Jack Lessenberry, a Michigan journalist, wrote recently of the grim Michigan economy (click HERE), and had this to say about the auto executives in Washington:
The automakers arrived to beg for a bailout. Pasty and blank-faced, looking alike and lacking a clue, they flew in on their corporate jets. That's something like renting a top hat and tails and showing up at Cass Corridor mission and asking for Thanksgiving dinner.
They looked like jackasses, in short. They tried hard to add to the perception: Alan Mulally, the hired gun Ford brought in from Boeing, said his $21 million a year was about right. (Lee Iacocca asked for a salary of $1 a year when Chrysler was seeking a bailout.) None of them was willing to give up the corporate jets. And Rick Wagoner said changing the leadership of these companies wasn't necessary.
I heard Jack speak some years ago when Jennifer Granholm was elected governor at the end of 2002 - he said something like this: Granholm will inherit an economic mess that is not likely to be solved with any easy solutions.
Jack has always been able to put his finger on the essential nature of an issue, and I remember so clearly the sense that our economic mess, not only for Michigan, but for the nation, was going to take in some mighty dark places.
Jack's words have become painfully true for Michigan, for the United States, and because of us, for much of the world.
The Reagan House of Cards has come tumbling down.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
UAW - Give 'em a Break
Folks in Detroit have been giving one another lots of concessions ... but the biggest hit in the last ten years has been on the UAW - the gals and guys who actually build the cars we drive.
White collars have felt it, too - plenty of downsizing and cutbacks all over the place ...
But what I hear these days reflects a wretched bias against unions - that if only the unions would go away, we could have labor nirvana ... and business, of course, "will take care of its workers."
Bullshit, if I may say so.
We easily forget the hideous history between labor and management, and we forget that labor money is trickle down money - the working folks buy the homes, the TVs, the golf clubs and everything else that drives America's middle class economy.
But the moneyed buy $27,000 bathtubs (yup, saw it advertised the other day) or $25,ooo wrist watches - that doesn't trickle down very well.
Without the unions, there'd be no middle class.
When the Great Liar (Mr. Reagan) busted the Flight Controllers Union, he added another brutal, selfish, chapter to the American story and it's prejudice against the working class. Even a lot of the working class bought the story for a long time - everyone wanted to be rich, so many of the working class felt that if they gave up their union, Mama would take care of them.
But what we see with Wall Street and the latest from the auto execs, when they actually get out in public - they don't give a damn about the folks working for them. They care deeply about themselves, sustaining their preposterous lifestyles, and keeping up appearances for the sake of their investors.
I think we ought to bail 'em out and then buy 'em up! The working millions need our support, and it's time for Uncle Sam to set the pace!
Michael Moore
has it right - we need a World War 2 approach - the government has to tell them what to build - not only hybrids and hyper efficient cars, but mass transit - to rebuuld the nation's infrastructure. We've done it before, and we can do it again.
White collars have felt it, too - plenty of downsizing and cutbacks all over the place ...
But what I hear these days reflects a wretched bias against unions - that if only the unions would go away, we could have labor nirvana ... and business, of course, "will take care of its workers."
Bullshit, if I may say so.
We easily forget the hideous history between labor and management, and we forget that labor money is trickle down money - the working folks buy the homes, the TVs, the golf clubs and everything else that drives America's middle class economy.
But the moneyed buy $27,000 bathtubs (yup, saw it advertised the other day) or $25,ooo wrist watches - that doesn't trickle down very well.
Without the unions, there'd be no middle class.
When the Great Liar (Mr. Reagan) busted the Flight Controllers Union, he added another brutal, selfish, chapter to the American story and it's prejudice against the working class. Even a lot of the working class bought the story for a long time - everyone wanted to be rich, so many of the working class felt that if they gave up their union, Mama would take care of them.
But what we see with Wall Street and the latest from the auto execs, when they actually get out in public - they don't give a damn about the folks working for them. They care deeply about themselves, sustaining their preposterous lifestyles, and keeping up appearances for the sake of their investors.
I think we ought to bail 'em out and then buy 'em up! The working millions need our support, and it's time for Uncle Sam to set the pace!
Michael Moore
has it right - we need a World War 2 approach - the government has to tell them what to build - not only hybrids and hyper efficient cars, but mass transit - to rebuuld the nation's infrastructure. We've done it before, and we can do it again.
Obama the Articulate
I enjoyed this chuckle piece ...
Stunning Break with Last Eight Years
In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.
Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS' "Sixty Minutes" on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.
But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.
According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota , some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks English as if it were his first language.
"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."
The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate - we get it, stop showing off."
The President-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska .
"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.
Stunning Break with Last Eight Years
In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.
Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS' "Sixty Minutes" on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.
But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.
According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota , some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks English as if it were his first language.
"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."
The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate - we get it, stop showing off."
The President-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska .
"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Prop 8
Something I posted to Facebook in response to a query about being a Christian and being pro-gay:
Precisely as an avid follower of Christ - he made it clear that marriage and family, though important, were not the last word in God's scheme ... family could be the source of one's greatest opposition - Jesus reminds his followers to be prepared to "hate" the family, that is, "reject if necessary" ... and when asked about who would be married to whom by the Sadducees, he says there will be no marriage in heaven.
As a Christian, I have looked long and hard at the relevant Scripture, including the Leviticus material which you well know also condemns a farmer who sows two kinds of seed in the same field and anyone who wears two-fabric clothing. The Bible says everything, so, in effect, it says nothing, until we put our hand to it.
If there is a final law, our Lord said it: Love ... love trumps all other laws!
I stand with Paul when he wrote his letter to the Romans - they accused Paul of being a libertine - what with his grace, they suggested that he was allowing anything to have a go. Paul rightly protests, but Paul is clear: if an error of judgment is going to be made, he makes it on the side of grace, not of law.
He'd been there, done that ... and after being "enlightened" on the Damascus Road, he opts for grace first.
I'm not sure any of this addresses your questions, and I have long since ceased trying to dissuade or persuade anyone ... but I try to bear witness to the Lord I love.
Precisely as an avid follower of Christ - he made it clear that marriage and family, though important, were not the last word in God's scheme ... family could be the source of one's greatest opposition - Jesus reminds his followers to be prepared to "hate" the family, that is, "reject if necessary" ... and when asked about who would be married to whom by the Sadducees, he says there will be no marriage in heaven.
As a Christian, I have looked long and hard at the relevant Scripture, including the Leviticus material which you well know also condemns a farmer who sows two kinds of seed in the same field and anyone who wears two-fabric clothing. The Bible says everything, so, in effect, it says nothing, until we put our hand to it.
If there is a final law, our Lord said it: Love ... love trumps all other laws!
I stand with Paul when he wrote his letter to the Romans - they accused Paul of being a libertine - what with his grace, they suggested that he was allowing anything to have a go. Paul rightly protests, but Paul is clear: if an error of judgment is going to be made, he makes it on the side of grace, not of law.
He'd been there, done that ... and after being "enlightened" on the Damascus Road, he opts for grace first.
I'm not sure any of this addresses your questions, and I have long since ceased trying to dissuade or persuade anyone ... but I try to bear witness to the Lord I love.
Friday, November 21, 2008
UAW
Having lived in Detroit from 1990 - 2006, I know something about the unions and the companies which have labored long and hard to eradicate them.
Without the unions, there would never have been a middle class.
And in the last 15 years, the UAW has surrendered millions of dollars in wages and benefits to the selfish demands of management who've taken increasingly larger and larger chunks of the pie, while ignoring the public cry for better cars and pandering to the sickness of the Street (Wall, that is, not Main).
The upper levels of auto management, along with their fellow crooks at Wall Street, have plundered their companies while padding their own pockets, all under the blessing of Reaganomics, one of the greatest lies ever created, and one of the most tragic turns in the American story.
The Unions strove for wages and benefits appropriate to the profits being made, and when profits began their plunge, the Unions reduced where they could, but not management, as we see with their corporate jets and perks so carefully created and hidden from public view.
The blame for the present debacle must be laid at the feet of an arrogant leadership contemptuous of America, forcing more and more relinquishments from their workers, and forcing 3rd and 4th tier suppliers to outsource their work, putting millions out of work ten years ago.
Take a look at Flint, Michigan to see how GM pillaged a once-viable community, while deflecting the blame to the workers, pocketing the profits, enjoying their benefits on the backs of millions of middle class Americans.
Michael Moore has it right - we need a World War 2 approach - the government has to tell them what to build - not only hybrids and hyper efficient cars, but mass transit. We've done it before, and we can do it again.
But only when we all awaken to the reality: We are our brother's keeper!
Without the unions, there would never have been a middle class.
And in the last 15 years, the UAW has surrendered millions of dollars in wages and benefits to the selfish demands of management who've taken increasingly larger and larger chunks of the pie, while ignoring the public cry for better cars and pandering to the sickness of the Street (Wall, that is, not Main).
The upper levels of auto management, along with their fellow crooks at Wall Street, have plundered their companies while padding their own pockets, all under the blessing of Reaganomics, one of the greatest lies ever created, and one of the most tragic turns in the American story.
The Unions strove for wages and benefits appropriate to the profits being made, and when profits began their plunge, the Unions reduced where they could, but not management, as we see with their corporate jets and perks so carefully created and hidden from public view.
The blame for the present debacle must be laid at the feet of an arrogant leadership contemptuous of America, forcing more and more relinquishments from their workers, and forcing 3rd and 4th tier suppliers to outsource their work, putting millions out of work ten years ago.
Take a look at Flint, Michigan to see how GM pillaged a once-viable community, while deflecting the blame to the workers, pocketing the profits, enjoying their benefits on the backs of millions of middle class Americans.
Michael Moore has it right - we need a World War 2 approach - the government has to tell them what to build - not only hybrids and hyper efficient cars, but mass transit. We've done it before, and we can do it again.
But only when we all awaken to the reality: We are our brother's keeper!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Stevens Defeated
Good News.
I breathed a sigh of relief upon reading of Alaska Senator Steven's defeat. This secures an additionally needed seat for the Dems and avoids the possibility of She-Who-Won't-be-Named appointing herself in his stead, had he had been elected and then removed by the Repubs.
Though the good folks of Alaska have been much maligned as of late - and some of it well-deserved - there are lots of good and decent folks in that fair state who can see a far better vision for America than that proposed by the GOP and the religious ideologues who have taken control of that party.
Now, if only Franken can clear the Minnesota recount, and if the Dems can take the runoff race in Georgia.
And, by the way, I find it amazing, if not exhilarating, to hear the names of FDR and Lincoln so frequently included in political discussion as Obama takes office.
These are critical times, and only great leadership, like FDR and Lincoln, will see us through. I believe Obama is up the task.
I breathed a sigh of relief upon reading of Alaska Senator Steven's defeat. This secures an additionally needed seat for the Dems and avoids the possibility of She-Who-Won't-be-Named appointing herself in his stead, had he had been elected and then removed by the Repubs.
Though the good folks of Alaska have been much maligned as of late - and some of it well-deserved - there are lots of good and decent folks in that fair state who can see a far better vision for America than that proposed by the GOP and the religious ideologues who have taken control of that party.
Now, if only Franken can clear the Minnesota recount, and if the Dems can take the runoff race in Georgia.
And, by the way, I find it amazing, if not exhilarating, to hear the names of FDR and Lincoln so frequently included in political discussion as Obama takes office.
These are critical times, and only great leadership, like FDR and Lincoln, will see us through. I believe Obama is up the task.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Hope
The Republican Party is in a state of total collapse.
It's principle literary energy - The National Review - is without moral compass with the loss of the two Buckleys, one by death (Bill) and the other by resignation (Christopher) after his endorsement of Obama.
Palin continues to flap her wings, a parody of herself.
Mike Huckabee has a new book coming out - click here - but it's full of old ideas. Though he tries to move beyond the ideology and orthodoxy of the GOPalin group, preliminary reviews indicate that the GOP is very tired, and very irrelevant to the times.
He proposes a sales tax rather than income tax. Sound simple? I suppose it is, but it's discriminatory toward the poor, because in a sales tax structure, the poor always pay more than the rich - ten dollars out of a hundred is a whole lot more than a hundred out of a thousand, and so on. The biblical observation holds true: of those who have much, much is required.
And Biden was right - it IS patriotic to pay taxes, just like it's right to pay for your groceries. The Reagan lies - that we can have everything we want, without strings, without cost, without taxes - is the greatest lie every told, and the greater story, however, is that so many of us believed it.
The Greedy Old Party - for now, put it to rest and let it alone. Who knows, in another ten days, Palin will have disappeared from the media - let her hunt moose (hope she misses like she did in the campaign - the moose deserve a better life than being a trophy for her raging ego and limited intellect).
It's time for thoughtful and mostly liberal folks to understand that we've won a major victory, crossed a bridge no one knew to exist five years ago, and it's time for a new vision for America - not an ideological vision, but a NEW New Deal fit for the times - a globalized economy, environmental degradation, wars and rumor of wars on a regional scale rather than some post-Depression world war; the need to narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots, health care, education and a well-regulated Wall Street.
Toward this end, I believe that Obama will bring a depth of thought and creativity - not to mention, civility - with the persona of authentic conviction long needed in the White House.
It will take years - the New Deal required a lot of time, and incurred a number of missteps along the way, but the New Deal rebuilt the nation - though a World War likely contributed mightily to the renewing of the economy.
As for the bailout, we need to put a lot of cash into the public sector - mass transit, bridges, school, playgrounds - to put folks back to work. Even an auto bailout, with plenty of strings, would be far better than paying the bills of Wall Street's greedy stupidity.
We have a chance.
America has a chance.
The world has a chance.
Let's make it work.
It's principle literary energy - The National Review - is without moral compass with the loss of the two Buckleys, one by death (Bill) and the other by resignation (Christopher) after his endorsement of Obama.
Palin continues to flap her wings, a parody of herself.
Mike Huckabee has a new book coming out - click here - but it's full of old ideas. Though he tries to move beyond the ideology and orthodoxy of the GOPalin group, preliminary reviews indicate that the GOP is very tired, and very irrelevant to the times.
He proposes a sales tax rather than income tax. Sound simple? I suppose it is, but it's discriminatory toward the poor, because in a sales tax structure, the poor always pay more than the rich - ten dollars out of a hundred is a whole lot more than a hundred out of a thousand, and so on. The biblical observation holds true: of those who have much, much is required.
And Biden was right - it IS patriotic to pay taxes, just like it's right to pay for your groceries. The Reagan lies - that we can have everything we want, without strings, without cost, without taxes - is the greatest lie every told, and the greater story, however, is that so many of us believed it.
The Greedy Old Party - for now, put it to rest and let it alone. Who knows, in another ten days, Palin will have disappeared from the media - let her hunt moose (hope she misses like she did in the campaign - the moose deserve a better life than being a trophy for her raging ego and limited intellect).
It's time for thoughtful and mostly liberal folks to understand that we've won a major victory, crossed a bridge no one knew to exist five years ago, and it's time for a new vision for America - not an ideological vision, but a NEW New Deal fit for the times - a globalized economy, environmental degradation, wars and rumor of wars on a regional scale rather than some post-Depression world war; the need to narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots, health care, education and a well-regulated Wall Street.
Toward this end, I believe that Obama will bring a depth of thought and creativity - not to mention, civility - with the persona of authentic conviction long needed in the White House.
It will take years - the New Deal required a lot of time, and incurred a number of missteps along the way, but the New Deal rebuilt the nation - though a World War likely contributed mightily to the renewing of the economy.
As for the bailout, we need to put a lot of cash into the public sector - mass transit, bridges, school, playgrounds - to put folks back to work. Even an auto bailout, with plenty of strings, would be far better than paying the bills of Wall Street's greedy stupidity.
We have a chance.
America has a chance.
The world has a chance.
Let's make it work.
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