latest concession package went to fund that?

The story is very CEO friendly saying that this sort of package is “in line” with other CEO packages. The article then goes on to compare the compensation of other CEO’s; ALL of whom were the subject of extreme scrutiny and in my opinion shameful in their wildly out of touch greed and self-worth. Buried at the end of the article is a very telling figure:

From the beginning of his career at GM through the end of 2008, Wagoner received
compensation totaling about $63.3 million, with $38.7 million of that coming
during his years as chief executive.

This does not include the life insurance policy that the company held for him, current cash value of $2.57 Million, or the perks of the job such as using the corporate jet for travel, company cars and so on.

Many of my coworkers fumed about this for hours and will likely talk about this for weeks and maybe even years. I understand their anger. To me it is more important to look at the thousands of our UAW brothers and sisters that may never work at their old jobs again and be thankful. The country and the state are at frightening levels of unemployment; thank goodness we have a job.

Irony at its worst

2009-07-05T16:20:00.001-05:00

After watching this weeks “off the record” I was irritated by Bill Ballinger and Dawson Bell both preaching objectivity of media; what a joke! The topic was regarding a news story that broke about Sam Riddle saying that he was paid “hush money” from the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) to not say anything negative about Gov. Granholm during the 2006 election. Here is a small recap:

2006 MDP hires Riddles media consulting firm to look at both message and speakers during the campaign.

Monica Conyers has a series of issues ranging from erratic behavior to federal investigations. (Sam Riddle was the former chief of staff to Monica Conyers)

As the investigation continues and names are being drawn out Riddle appears to be trying to throw the investigastion away from himself.

Detroit News prints article saying that Riddle made “hush money” allegation.

The same day in an interview with WJR radio Riddle denies the News’ story and recants “hush money” statement.

So the story had a life of a few hours and Bill Ballinger and Dawson Bell feel the need to feign being insulted because a media consultant was being “bought”. They actually had the nerve to say that they believed that Riddle was an objective voice and that he shouldn’t be projecting himself as non-partisan. HA! Bill Ballinger, former Republican state Representative and now news reporter is throwing stones about media objectivity and who is his partner in crime? Dawson Bell! It was almost too shocking to watch. I was waiting for Nolan Finley to make an appearance to quell the liberal rhetoric coming from Susan Demas. I always watch off the record on Sunday, I don’t know when they taped the show but during the show, right in the middle of Ballingers self-rightous tirade, a message crawled across the screen saying that Riddle had denied the story of the “hush money” payments. It was almost comical accept for Ballinger making an ass of himself with his absurd hypocrisy regarding objective media.

I have long wondered how people can take media like Joe Scarborough and Bill Ballinger seriously. They are both members of and former elected officials from a political party. Their lack of objectivity should be obvious. I am in no way defending Riddle or his attention hungry circus act, but Ballinger and Bell should really look in the mirror before getting atop their high horses.

2009-06-25T23:20:00.002-05:00

What a strange week or so!

John Ensign, Mr. Family Values, admits to having an affair. No real shock there, I am very used to Republicans being hypocrites.

Mark Sanford, Mr. Family Values east coast, admits to having an affair. Sanford made a huge spectacle of himself before going down in flames so he gets points for that! If you missed it before; I am used to Republicans being hypocrites. And then the fun started:

- "I would never in my life have believed that Gov. Mark Sanford was capable of doing something interesting,” - Steven Colbert

- "people were shocked because Republicans don't traditionally do well with Hispanic women.” -Conan O’Brien

- "Why can't he be like our governor and use a local escort service?” - David Letterman

And then came some very sad news:

Farrah Fawcett dead at age 62.

And the bombshell:

Michael Jackson dead at age 50.

What a terrible way to end the week. RIP to two legends.

$138 Million slipping away from Michigan

2009-06-17T15:04:00.001-05:00

I was asked to go to the capitol to lobby for 2 bills that would bring $138 Million of Federal stimulus money into Michigan to pay for unemployment extensions. One extension would be for workers that are in a training program; they would be allowed to finish the training AND receive unemployment benefits while doing so. The second extension is for people that take part time jobs due to lack of work and lose their unemployment benefits; essentially this worker is punished for working. The Federal government has attached the strings that these two extensions be put into place before any of the $138 Million will come to Michigan.

While at the capitol I heard the Senators saying that they were worried about the cost to businesses down the road. They said that they weren’t going to let the federal government force them into new laws. There are too many strings attached to the $138 Million.

My answers to them were:

- I find it discouraging that you are so worried about the cost to businesses 4 or 5 YEARS down the road while unemployed workers in this state are worried about what food they are going to put in front of their children 4 or 5 DAYS down the road!

- If action had been taken by the state legislature prior to the federal government laying out the stimulus plan, the state might not be in the sorry shape it’s in.

- The strings that are attached are laws. The legislature writes laws. That is what you people do for a living. When the federal money runs out, write another law revoking the programs; end of story. Your precious business community won’t have to pay a cent!

As you can imagine wide eyes and slack jaws followed the shop rat with no job tearing the Senators new ones in their offices. Now I need your help. These senators said they won’t even bring it to a vote. That means that $138 Million that could go to the state of Michigan will be left in D.C.

I need you to contact your state senator; the senate Democrats have written a letter that will be sent to your senator – here it is. Michigan can ill afford to let $138 Million go back to D.C. unclaimed!

Hedge Funds Find Their Spokespeople

2009-06-08T20:08:00.002-05:00

Snake oil salesmen and con men everywhere would be proud of the shell game that hedge fund managers have come up with now. When a small group of investors tried to stop the bankruptcy/sale of Chrysler because they were not going to profit heavily enough from their last minute purchases of debt from the ailing company, Americans largely had little to no sympathy. So as a group of people who have no morals or ethical standards might do they are hiding behind a baby to avoid getting hurt and still get what they want.

Who are they using as there shield? Indiana teachers and cops. Not really teachers and cops, but their pension funds. The story goes that if the Chrysler sale goes through that thousands of Indiana teachers, cops and other civil servants will lose huge portions of their pensions. As usual the mainstream media is doing their best roll over job and letting the lawyers for the parties say anything they want unchecked and without question. I smell a rat!

So how did teachers and cops get involved siding with hedge fund managers anyway? Well late last July the investment managers for the Indiana pension fund in question decided amongst all the dire warnings and forecasts about the auto industry that the possibility of profiting during an eventual bankruptcy was to juicy to pass up. If you remember president Obama called this group “speculators” when they initially tried to hold up the deal, John Dingell went so far as to call them “vultures”. What changed?

It seems the hedge fund managers found someone to fight their battle for them; putting a retired Indiana school teacher in a commercial ought to generate some sympathy! Don’t get me wrong I think that it’s awful that someone is gambling with retirees futures like this and the investors that did this should be held accountable. I would venture a guess that pension funds all across the country are doing horribly over the last few years as has most Americans 401k’s. Slippery slope? NO!! Thieves hiding behind teachers and cops to get some more blood from the Chrysler corpse is what it is.

Twisted!

The part about the hedge fund managers being behind the lawsuit is COMPLETE SPECULATION on my part. I just have the feeling that Indiana pension funds aren’t exactly the biggest concern for the lawyer that represented the original group of “dissident bondholders”; an awfully big fish for a public pension fund for Indiana civil servants to land as a representative isn’t it?

Back to the facts. In June of 2008 Standard & Poors lowered the credit rating of Chrysler to “CreditWatch with negative implications” or STAY AWAY!! At the time it seemed like every day another announcement cam damning the auto industry further. To buy the debt was a big risk to begin with and a risk that only paid off in the event of bankruptcy or decades down the road from a financially secure Chrysler. Remember; “speculators”, “vultures”. BusinessWeek spoke to Shelly Lombard a credit analyst and portfolio manager of high-yield and distressed corporate securities, here is what she had to say:

“Even though the debt was secured, it was clear the auto industry was very, very
troubled at this time, if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been offered at such a
steep discount.”

She goes on to talk about the lack of due diligence on the part of the investors handling the pension fund:

In this recession, Lombard says, even secured bank debt is not a guarantee. The
market's low price could have been due to a lack of buyers or because the debt
was impaired. She compares the deal to buying a house at a bargain price:
"Either there's a divorce and the people just want to get out of there, or the
foundation is cracked. In an industry in such turmoil, due diligence becomes
even more critical."

You can read the full BusinessWeek article here.

In the article the lawyer for the “dissident bondholders” and the Indiana pension funds, Thomas Lauria said the deal “is great for workers”. That statement could only come from someone that has no clue about the full context of the “great” deal or who is so interested in getting their share of the winnings from the case that they will say anything. For Lauria to suggest that this deal is “great” is asinine! Undoubtedly not aware that this arrangement is a concession on a concession on a concession for retirees of the big three Lauria sounds like so many of the idiots willing to speak about something they know little about.

The original VEBA was a 2005 mid-contract concession; it set up a trust that was supposed to be funded by the big three to cover retirees health care, allowing the companies to get the costs of their books and prevent bankruptcy we were told. The 2007 contract contained further health care concessions (still waiting for the funding). Then the 2009 concessions contained further health care concessions AND a massive giveaway of the debt to fund the VEBA, also originally secured debt. I doubt Lauria will ever mention this because the media will never bring It up. It is simply too easy to bash auto workers without any pushback nowadays.

Hobby Lobby

2009-06-05T19:57:00.002-05:00

In this age of unethical business practices and corporate greed there are a few shining examples. I wrote about Costco and Google back in 2007 detailing their practice of paying their employees well and having CEO’s that don’t take absurd amounts of pay and bonuses even though they run very successful companies. Another company recently did something quite out of the ordinary in todays business world; they gave their employees a raise. Hobby Lobby had a very good year last year ($1.8 Billion in 2008 revenue) so the CEO and upper management sought “to share the wealth with workers” according to Hobby Lobby spokesman Chad Previch. Communist! The idea of giving employees a fair share of the wealth they help generate comes from the top! CEO David Green is the founder of Hobby Lobby and he is the reason the company treats its workers so well:

"We believe our success...is directly attributable to our outstanding employees and our strong corporate values, which are based on biblical principles, including integrity, service to others and giving back to those in need."

Im not kidding the CEO really said that! This is not the first time that this company has acted responsibly; last year when upper management at big oil was gouging the country at the pump Hobby Lobby gave their employees a quarter an hour raise to compensate for the increased cost of gasoline.

Many people right now are saying that this is not possible, business men don’t behave like that and it is some kind of P.R. move. To them I would say; it all happened, MEN should treat each other like this and if it’s a P.R. move why haven’t you heard about it? The sad thing is when a company acts responsibly it doesn’t get enough attention. To make up for that as best I can:

HOBBY LOBBY

When a company acts like this I want them to have my business and so should you!

Bankruptcy

2009-06-01T10:04:00.002-05:00

Bankruptcy.

After what seems like years of dragging on, GM finally filed for bankruptcy. With agreements in place with the UAW and creditors we can only hope that this process goes quickly. The coverage is extensive and in my opinion that may be part of the problem.

I spoke to the third reporter in as many days this morning. This one from the BBC, she was looking for someone still working; sorry about your luck. I have been getting interviewed by many reporters and they seem to ask pretty basic questions:

What will you do? Will it work? How did it come to this?

Fair questions. My grievance is this. The coverage also includes opinion pieces from people who know absolutely nothing about the auto industry. The NY Times features an op-ed today that is a pitiful attempt to opine over the news of the day at the expense of depth of knowledge on the subject.

The topic is hot! Let’s do an op-ed! No one with any automotive expertise to contribute? No problem we’ll wing it!

Give it a rest! One of the reasons that GM is its current sorry state is the lack of long term planning and putting people in places where they had little to no expertise. We have board rooms full of CEO apologists that have no idea what they are doing; we don’t need another set on the editorial boards of major newspapers. The NY Times uses the tired phrase “building cars Americans want to buy”, this drives me crazy! Its as if no one is buying GM cars. In 2008 GM sold nearly 3 MILLION cars in the U.S. alone, outselling its closest competitor by 760,000 vehicles. CLEARLY someone is buying these cars and they are Americans. The Times then starts with the usual double speak about building cars that are profitable and fuel efficient while claiming that we as stakeholders in the company deserve assurances from the Obama administration. Lets start with the “profitable and fuel efficient” thing – the most profitable vehicles are large SUV’s and trucks; that’s why Toyota and Honda recently came out with their own (Tundra and Ridgeline). I will agree that fuel efficiency in these vehicles is particularly important because they usually have the worst MPG ratings. HOWEVER; the media still touts the Toyota Prius as the savior of the auto industry as well as the planet. Well the media savior couldn’t even outsell the Chevy Malibu last year. Then the issue of profitability- Toyota loses money on every Prius sold. The company will eventually profit from this line but the amount of money currently involved in R & D and manufacturing don’t reap a profit even after years of production. Next point; the thought process of an investor/shareholder is in terms of the next quarter (3 months), a company the size of GM needs thought process along the lines of the next decade. The recent past leaders of GM had no vision or long term plan and we are all paying a price. Americans should not have the mindset of shareholders of GM but of stakeholders with a long term investment.

At the end of the day moving forward towards a profitable GM will involve a combination of the government pushing the company to appoint board members who are experts instead of yes men, the government also forming a legitimate industrial policy that helps domestic production along the lines of competitors governments, and the public rejecting blow hard talking heads that are speaking outside of their scope of knowledge. It’s easy to parrot the guy on TV, real problems require genuine reflection and study. I fear that asking David Brooks, a right wing political pundit, about the auto industry will be a weekly segment on the Sunday morning talk shows. There are many things that someone like David Brooks could discuss for hours; speaking from months studying the subject, conducting interviews and doing research; the auto industry is not one of them.

UAW Concessions III

2009-05-27T13:53:00.001-05:00

There is a commercial where Evander Holyfield (former Heavyweight boxing champion) is running through offices yelling at a sportswriter that wrote some insulting remarks, “Come get your whipping!” on my way to go hear about the latest round of concessions (third time in five years) I felt like the heavyweight champ was telling me to “come get my whoopin’!” I have the feeling that the vote will ratify the new concessions. Most of the people I know were expecting many of the new cuts.

The list of concessions was particularly brutal to retirees (again). Retirees will lose ALL vision and dental coverage. They will now have increased prescription co-pays (2nd time in 3 years that this will happen to them.) the VEBA fund which is to start to fund all retiree health care starting in 2010 took the brunt of the concessions having a massive portion of the funding of the trust carved away and a portion of the funding that will be paid will be paid out in GM stock (as good as gold!)

I won’t get into the specifics of all of the concessions that the active took that list is too long. The Detroit Free Press has released the entire summary that I got at the meeting and vote that will took place at the Lansing Center today. If you care to read it here is the link.

As I sat in my third meeting to review our concessions in 5 years I looked at a friend sitting with me and said “I hate these meetings!”, we both laughed so hard that dozens of people were giving us dirty looks. In a room full of layed off workers, retirees and active workers the mood was as good as can be expected. I guess when your options are “take these concessions or let a bankruptcy judge decide what you get” you have limited options.