Shutdown and Breakdown in Detroit

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Uttt OHHHH! The Big Three automakers are shutting down plants and that is not a good thing. Detroit is closing up shop because cars are not moving off the lots in the dealerships all across America. Trust me, this is not going to be an American made auto manufacturer phenomenon. Chrysler is shutting down all of its plants for thirty days and Ford is looking at similar options. GM is planning major shutdowns at plants as well and the ripple effect is not going to be good for the world economy. Over at Market Watch they have this to say and I have my own opinion on it afterward…

Chrysler to shut assembly lines for at least a month

Rival Ford takes similar steps, extending shutdown times at most plants

By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
Last update: 6:57 p.m. EST Dec. 17, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Chrysler LLC, struggling to keep afloat as it awaits word on a federal lifeline, said Wednesday it will idle all of its 30 plants for at least a month in an effort to bring output closer in line with plunging demand for new cars and trucks.

The privately held carmaker said it will shut its assembly lines at the end of Friday's shift and keep them closed through at least Jan. 19, extending a holiday shutdown that was already put in place. Under the current union contract, idled workers still receive most of their benefits and wages during the production stoppage.

Separately, Ford Motor Co. announced that it will shut down most of its North American assembly plants for an extra week in January, according to the Associated Press.
Automakers typically close their factories for a couple of weeks over the two weeks during holidays and often, as in Ford's case, target specific plants for even longer idle periods to keep a lid on inventory during times of slack demand. Yet Chrysler's move to idle its entire operation for at least a month reflects just how dire the situation is in Detroit.

"This is definitely out of the ordinary," Edmunds.com analyst Jesse Toprak said. "I've never seen this kind of shutdown for this long, and if you read the language Chrysler used in the release, they're leaving the door open for another extension."

Toprak added that the company will probably take a hard look at its December sales results, which he expects to be down 45% from a year ago, and decide whether to keep blue-collar workers from assembly lines even longer. - Market Watch (Link not working?)

It doesn’t matter anymore what side of the issue you stand on when it comes to the bailout for Detroit and its automakers. The Congress has spoken and the auto industry in America was told to go screw itself. That is a double edged sword so to speak.

Granted the UAW contracts will still pay many of the idled workers almost the same pay for a short shutdown but they can’t get paid forever if the companies end up folding. All of the investment capital that the Big Three used as leverage for long term loans was based on the price per share and all of them are in the toilet as far as share price goes. Wall Street can not and will not offer capital to these companies because the collateral in shares is just not there anymore. The Congress and the Republican members made that a reality by not backing the industry simply because they could. Rather than looking at the bigger picture, Republicans in the Congress looked to see who was in their own back yard and all they could see was Toyota, Honda and the list goes on of foreign owned plants here in the United States. Good for them, they covered their own political ass. Or did they?

While those same Republican leaders were looking out the back step they didn’t see their neighbor Joe that drives twenty minutes to a little mom and pop owned machine shop that just makes screws that go to Detroit. Those screws are installed by the thousands every day by Detroit workers in American made cars. All the little screws do is hold one little piece in a pick up or mid size car down so that another piece of the truck or car can be installed over it with those same little screws holding that part down. Those little tiny machined screws have paid all the wages and healthcare benefits for the five or six people running the actual machines that made them for decades. Not to mention mom and pop put a couple of kids through good schools, then good colleges, and then had those kids buy homes in the local area. Those five or six machine operators buy groceries locally, buy homes or renovate existing homes at the local hardware or home improvement center. They pay local and state taxes that pay for schools, roads, police and fire. They spend their hard earned paychecks where they live and other people benefit from their hard earned wages making little tiny screws that ship to Detroit.

Mom and pop have to close up shop for a while because Detroit is shutting down for a spell. Pick an industry and expand the scenario however you like. There is that old saying about a butterfly beating its wings in China and it gives birth to a hurricane thousands of miles away. Bingo!

There was a reason why the government of long ago would never let Chrysler go bankrupt. It reached to far and wide into the capillaries of the American economy. Lee Iacocca rebuilt Chrysler from the ground up because he had the means to do so courtesy of an American government backed loan. He didn’t do it alone and yet they all made it work out in the end. But now it is okay to let ALL THREE automakers fail? This lack of interest by or government is totally on the Republican Party and they are more than welcome to own it. I can literally see the history books thirty years from now on the new generation of Hoover that started the second economic collapse of America and the world.

This is the never ending ripple effect and when the small business manufacturing owners start closing the doors because Detroit is no longer in business then it is in fact a DEPRESSION! Somebody please call your Congressional representative and give them an earful!

Papamoka

GM, Ford, and Chrysler Bailout is a MUST!

How is it that our government has no problem stuffing $80 Billion dollars down the throat of AIG executives as they party it up but has a problem with offering a loan to a manufacturing industry inter connected with hundreds if not thousands of other manufacturing jobs and industries all across America. Manufacturing jobs that pay the rent, pay the mortgage, make a couple of car payments and the list goes on that are all connected directly or indirectly to GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

The big three are not asking for a handout without repayment. Matter of fact they are willing to pay back all of it if they are given the chance to survive this downturn in the economy. The current leadership in the Congress and the minority party need to get this done and quickly. Over at MSNBC they have this to say on how quickly they are acting on this…

Senate to take up auto bailout bill on Monday
$25 billion bill offers aid for struggling automakers; Republicans opposed

msnbc.com news services
updated 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Senate plans to take up a $25 billion bill on Monday to bail out distressed domestic auto companies, but it is unclear whether proponents can muster the necessary support.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Friday he “plans to press forward” with emergency aid to automakers and a plan to extend unemployment insurance even though Republican backing is far from assured.

Reid plans to begin debate and hopes the Senate will conduct procedural votes early in the week.

Snip a bolt…

Still, powerful senators like Richard Shelby, R-Ala., appear willing to let the U.S. automakers collapse. Shelby said in a statement recently that the problems facing the Big Three are the product of their noncompetitive structure and not the current economic downturn.

Alabama is home to vehicle manufacturing plants operated by Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes, as well as a Toyota engine plant. - MSNBC

Dick Shelby is a moron and a fool! While he is in the great state of Alabama with all of those foreign owned auto manufacturers hounding him to not let this bailout happen I’m pretty sure his campaign for re-election coffers are filling with serious donations from Japan, Korea, and Germany. After all, the bottom line of Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, and Toyota are in fact sending the profits overseas. Way to go you ass Shelby for being a paid for spokesman for a foreign national corporate monopoly in your own state. Ten bucks says he does not even own an American made car! Any takers? How about an American made flag? How can he claim to be an American worker supporter when he just chucked the bird to more than one and ten amongst us and that includes the proud people of Alabama that don't work for his top four best friend foreign national corporations.

Dick Shelby wants to tell all of you folks that work in electronics manufacturing products that eventually end up in a GM car, a Ford car, and a Chrysler car to go screw yourself. Same thing goes with all of you people in the plastics industry that supplies the big three with molded parts, same thing goes for the huge wire and cable manufacturing market in America. All of you folks that make American made tires that the big three are buying, get a paper route and go bag groceries. Do you work in a textile mill that supplies Detroit with fabric for new cars? You just got the middle finger from Dick Shelby too! Steel workers in the foundries spread out from Pennsylvania and beyond should start filling out applications for non existent jobs in an economy that is in collapse. It isn’t Dick Shelby’s problem that you people working in his home state happen to rely on the big three automakers for your weekly paycheck. Dick Shelby says the big three should shutter the doors and with that shuttering so goes many small businesses that supplied the big three all across America. He’s an economics idiot and a moron that has no clue as to how reliant his own state is on supplying the big three American Auto Makers with parts and components to build a Chevy, a Ford, and a Dodge Ram truck!

I feel better, I vented. But I think other folks are just a little bit more interested in this conversation. Chris Matthews has this on the big three bailout with an interview with Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas…

Video Link



I think we need to add Jeb Hensarling to the list of morons and idiots when it comes to economics. Jeb wants to wave the flag of creation of thousands of new small business jobs with the same money that this bailout loan is proposing but if the big three collapse then Jeb Hensarling just committed genocide on thousands of other small businesses in his home state of Texas. What about all of their jobs at descent paying wages Jeb? Maybe they can get more than minimum wage working for your re-election campaign?

This bailout is not even close to the blank check written to Secretary Paulson to spend as he pleases. While some say that it is the big three auto makers own fault for the environment they now find themselves in I would have to beg the same argument for AIG and the blank check for Wall Street. Should there be concessions to this loan from the big three, hell yes! If the UAW (United Auto Workers) is already taking a big piece of the heat off of all three auto makers by cutting wages in half in new contracts in order to save jobs. The CEO’s, Direcetors, and management of all three can eat the same humble pie. The fact still remains that the auto industry is directly connected to one in ten jobs in America and if they collapse we are not talking about just three million jobs as Chris Matthews pointed out. We are talking thirty million jobs or more with the pressure wave of panic that will ensue when each of the big three declare bankruptcy, skip out on the debt owed to vendors and pretty much start the wave of layoffs all across America. It does not take a genius to understand how the manufacturing environment works and how so many industries are linked together not just by choice. We need more than just common sense when it comes to knowing the weakest link at the top of the food chain in our industrial society. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are asking for a loan that they will repay over time. The language of the Paulson Bailout plan is financial industry specific.

Congress and President Bush need to act quickly to save American jobs! This legislation can not wait two months to fester in the auto industry and all the sub manufacturing companies across America that service the big three in Detroit. Bail them out but use common sense in doing so.

Papamoka

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McCain on Michigan “Check Please!”

It seems that the McCain campaign is calling it quits in Michigan and thus handing the state to Obama. It also seems obvious that he knows that the battleground states are up for grabs and he needs to concentrate the rest of his finances in those states or he will go down in flames on election day. Over at Politico they have this to say on it…

McCain pulling out of Michigan
John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush.

A McCain aide confirmed the move and chalked it up to the state's Democratic tilt and the resources Obama had put in place there.

"It was always a long shot for us to win," said the aide.

McCain will now turn his attention to bolstering his defenses in Ohio and Florida while putting more resources into Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and the second congressional district of Maine, where there is a sole electoral vote available. - Politico


I think we just need to set the record straight here. McCain is not quitting Michigan, the people of Michigan are not buying what he is selling. Maybe he should put his campaign on clearance and move it to the center aisle? It looks to me that there is less interest in items on the extreme right and even John McCain does not look comfortable there.

Then again there just might be a story coming out in the next few days that would have embarrassed McCain out of the State if not banned him. With Governor Palin soon to be a grandmother, she allegedly began knitting Michigan a giant mitten. Just a rumor, no proof yet.

Papamoka

Mississippi Going for Obama

Even before the votes are counted Senator Clinton is counting the great state of Mississippi out for Senator Obama. Not that that surprises me but you would have thought she at least might have thought the contest might just be close before the results were even tallied. Given all the blunders of all the polling numbers I would never personally give the state to any candidate before the full vote count was in.

When it comes to delegates to the Democrat Convention and that is what the primaries are all about, this state plays a key role when it comes to the final process. Not simply because they are holding a primary but simply because they played by the rules of the Democrat Party on selecting a candidate. We’ll get into that a little bit latter after we look at this piece from MSNBC on Hillary Clinton’s white flag campaign for Mississippi…

Clinton battles Obama for Mississippi votes
Illinois senator favored to win majority of state's 33 delegates

Obama began the night with 1,579 delegates, to 1,473 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 to win the nomination.

Neither of the two rivals appears able to win enough delegates through primaries and caucuses to prevail in their historic race for the nomination, a development that has elevated the importance of nearly 800 elected officials and party leaders who will attend next summer's national convention as unelected superdelegates.

Obama leads Clinton among pledged delegates, 1,368-1,226 in The Associated Press' count, while the former first lady has an advantage among superdelegates, 247-211.

Adding to the uncertainty of the nominating campaign, Democrats from Florida and Michigan are pressing for their delegations to be seated at the convention.

Snip and Tuck

"Some people have said 'Well Mississippi is very much a state that will most likely be in favor of Senator Obama.' I said 'Well, that's fine,' but I want people in Mississippi to know I'm for you," she said in Hattiesburg before flying to Pennsylvania.

Obama made a stop Tuesday in Greenville before heading to Pennsylvania, too.

"I've been praying for you," a man called out.

"I believe in prayer," Obama replied. - MSNBC

Both Obama and Clinton probably have better access to polling numbers than I do and I would hope that they do. What I’m getting at is even if the numbers are bloody ugly, a candidate for President should never leave any state chucking the bird at the folks that just happen to be in the middle of the road and undecided. How many times do you have to see on the local news, national news and every single online news site that many people made their decision on who they want for the Democrat candidate for President when they actually were in the voting booth?

As for the ongoing debate over the delegate’s to the Democrat Convention from Florida and Michigan, that is or should be ended with three words, “Let Them Vote”.

Make no mistake about it, this process is not a popularity contest for the general public. This is the Democrat primary for President of the United States of America. It is a political party that allows Independent voters to participate but there are rules for all candidates to abide by. Florida and Michigan broke the rules of the Democrat Party by moving their voting dates up. In doing so the Democrat Party stripped them of their delegates to the Democrat Party Convention. If you broke the rules you get penalized for it.

There are some that say the delegates from each state should be seated as the process stands and I would have to argue with you on that point. Both candidates vowed to not run in Florida and yet Senator Clinton’s name was the only one on the ballot? Knowing many a friend and family in Florida that just happen to be Democrats they didn’t even bother to vote because they were told the election process did not count. Same goes for Michigan!

If you want to make this a fair fight then schedule a re-vote for both states with all of the candidates on the ballot. Schedule it, let the candidates campaign in the states and let the voters decide with an actual vote that THEY know will count. Don’t back door, smoke filled room, old boys of the Democrat Party decide who can and can not be seated at the convention. Doing that wreaks of political election corruption and we have had enough of that under the current occupant of the White House.

It is our political party and the people in Florida and Michigan should be given the opportunity to decide who THEY want to face John McCain in the next general election for President. If the Democrats back room dealings seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan without a re-vote then the election process is a joke for every single Democrat.

Papamoka

Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com

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Move your Ass Detroit!

In India they unveiled the cheapest car in the world. It’s God awful ugly but goes from point A to point B at 50 MPG. Don’t even think about looking for it on the streets in North America any time soon. It won’t pass the bicycle hitting the newspaper stand test. But it is innovative in an entrepreneurial kind of way of making brand new car ownership possible to millions of people in India.

This raises the question, why the hell can’t Detroit do this for the folks in the United States? Could it be that all the outsourcing of jobs to India has created the end of Detroit’s ownership on the world transportation needs? Either way you look at it, India has a compact super little car that fit’s the needs of their people and cuts emissions that can be bought for $2500 US dollars.

Tata unveils Nano, its $2,500 car

The long-awaited Indian 'People's Car' aims to replace the scooter in first-time buyers' hearts. Though you won't see it in the West anytime soon, it could signal a wave of lower-priced cars to come.

By MSN Money staff and wire reports

India's Tata Motors today unveiled the Nano, its much-anticipated $2,500 car, an ultracheap price tag that brings car ownership into the reach of tens of millions of people.
Company Chairman Ratan Tata, introducing the Nano during India's main auto show in New Delhi, drove onto a stage in a white version of the tiny four-door subcompact, his head nearly touching the roof.

With a snub nose and a sloping roof, the world's cheapest car can hold five people -- if they squeeze. And the basic version is spare: There's no radio, no air bags, no passenger-side mirror and only one windshield wiper. If you want air conditioning to cope with India's brutal summers, you need to get the deluxe version. - MSN MONEY

All is fair in love and war and American’s love cars. The current administration has proven that we will go to war over the go go juice that gets our people from point A to point B. With this little car we just might not have to go to war to protect our need for more go go juice.

Cheap cars are never pretty, remember the Yugo? That was a joke of a car but many people bought them and drove them till their Bic Lighter life ran out. Same thing goes for the Geo Metro, put me in the ownership column of Geo Metro lovers. I loved my little four door grasshopper. Filling the tank once every two weeks with a work commute of 19 miles each way fit my larger than life family.

Watch your back Detroit, India is knocking on the door and they are bringing savings to the driving consumers. It may not be pretty now but these cars will be on the streets of North America in less than ten years with some beefing up crash test passing results. The clock is ticking… tick, tock, tick, tock…

Papamoka

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NO More Red State or Blue State

Following the election after Iowa is enlightening and educational to this Biden junkie. As much as I loved Joe Biden for President I am finding the Obama camp more to my liking without Joe in the race for President. Obama’s approach to the election is not about a divided America but a United America with a common purpose. Serving all Americans and what they need first.

There is no red state or blue state or division in his speeches and he reaches out in unity for all. That principal is something that people from all walks of life can vote for and believe in that Barack Obama and his message of change is what we need as a nation. From over at Liberal Values, Ron Chusid has this great video and read on Barack Obama’s victory in Iowa…



With about 98% of the vote in from the Iowa caucus, I project Barack Obama will be elected the next President of the United States.

Sure, a lot can still happen between now and November, but baring a major change it is difficult to see any other result. Edwards’ populism won’t sell in many states outside of Iowa, and having lost her aura of inevitability, support for Clinton is likely to hemorrhage. Dodd and Biden both withdrew, and Richardson performed too poorly to be a serious candidate. As for the general election, the record turnout of 227,000 in a state that went for George Bush is just one sign of the advantage the Democrats have. Some questioned the model used by The Des Moines Register that estimated 200,000 attendees but this number was greatly surpassed. By comparison, the turnout in 2004 was 125,000.

Not only did Obama win the caucus, he “won” in the post-caucus speeches. Clinton’s speech sounded like a speech of the Democratic Party past. John Edwards’ speech was the Dean scream put to words, showing yet again Edwards would never be elected president. Barack Obama gave the speech which would be expected not only by the leader of the Democratic Party, but by the president of all the people of the United States. The Republicans might be able to beat Hillary Clinton. I believe they would have beaten John Edwards. They will have a hard time beating Barack Obama. - Liberal Values

In America we need to stand up for ourselves and vote for change simply because the Congress will not act if we do not send our elected candidates to speak for us. This is a time for great change in our nation and the only way it will happen is by voting for change.

President Bush and his crew of political thugs have convinced the American people that there are two sides to every issue and if you are on the opposing opinion then you are anti-American. With us or against us mentality works in the school yard but not in the world we adults have to leave as a legacy to our children or grand children. Living under the cloak of perpetual Republican fear because the toughest kid on the block should never talk to the political leaders of other nations because they do not agree with us is isolationist and the fast track for our nations failure.

When the folks on the right side of the aisle talk about making your life just a little bit better they are talking about the top three to five percent of income earners. When Barack Obama talks about making your lives a little better he is talking to you and I that are struggling just to pay the mortgage or the rent and fill the gas tank of the family car. He is talking about the future and ending the tyranny of oil, the energy crisis that is crippling Americans at the pump or the oil heating tank in not just your home but your business. He is talking about change and change only comes from listening to inventors and people with innovative ideas that will cripple the domination and strangle hold that the oil industry and markets hold over Americans every single day. From that perspective, his love for our country and all of our people is genuine and unquestionable.

As for those that would question his patriotism or desire to end the war in Iraq he has a time line. Iraq is free, Iraq will have sixteen months to get its own house in order and our troops will be out. Much like Ronald Reagan let the Iranians know that he would not tolerate hostage takers as President, the result was freed hostages during his inauguration.

One thing is sure as we all live here in America and go about our lives is that the state of our nation is in trouble. The perception of America is no longer the defender of freedom. We are supposedly the police of the world and we can not be that for all nations. We as a nation need to put the Teddy Roosevelt big stick down and listen to the people of the world that used to be our friends. Selling fear is easy, selling the answers to overcome that fear is someone you need to listen to. We are not the ugly Americans but that is the perception around the world of our nation and of you. Can we change that? I don’t think we have a choice.

America is not just about Americans. We are the beacon of light to the world and many times we might get it wrong on world politics but we have the innate ability to prove that change is possible. When our nation is right, then we can all do amazing things for the world. When we are wrong and our President has a twenty eight percent popularity rating then we can and will initiate change by voting accordingly. We are not red states or blue states, we are Americans. If we want our government back then we need to stand up for change. It is that easy and that simple and Barack Obama is right!

Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring IT ON!

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