Chamber of Commerce double standard

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

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

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

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

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

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.