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Adam Ford
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http://info.detnews.com/blogs/bloggers.cfm?id=finley&blogid=562
Can you imagine either Carl Levin or Debbie Stabenow uttering these words to a a foreign automaker: "We are warriors on your behalf. I can assure you we will look after your interests"?
That's what Sen. Trent Lott, the Mississippi Republican, told Toyota executives after they announced their new manufacturing plant would be built in Tupelo.
Michigan's Democratic senators are rarely active in bringing econonmic development to the state, and would never declare themselves "warriors" on behalf of a company, particularly a non-union one. What would the UAW think.
There are a lot of reasons Toyota bypassed Michigan, the fading automotive capitol, and chose Mississippi instead. But near the top of the list is the hammerlock the unions have on the state's policymakers.
Had Toyota chosen Michigan, you can bet the politicians here would have climbed on the soap box to pledge to be warriors on behalf of organizing the plant. |
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Adam Ford
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Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:33 am |
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Biggie9
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Thats the truth.
And that is why Michigan is almost alone in struggling economically......
we have a state that is heavily influenced by "entitlement" oriented political leaders...but they only reflect the people that elect them.
what will be interesting, as the union-members retire/buy out and leave the state, what type of voter-bloc will become more dominant? and what type of political leader will they elect? any different? |
_________________ Biggie |
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Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:05 am |
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Joe
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Can you imagine either Carl Levin or Debbie Stabenow uttering these words to a a foreign automaker: "We are warriors on your behalf. I can assure you we will look after your interests"?
That's what Sen. Trent Lott, the Mississippi Republican, told Toyota executives after they announced their new manufacturing plant would be built in Tupelo.
Michigan's Democratic senators are rarely active in bringing econonmic development to the state, and would never declare themselves "warriors" on behalf of a company, particularly a non-union one. What would the UAW think.
There are a lot of reasons Toyota bypassed Michigan, the fading automotive capitol, and chose Mississippi instead. But near the top of the list is the hammerlock the unions have on the state's policymakers.
Had Toyota chosen Michigan, you can bet the politicians here would have climbed on the soap box to pledge to be warriors on behalf of organizing the plant.[/quote]
Not even Ryan Eashoo could bring Toyota to Flint.. |
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Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:35 pm |
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JBToolFist
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Biggie is dead on with his comments that this is an "entitlement" state. What company would ever want to set up shop in a state where the prevailing attitude of the workers and politicians is "gimme gimme gimme"
Profit is not an evil word. It's absolutely imperative if a company is going to survive and therefore continue to retain employees.
The same people who .. about big corporations making profits are the same people who gripe when their 401K's plummet or when the local store raises prices to cover expenses.
I think we should get back to the basics and start teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and economics in school. |
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Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:47 pm |
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John Wilson
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quote:
Adam Ford schreef:
Can you imagine either Carl Levin or Debbie Stabenow uttering these words to a a foreign automaker: "We are warriors on your behalf. I can assure you we will look after your interests"? That's what Sen. Trent Lott, the Mississippi Republican, told Toyota executives after they announced their new manufacturing plant would be built in Tupelo.
Of course I can't imagine it. Because Carl Levin is a highly respected five term US Senator, not a bigoted, disgraced, racist, corporate
whore
like Trent Lott. That man would pimp out his own mother if it meant he'd make a buck or get a vote.
Out of one side of his mouth he says "America first" then runs and jumps into bed with Japan to make them even more money in anti-union state like Mississippi. That state still flies the Rebel flag of the Confederacy, something you sir, should know a lot about since your boy Abraham Lincoln crushed them during that little thing we had called "The Civil War."
You don't get it, Adam. You live in this little bubble.
You are bubble boy. |
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Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:24 pm |
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Adam Ford
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quote:
Roscoe Van Zandt schreef:
Of course I can't imagine it. Because Carl Levin is a highly respected five term US Senator, not a bigoted, disgraced, racist, corporate
whore
like Trent Lott. That man would pimp out his own mother if it meant he'd make a buck or get a vote.
Out of one side of his mouth he says "America first" then runs and jumps into bed with Japan to make them even more money in anti-union state like Mississippi. That state still flies the Rebel flag of the Confederacy, something you sir, should know a lot about since your boy Abraham Lincoln crushed them during that little thing we had called "The Civil War."
You don't get it, Adam. You live in this little bubble.
You are bubble boy.
So you're saying Trent Lott is a corporate whore? Do you think job creating corporations would prefer to be in a state that bends over backwards or cares more about the workers than the companies that employ those workers. In Michigan Democrats were pushing a bill that would cost our struggling automakers more money. It would have benefited the workers but when your company goes bankrupt how does that really benefit the workers?
Obviously there's more to the situation than this story but I was actually at a meeting today where the head of Genesee county economic development spoke. She has been on foreign missions to bring in jobs and she said that Japanese companies avoid Genesee county like the plague due to our labor relations history even though things have changed Japanese firms much prefer to go to Oakland county. There really is no reason for this any more but apparently the firms are well aware of our legendary union history. You are definately right about Republican leaders "whoring" out their states. The packages they give foreign companies to locate their are amazing but while our liberal state that cares so much about having a right to be unemployed I think we can expect the southern states to "whore" themselves out to comapnies. The one bright note to this story is that Chinese companies are supposedly not as afraid of unions.
The other part of this story is that China is basically buying up the U.S. through our national debt. If you read the bible interest "usury" is banned in the old testament. Some people claim it can be considered a form of slavery although with slavery you have to feed and cloth your slaves with interest you do not have to do that. I wouldn't be surprised if the United States will end up paying a few trillion dollars to he Chinese government so we need to stop raking up the debt and also bring some of our money back to Flint by moving in foreign companies bringing in U.S. companies and starting new businesses.
Unions are definately good for workers but sometimes they do cost companies money. The less a company makes the more likely it is to go out of business.
In other words would you rather have unemployed union workers in Flint or employed non-union workers like the southern states have? |
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Adam Ford
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Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:08 am |
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FlintConservative
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quote:
Roscoe Van Zandt schreef:
Of course I can't imagine it. Because Carl Levin is a highly respected five term US Senator, not a bigoted, disgraced, racist, corporate
whore
like Trent Lott. That man would pimp out his own mother if it meant he'd make a buck or get a vote.
Out of one side of his mouth he says "America first" then runs and jumps into bed with Japan to make them even more money in anti-union state like Mississippi.
You mean highly respected by those on the left. Carl Levin is certainly no more respected by those on the opposite side of the aisle than Trent Lott. So here we sit with Levin/Stabenow in bed with the unions in a right to be unemployed state and in Mississippi they have Trent Lott in bed with the Japanese and 2,000 more good paying jobs. By the way, how many jobs have the unions created? (I'll give you a hint...the number is negative) And what part of 2,000 new American jobs isn't putting America first? |
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Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:30 am |
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John Wilson
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quote:
FlintConservative schreef:
By the way, how many jobs have the unions created? (I'll give you a hint...the number is negative) And what part of 2,000 new American jobs isn't putting America first?
1. It's not the union's job to create new jobs. It's their job to keep them.
2. 2,000 Toyota jobs in America = 2,000 McDonald's jobs in Japan. I doubt anyone in Japan thinks McDonald's is putting Japan "first." |
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Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:21 pm |
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FlintConservative
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quote:
Roscoe Van Zandt schreef:
1. It's not the union's job to create new jobs. It's their job to keep them.
2. 2,000 Toyota jobs in America = 2,000 McDonald's jobs in Japan. I doubt anyone in Japan thinks McDonald's is putting Japan "first."
Well, the unions have certainly succeeded at keeping jobs. For the employees of the locals maybe, but certainly not our manufacturing jobs. I think where the unions really dropped the ball was not organizing all those new factories in the U.S.
Second, I'm not sure how you equate a Toyota job with a McDonald's job. Certainly you're not suggesting that a Toyota employee in Mississippi makes the same as a McDonald's employee in Japan.
Personally, I'd be damned happy to be living in a state that was working with corporations to put our citizens to work. |
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Fri Mar 02, 2007 2:44 pm |
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