Day: May 22, 2008

Clinton: The Comeback Kid

Clinton surrogates are becoming tiresome, especially that caffeine rushed, McAuliffe, but the best so far is Wolfson, he hits the morning talk shows almost daily and in each case taunts Clintons wins as coming back from the dead.  And some have even gone so far as to call her the comeback kid, which by the way, is not completely accurate.  Ok I will concede that she did make a comeback in New Hampshire, which was a very good win for her, but that is about the only comeback she has made.  Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, all of which she was suppose to win and she did.  Those ARE NOT comebacks!

If one is predicted to win, then the use of comeback kid just does not seem to be appropriate.  Some in the media are calling her to drop out, for the good of the party, but not gonna happen.  Why?  Clinton is jockeying for position, she either wants to be on the ticket, or she wants more influence in the party or she is trying to preserve her position in 2012 as the Dem candidate.

She has invented a new political math to help her case.  When one path seems to shut down for her, she will find another.  Hell she has more paths than dollar grass.  If you have ever fought the weed, dollat grass, then you know what I speak about.

But her math only is sufficient if there is a way for her to use the votes from Michigan and Florida.  She will not accept defeat gracefully and neither will the over 50 white women and low educated white blue collar workers.  Desperation will soon give way to reality and the inevitable loss she is suffering.

Eventually, the good of the party has got to be the priority, if the Dems are to beat McCain in the Fall.

American Axle Strike: Defeat Snatched from the Jaws of Victory

This is a post I found on the Daily Worker OnLine:

Last weekend, UAW officials announced they had signed a tentative agreement with American Axle and Manufacturing, seeking to put an end to the 12-week strike that has crippled the spin-off and its parent, General Motors. As expected, the new “contract” is an abomination:

  • average wages cut by one-third
  • holidays and benefits slashed
  • Cost Of Living Adjustments eliminated
  • the eight-hour day eliminated
  • the right to strike over health and safety issues eliminated
  • the grievance procedure rewritten in favor of management
  • the Detroit and Tonawanda, N.Y., forges shut down
  • a non-union plant in Oxford Twp., Mich., opened

In exchange, AAM management will bribe the current workforce with “buyouts” and “buydowns” — the blood money provided by GM — to get them the accept the deal. In addition, the UAW officials get a pass at “organizing” some previously non-union elements through a “neutrality” agreement.UAW members in New York and at the Three Rivers, Mich., facility were presented with the “contract” on Monday … and pushed to vote on it at the same time. In other words, the officials pushed the workers to accept the deal through haranguing and intimidation, and would not allow our brothers and sisters to take some time to study the deal, think about it and make an informed decision.This should come as no surprise. The more someone studies this deal, the more they realize it stinks! Luckily, the workers at the main Detroit facility had the foresight to require a period of study and discussion before taking a ratification vote. That vote is today (Thursday, May 22).If this deal goes through, it will be a textbook case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The 12-week strike had put not only American Axle in a troubling situation, but also General Motors. The length of the strike had forced GM and its dealers to strip and cannibalize other cars to fulfill repair demands. Nearly one-third of GM plants were idled or forced to cut back production because of the strike.At the same time, the actions of the UAW officials — especially that of UAW President Ronald “McDonald” Gettelfinger — have created a movement of no confidence in the “union” and its ability to wage a strike. This is why many workers have voted in favor of the “contract” so far: they want the buyout and early retirement; they don’t see Gettelfinger & Co. as willing or even able to represent and defend their interests.Gettelfinger and his officials whined that AAM management was seeking to “crush” the union. As if this is something new … in the industry and in the history of the American labor movement! The difference is that, when this has happened in the past (OK, waaay in the past), the union officials have found a little bit of spine to stiffen and actually fought back — albeit often half-heartedly or in a generally half-assed manner. But when Gettelfinger and his “UAW, Inc.” felt a little bit of heat from AAM, they groveled and begged for the bosses’ forgiveness in the media.The UAW officials call this “the best we could do”. Oh, really?! Well, if this is the best you could do, then you have no business being in charge of a push broom, much less a supposed labor union. This is why we have called for workers’ control of the strike from the beginning. We knew these officials would knife our brothers and sisters for their own gain, and said so from the get go.We urge our fellow workers voting today in Detroit to send a strong message and vote NO on the contract. You might not be able to stop Gettelfinger from throwing you to the jackals, but you can make it clear that this fight is not over and will continue.The League will have more on this historic defeat for working people in the U.S. in the June issue of Working People’s Advocate

The Mortgage Crisis Answer From Congress

A key US Senate committee passed bipartisan-supported legislation Tuesday that will provide meager relief to homeowners while allowing banks and mortgage companies to receive government backing for some failing loans.

he bill has the broad support of the financial industry, which is facing tens of billions of dollars in losses from the housing market decline and the broader credit crisis.

Coming in an election year, the legislation is a gesture at aiding distressed homeowners, but it will do nothing for most of those affected by the collapse of housing prices and the rise in foreclosures. Its principal aim is to stem the losses suffered by banks and other financial institutions as a result of the chaos in the mortgage-backed securities market.

The main provision in both the House and Senate versions is the creation of a fund under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that would allow homeowners with good credit who have fallen behind on their payments to negotiate with their lenders a reduction in the outstanding principal. The FHA would then guarantee the loan under a new, fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage. The bill provides for a fund to cover up to $300 billion in loans.

Since the plan is entirely voluntary, it would allow the banks to modify a given loan only when it considered that option more profitable than risking default under the old terms. At the same time, any losses from defaults on the new mortgages would be covered by the government.

Only a small minority of distressed borrowers are expected to benefit from the new fund. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that a maximum of 500,000 homeowners would qualify. In contrast, some 1.5 million families are already in foreclosure, and another 2.8 million are expected to file over the next four years.

There are about 8,000 new foreclosures every day throughout the country. US foreclosure filings in April were 65 percent higher than a year before.

This is just another political band aid for the financial gunshot wound.

Oil Executives In Washington

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee vented their fury over high gasoline prices at executives of the nation’s five largest oil companies on Wednesday, grilling the oilmen over their multimillion-dollar pay packages and warning them that Congress was intent on taking action that could include a new tax on so-called windfall profits

And the oil executives warned that government intervention might only make things worse. Instead, they called on Congress to allow more drilling and exploration for domestic oil, both in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and offshore in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

“Does it trouble any of you when you see what you are doing to us, the profits that you are taking, the costs that you are imposing on working families, small businesses, truckers, farmers?”

The executives pushed back, suggesting that Democrats in Congress were at fault for not allowing more drilling and exploration for domestic oil and insisting that global economic conditions outside their control were mostly responsible for the high prices.

These executives did a good job of making it about the policies and programs and not about their obscene profits.  I have asked this question many times…..Let us say that there was more domestic drilling, how much would that bring down the cost of gas?  If it truly is out of their hands then why are there the soaring, seemingly unstoppable high profits?

AAM Contract Nears Ratification

So far, four of five UAW locals, representing 1,650 workers, have voted to ratify the tentative deal. Today, UAW Local 235, representing 2,000 workers, is scheduled to vote.

Assuming the contact is ratified, workers would see a short-term boost.

When they return to work, they’ll be paid at their old wage levels from before the strike — but only for up to 90 days.

American Axle aims to cut its UAW workforce covered by the tentative contract by 2,000 by the end of the year through attrition programs and even layoffs, said people who were briefed on the talks. Workers were told that 900 of those would come from the remaining Detroit plant.

Additional concessions that go beyond wages and benefits would give workers five fewer holidays over the course of the 4-year contract, a smaller holiday bonus, shorter breaks and smaller shift premiums.

Is it just me or is that messed up? What part of this sounds beneficial to the workers? In these days with the US recession, the workers are over a barrel, to keep a lower paying job or starve. Some choice!

House Overrides Farm Bill Veto

The House has overridden President Bush’s veto of a $290 billion farm bill and senators soon may follow suit.

It was only hours before the House’s 316-108 vote Wednesday that Bush had vetoed the five-year measure. He said it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high.

The legislation includes election-year subsidies for farmers and food stamps for the poor — spending that lawmakers could promote when they are back in their districts over the Memorial Day weekend.

The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the bill Thursday. There are expected to be enough votes to reject the veto.

The veto was the 10th of Bush’s presidency. Congress has overridden him once, on a water projects bill.

The bill includes gthe following:

_Boost nutrition programs, including food stamps and emergency domestic food aid, by more than $10 billion over 10 years. It would expand a program to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to schoolchildren.

_Increase subsidies for certain crops, including fruits and vegetables excluded from previous farm bills.

_Extend dairy programs.

_Increase loan rates for sugar producers.

_Urge the government to buy surplus sugar and sell it to ethanol producers for use in a mixture with corn.

_Cut a per-gallon ethanol tax credit for refiners from 51 cents to 45 cents. The credit supports the blending of fuel with the corn-based additive. More money would go to cellulosic ethanol, made from plant matter.

_Require that meats and other fresh foods carry labels with their country of origin.

_Stop allowing farmers to collect subsidies for multiple farm businesses.

_Reopen a major discrimination case against the Agriculture Department. Thousands of black farmers who missed a deadline would get a chance to file claims alleging they were denied loans or other subsidies.

_Pay farmers for weather-related farm losses from a new $3.8 billion disaster relief fund.