Charges filed against Rumsfeld & others for torture of Iraqi's
AMMAN, Dec 15, 2008 (AFP) - A Jordan-based Iraqi rights group said on Monday it has filed 200 lawsuits against US former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and American security firms for their alleged role in torturing Iraqis.
Ali Qeisi, head of the group the "Society of Victims of the US Occupation in Iraq," said the cases, relating to torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners, have been recently filed in federal courts in Virginia, Michigan and Maryland.
"Around 30 lawsuits have been accepted so far," Qeisi told AFP. The others are still under consideration.
"The torture was systemic, and those responsible for it should be punished and the victims should be compensated," he said.
Qeisi said he himself was tortured by US troops in Iraq during a six-month detention, though he refused to elaborate.
Last year, French, US and German rights groups filed suits for torture against Rumsfeld, who was accused by a US bipartisan Senate report last Thursday of being to blame for abuse of detainees in US custody.
"Rumsfeld's authorisation of aggressive interrogation techniques for use at Guantanamo Bay was a direct cause of detainee abuse there" and "influenced and contributed to the use of abusive techniques... in Afghanistan and Iraq," the report concluded.
In a high-profile case involving private security guards, five Blackwater guards were last week charged with killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others with gunfire and grenades in September 2007.
A sixth guard has pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter.
Monday, December 15, 2008
NAZI'S IN THE MILITARY....A SERIOUS PROBLEM NOT ADDRESSED????
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Sunday, December 14, 2008
Pres. Bush attacked by Shoe Thrower
President Bush narrowly missed getting attacked by a shoe bomb today in an insult hurled by a reporter for an Iraqi TV station. He was dragged away. The Secret Service seemed to be a little slow on the draw. The man had time to remove his 2nd shoe and throw it before they even reacted to the threat. Dana Perrino is now sporting a black eye after getting hit with a microphone while the man was being subdued and removed from the room.
Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality
Washington Post
Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality
By Warren Brown
Sunday, December 14, 2008; G02
Perception is everything, or almost everything.
If anything is to be learned from Detroit's beg-fest on Capitol Hill, it's at least that much.
Perception influences reality.
Thus we have the General Motors "confession," its "commitment to the American people" published on the second page of the Dec. 8 edition of Automotive News, an industry trade journal. It presents an object lesson in perception versus reality.
Reality: The "confession" is a rehash of sins committed by a GM that existed 20 years ago, stupidities so enormous -- pathetic product quality, dismal marketing techniques, all trumped by corporate arrogance -- they opened the ports to foreign competition and paved the way for defections of generations of American consumers to Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
* * *
Perception: It is that the GM of 20 years ago is the same GM today -- the same insular corporate culture, a Midwest car company wedded to the belief that the only good horsepower is more horsepower, a corporation unalterably opposed to even the most reasonable fuel economy and clean air regulations.
That is the GM and, by implication, the Detroit that Washington loves to hate -- the one whose corporate heads lawmakers were eager to decapitate when U.S. car executives came to Capitol Hill in recent weeks seeking billions of dollars in federal emergency loans.
Reality: That old GM disappeared in the early 1990s. It was replaced by a company that continued to make mistakes -- for example, initially establishing its Saturn group as a stand-alone company and wasting money on the horrid Pontiac Aztek crossover utility vehicle. But the new GM at least recognized its errors and moved with reasonable dispatch to correct them.
* * *
Perception: GM has refused to undertake a needed, major restructuring.
Reality: That's baloney. But seemingly intelligent politicians such as President-elect Barack Obama have been swallowing it. Even a cursory review of GM's corporate actions over the past decade shows that GM has invested much energy and enormous sums of money into integrating its once-too-far-flung global operations into one global unit; increasing product development, design and manufacturing efficiencies; and greatly improving product quality and innovation. But based on comments from Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), to the effect that GM must stop resisting change, one wonders whether either of them has bothered reading Harbour Consulting, J.D. Power, or any other available, objective reports detailing GM's recent progress.
* * *
Perception: GM is opposed to making fuel-efficient vehicles. It is wedded to big trucks.
Reality: GM is no different from Toyota or Nissan -- or Suzuki. It is wedded to making money. Until a few years ago in a United States awash in cheap gasoline, that meant making as many trucks as possible, because light trucks, powered by U.S. consumer demand, were more than 50 percent of new-vehicle sales. Small, fuel-efficient cars barely constituted 4.5 percent of the market.
The problem there involved a U.S. Congress that refused to exercise leadership and tamp down consumer demand for petroleum by raising federal fuel taxes, as much as it did Detroit's alleged resistance to fuel economy.
* * *
Perception: GM was alone in pursuing truck dollars.
Reality: That's more baloney. Nearly all car companies doing business in the United States went after that money. But here's the kicker: An amalgam of Southern states gave hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives to GM's foreign rivals to build nonunion assembly plants in their region. Beneficiaries of those states' "business-friendly" policies included BMW, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota -- all of which used taxpayer dollars to set up nonunion truck plants to go after the truck business dominated by union-represented GM, Ford and Chrysler manufacturing facilities.
They went after the truck money. Toyota launched and re-launched its Tundra pickup. Heck, even Suzuki has cobbled together a full-size Equator pickup.
* * *
Perception: GM does not know how to make small cars.
Reality: GM knows darn well how to make small cars. It's been doing so for decades in Europe, South America and Asia. The problem is, absent high fuel prices, GM has no earthly idea how to get Americans to buy small cars -- at a profit to GM.
* * *
Perception: Americans have been demanding the small cars that GM and Detroit refuse to build.
Reality: That's more perceptual junk. The reality is that most American consumers seek fuel economy only when pump prices are high. Take a look at what is happening now in the U.S. market for new vehicles. With average pump prices below $2 a gallon for regular unleaded, sales of small, fuel-efficient cars such as the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus have plummeted farther and more quickly than those in the general vehicle market.
The Civic that was hot in May 2008 with 53,299 sales was not in November with 17,690 sales, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Ditto the Corolla, 52,826 sold in May 2008 versus 21,807 sold in November; and the Focus, 32,579 sold in May versus 8,194 sold in November.
But Ford has been forced to restore two shifts and overtime work to meet demand for its re-engineered 2009 F-150 pickup truck . . . and Nissan is retooling its taxpayer-assisted, nonunion plant in Canton, Miss., to take on Detroit in the commercial truck arena.
* * *
Perception: All Detroit needs is deep restructuring and federal bailout money for long-term viability.
Reality: Wrong. Detroit needs what America sorely needs -- a Congress with the leadership chutzpah to devise and implement industrial and energy policies that will help to keep native manufacturing industries alive. Detroit's problem isn't poor products or lack of products. It's a national government still wedded to the debilitating siren song of cheap gasoline. It's a nationally collapsed financial system. And it's governmental hypocrisy -- our willingness to pour tax dollars into foreign enterprises, most of them not unionized, while griping about doing the same for homegrown, unionized manufacturers largely responsible for building America's middle class.
Perceptions of Detroit Are Miles From Reality
By Warren Brown
Sunday, December 14, 2008; G02
Perception is everything, or almost everything.
If anything is to be learned from Detroit's beg-fest on Capitol Hill, it's at least that much.
Perception influences reality.
Thus we have the General Motors "confession," its "commitment to the American people" published on the second page of the Dec. 8 edition of Automotive News, an industry trade journal. It presents an object lesson in perception versus reality.
Reality: The "confession" is a rehash of sins committed by a GM that existed 20 years ago, stupidities so enormous -- pathetic product quality, dismal marketing techniques, all trumped by corporate arrogance -- they opened the ports to foreign competition and paved the way for defections of generations of American consumers to Toyota, Nissan and Honda.
* * *
Perception: It is that the GM of 20 years ago is the same GM today -- the same insular corporate culture, a Midwest car company wedded to the belief that the only good horsepower is more horsepower, a corporation unalterably opposed to even the most reasonable fuel economy and clean air regulations.
That is the GM and, by implication, the Detroit that Washington loves to hate -- the one whose corporate heads lawmakers were eager to decapitate when U.S. car executives came to Capitol Hill in recent weeks seeking billions of dollars in federal emergency loans.
Reality: That old GM disappeared in the early 1990s. It was replaced by a company that continued to make mistakes -- for example, initially establishing its Saturn group as a stand-alone company and wasting money on the horrid Pontiac Aztek crossover utility vehicle. But the new GM at least recognized its errors and moved with reasonable dispatch to correct them.
* * *
Perception: GM has refused to undertake a needed, major restructuring.
Reality: That's baloney. But seemingly intelligent politicians such as President-elect Barack Obama have been swallowing it. Even a cursory review of GM's corporate actions over the past decade shows that GM has invested much energy and enormous sums of money into integrating its once-too-far-flung global operations into one global unit; increasing product development, design and manufacturing efficiencies; and greatly improving product quality and innovation. But based on comments from Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), to the effect that GM must stop resisting change, one wonders whether either of them has bothered reading Harbour Consulting, J.D. Power, or any other available, objective reports detailing GM's recent progress.
* * *
Perception: GM is opposed to making fuel-efficient vehicles. It is wedded to big trucks.
Reality: GM is no different from Toyota or Nissan -- or Suzuki. It is wedded to making money. Until a few years ago in a United States awash in cheap gasoline, that meant making as many trucks as possible, because light trucks, powered by U.S. consumer demand, were more than 50 percent of new-vehicle sales. Small, fuel-efficient cars barely constituted 4.5 percent of the market.
The problem there involved a U.S. Congress that refused to exercise leadership and tamp down consumer demand for petroleum by raising federal fuel taxes, as much as it did Detroit's alleged resistance to fuel economy.
* * *
Perception: GM was alone in pursuing truck dollars.
Reality: That's more baloney. Nearly all car companies doing business in the United States went after that money. But here's the kicker: An amalgam of Southern states gave hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives to GM's foreign rivals to build nonunion assembly plants in their region. Beneficiaries of those states' "business-friendly" policies included BMW, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota -- all of which used taxpayer dollars to set up nonunion truck plants to go after the truck business dominated by union-represented GM, Ford and Chrysler manufacturing facilities.
They went after the truck money. Toyota launched and re-launched its Tundra pickup. Heck, even Suzuki has cobbled together a full-size Equator pickup.
* * *
Perception: GM does not know how to make small cars.
Reality: GM knows darn well how to make small cars. It's been doing so for decades in Europe, South America and Asia. The problem is, absent high fuel prices, GM has no earthly idea how to get Americans to buy small cars -- at a profit to GM.
* * *
Perception: Americans have been demanding the small cars that GM and Detroit refuse to build.
Reality: That's more perceptual junk. The reality is that most American consumers seek fuel economy only when pump prices are high. Take a look at what is happening now in the U.S. market for new vehicles. With average pump prices below $2 a gallon for regular unleaded, sales of small, fuel-efficient cars such as the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus have plummeted farther and more quickly than those in the general vehicle market.
The Civic that was hot in May 2008 with 53,299 sales was not in November with 17,690 sales, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Ditto the Corolla, 52,826 sold in May 2008 versus 21,807 sold in November; and the Focus, 32,579 sold in May versus 8,194 sold in November.
But Ford has been forced to restore two shifts and overtime work to meet demand for its re-engineered 2009 F-150 pickup truck . . . and Nissan is retooling its taxpayer-assisted, nonunion plant in Canton, Miss., to take on Detroit in the commercial truck arena.
* * *
Perception: All Detroit needs is deep restructuring and federal bailout money for long-term viability.
Reality: Wrong. Detroit needs what America sorely needs -- a Congress with the leadership chutzpah to devise and implement industrial and energy policies that will help to keep native manufacturing industries alive. Detroit's problem isn't poor products or lack of products. It's a national government still wedded to the debilitating siren song of cheap gasoline. It's a nationally collapsed financial system. And it's governmental hypocrisy -- our willingness to pour tax dollars into foreign enterprises, most of them not unionized, while griping about doing the same for homegrown, unionized manufacturers largely responsible for building America's middle class.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Canada Rides to the Rescue After Southern Republicans Fail to Act
Found at Report On Business
GREG KEENAN , KAREN HOWLETT , SHAWN MCCARTHY and BARRIE MCKENNA
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Barrie McKenna:
December 12, 2008 at 9:00 PM EST
TORONTO/OTTAWA/WASHINGTON — U.S. and Canadian governments say they will ride to the rescue of the beleaguered Detroit auto makers, hoping to head off a catastrophic collapse of Chrysler LLC or General Motors Corp. that would cascade throughout the North American economy.
Ottawa and Ontario will provide an estimated $3.4-billion to the Canadian units of the Detroit Three, while U.S. President George W. Bush will throw a $14-billion (U.S.) lifeline to their parent companies.
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement called a hastily arranged news conference Friday night to announce the Canadian aid package.
“The seriousness of the situation dictates that we be here this evening,” Mr. Clement said.
The dire situation auto makers face was underlined Friday when GM announced massive cuts in production in January. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. also said it will trim output, but by a smaller amount than GM.
Mr. Clement would not provide a specific figure, but he said the amount of money in the Canadian bailout represents this country's one-fifth share of the Detroit Three's North American vehicle production and on Canada maintaining that percentage.
“Clearly, this amount of money is meant to be, as the U.S. is finding out, a way to keep the doors open for the domestic auto sector while they continue their long-term planning,” he said.
However, he stressed that the support package would reflect the interests of taxpayers and is contingent upon the auto makers working with their unions and parts suppliers on a long-term solution for the sector. It's also conditional on a U.S. deal coming together.
“This is an existential moment for the auto industry,” Mr. Clement added. “Is this industry going to exist in any capacity two years from now, five years from now?” Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty ironed out the details of the Canadian plan during a one-hour meeting Friday afternoon in Mr. Harper's office in traffic-choked downtown Ottawa.
Ontario will contribute a portion of the funding, one source said.
A senior Ottawa source noted the U.S. government must change the $700-billion (U.S.) Troubled Assets Relief Program to make it apply to auto makers. Ottawa expects the Americans to take several days to finalize a deal.
Just hours after Senate Republicans killed a $14-billion (U.S.) bailout late Thursday, Mr. Bush made it clear he considers GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. too big and too vital to the economy, to be allowed to fail.
“The current weakened state of the economy is such that it could not withstand a body blow like a disorderly bankruptcy in the auto industry,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Chrysler and GM are in the most serious straits, warning that they could run out of sufficient cash to operate their businesses by the end of this month or early in January.
A bankruptcy by one or both of them would create an auto industry cataclysm, likely taking down the healthiest Detroit company – Ford – and sending hundreds of suppliers into bankruptcy as well.
One think tank estimated 3 million jobs in the United States alone would be vaporized. About 110,000 Canadians, mainly in Ontario, work for the Canadian units of the Detroit Three and for parts companies. Mr. McGuinty has expressed concerns that the sector is facing further job losses because, as he said, no amount of aid to the companies can make up for the fact that Americans are buying fewer cars.
The Detroit companies have warned that protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code can't be a solution for them because consumers won't buy vehicles from companies they think are bankrupt. The auto makers argue that they would be forced to liquidate their operations.
Canadian dealers said Friday that some consumers are already balking.
Parts suppliers are also getting skittish, with some starting to demand that Chrysler and GM pay them in cash immediately, instead of waiting for the usual 45- to 60-day payment period.
The move by the Bush administration came after the Senate rejected a compromise bridge loan package that would carry the industry through to the new administration of Barack Obama in January.
Mr. Bush is exploring several options, including tapping cash from the $700-billion TARP fund – which was originally designed to bail out banks – something he had previously insisted he would not do.
He is just 40 days from handing over the keys to the White House to Mr. Obama while the country grapples with its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Mr. Obama, backed by a larger Democratic majority in the Senate, will likely have the votes to push through a more expansive rescue package when he takes office.
But time isn't on the side of the auto makers. The precarious state of the Detroit Three, particularly Chrysler and GM, means they will almost certainly need a substantial amount of cash well before Mr. Obama's inauguration.
Friday's GM and Honda production cuts offered fresh evidence of how the credit crisis has frozen auto sales and affected all companies.
All GM passenger car plants in North America will be shut in January, as will some plants that make sport utility vehicles.
A Chrysler plant in Windsor, Ont., that makes minivans will also close for the entire month and one of the company's passenger-car factories in Brampton, Ont., will shut for the first two weeks of the new year.
One government source said Canadian parts suppliers and dealers will get some help when the official agreement is announced.
Mr. Clement said the government will also insist that the auto makers use the aid to keep paying their parts suppliers.
Different parts of the sector have asked for different types of assistance and the needs of parts makers are distinct from those of the three vehicle manufacturers.
For parts makers, Ottawa is likely to expand the ability of Export Development Corp. to insure accounts receivable, which is a major headache for suppliers in an economy where credit and financing are tight.
GREG KEENAN , KAREN HOWLETT , SHAWN MCCARTHY and BARRIE MCKENNA
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Barrie McKenna:
December 12, 2008 at 9:00 PM EST
TORONTO/OTTAWA/WASHINGTON — U.S. and Canadian governments say they will ride to the rescue of the beleaguered Detroit auto makers, hoping to head off a catastrophic collapse of Chrysler LLC or General Motors Corp. that would cascade throughout the North American economy.
Ottawa and Ontario will provide an estimated $3.4-billion to the Canadian units of the Detroit Three, while U.S. President George W. Bush will throw a $14-billion (U.S.) lifeline to their parent companies.
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement called a hastily arranged news conference Friday night to announce the Canadian aid package.
“The seriousness of the situation dictates that we be here this evening,” Mr. Clement said.
The dire situation auto makers face was underlined Friday when GM announced massive cuts in production in January. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. also said it will trim output, but by a smaller amount than GM.
Mr. Clement would not provide a specific figure, but he said the amount of money in the Canadian bailout represents this country's one-fifth share of the Detroit Three's North American vehicle production and on Canada maintaining that percentage.
“Clearly, this amount of money is meant to be, as the U.S. is finding out, a way to keep the doors open for the domestic auto sector while they continue their long-term planning,” he said.
However, he stressed that the support package would reflect the interests of taxpayers and is contingent upon the auto makers working with their unions and parts suppliers on a long-term solution for the sector. It's also conditional on a U.S. deal coming together.
“This is an existential moment for the auto industry,” Mr. Clement added. “Is this industry going to exist in any capacity two years from now, five years from now?” Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty ironed out the details of the Canadian plan during a one-hour meeting Friday afternoon in Mr. Harper's office in traffic-choked downtown Ottawa.
Ontario will contribute a portion of the funding, one source said.
A senior Ottawa source noted the U.S. government must change the $700-billion (U.S.) Troubled Assets Relief Program to make it apply to auto makers. Ottawa expects the Americans to take several days to finalize a deal.
Just hours after Senate Republicans killed a $14-billion (U.S.) bailout late Thursday, Mr. Bush made it clear he considers GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. too big and too vital to the economy, to be allowed to fail.
“The current weakened state of the economy is such that it could not withstand a body blow like a disorderly bankruptcy in the auto industry,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
Chrysler and GM are in the most serious straits, warning that they could run out of sufficient cash to operate their businesses by the end of this month or early in January.
A bankruptcy by one or both of them would create an auto industry cataclysm, likely taking down the healthiest Detroit company – Ford – and sending hundreds of suppliers into bankruptcy as well.
One think tank estimated 3 million jobs in the United States alone would be vaporized. About 110,000 Canadians, mainly in Ontario, work for the Canadian units of the Detroit Three and for parts companies. Mr. McGuinty has expressed concerns that the sector is facing further job losses because, as he said, no amount of aid to the companies can make up for the fact that Americans are buying fewer cars.
The Detroit companies have warned that protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code can't be a solution for them because consumers won't buy vehicles from companies they think are bankrupt. The auto makers argue that they would be forced to liquidate their operations.
Canadian dealers said Friday that some consumers are already balking.
Parts suppliers are also getting skittish, with some starting to demand that Chrysler and GM pay them in cash immediately, instead of waiting for the usual 45- to 60-day payment period.
The move by the Bush administration came after the Senate rejected a compromise bridge loan package that would carry the industry through to the new administration of Barack Obama in January.
Mr. Bush is exploring several options, including tapping cash from the $700-billion TARP fund – which was originally designed to bail out banks – something he had previously insisted he would not do.
He is just 40 days from handing over the keys to the White House to Mr. Obama while the country grapples with its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Mr. Obama, backed by a larger Democratic majority in the Senate, will likely have the votes to push through a more expansive rescue package when he takes office.
But time isn't on the side of the auto makers. The precarious state of the Detroit Three, particularly Chrysler and GM, means they will almost certainly need a substantial amount of cash well before Mr. Obama's inauguration.
Friday's GM and Honda production cuts offered fresh evidence of how the credit crisis has frozen auto sales and affected all companies.
All GM passenger car plants in North America will be shut in January, as will some plants that make sport utility vehicles.
A Chrysler plant in Windsor, Ont., that makes minivans will also close for the entire month and one of the company's passenger-car factories in Brampton, Ont., will shut for the first two weeks of the new year.
One government source said Canadian parts suppliers and dealers will get some help when the official agreement is announced.
Mr. Clement said the government will also insist that the auto makers use the aid to keep paying their parts suppliers.
Different parts of the sector have asked for different types of assistance and the needs of parts makers are distinct from those of the three vehicle manufacturers.
For parts makers, Ottawa is likely to expand the ability of Export Development Corp. to insure accounts receivable, which is a major headache for suppliers in an economy where credit and financing are tight.
The Immoral Minority: Today's Rachel Maddow Show calls on our leaders to hold the Bush administration responsible for their lies and criminal activities.
The Immoral Minority: Today's Rachel Maddow Show calls on our leaders to hold the Bush administration responsible for their lies and criminal activities.
This just goes right in line with what I have been saying about what we have become in the last 8 years. We have allowed our military and our CIA to torture, to become something we say we hate. In the findings out yesterday of the bipartisian commision regarding torture with Sen. Levin (D-MI) and Sen. McCain (R-AZ) they both stated their findings were that these weren't isolated incidents and were from high up in the government. Not just a few "bad apples" so to speak. This must be stopped and it must be corrected and punished. No matter who it is.
We need to hold them accountable. I hope and pray that PE Obama and our new Congress will hold hearings to find who exactly ordered these horrible actions and hold them responsible for their actions.
This just goes right in line with what I have been saying about what we have become in the last 8 years. We have allowed our military and our CIA to torture, to become something we say we hate. In the findings out yesterday of the bipartisian commision regarding torture with Sen. Levin (D-MI) and Sen. McCain (R-AZ) they both stated their findings were that these weren't isolated incidents and were from high up in the government. Not just a few "bad apples" so to speak. This must be stopped and it must be corrected and punished. No matter who it is.
We need to hold them accountable. I hope and pray that PE Obama and our new Congress will hold hearings to find who exactly ordered these horrible actions and hold them responsible for their actions.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Details about the Auto Bridge Loan Failure
Last night a cadre of Senators drove General Motors and Chrysler to the brink of bankruptcy by voting against a $14 billion program to provide bridge loans to the auto companies. The loans have already been agreed to by President Bush and the House of Representatives.
Sixty votes were required to end a filibuster of the bill before final passage, and the vote was 52-35. A batch of conservatives, led by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), objected to it because they wanted to squeeze even more wage and benefit cuts from factory workers who belong to the United Auto Workers.
The $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization and Recovery Act — which created the TARP — passed in October, and included fewer strings and employee wage and benefit cuts than the auto loan package. Yet, there were 20 senators who voted in favor of rescuing the financial system, while voting against extending a $14 billion loan to the automakers. Ten others voted yes to the former and did not cast any vote last night.
These lawmakers were willing to write a huge blank check to Wall Street that gave AIG $123 billion, Citigroup $25 billion, and JP Morgan $25 billion, yet left America’s domestic auto industry out to dry. Had eight of these 20 voted for the White House proposal, the auto companies would avoid catastrophe this year:
Yes to TARP, No to auto
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. John Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
Yes to TARP, Absent for auto
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Sen.Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)
Some of the those who were absent for the vote had understandable reasons, of course. Kerry was in Poznan, Poland, representing the United States at United Nations climate change talks, while Biden was attending to transition duties and Alexander was home recovering from surgery.
In any case, hopefully President Bush will loan money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program to ensure that GM and Chrysler avoid bankruptcy for the next several months, thus enabling them to restructure, recover, and thrive by building the super fuel efficient cars of the future.
Also this statement from a press conference by the UAW this morning regarding the failure of the Senate vote last night, Gettelfinger provided details on the negotiations with Senator Robert Corker (R-TN):
"We reached a tentative agreement with Sen. Corker," Gettelfinger said, "with the understanding he could win approval from the Republican caucus in the Senate. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so."
The tentative agreement reached with Corker, Gettelfinger said, would have required bondholders, as well as the independent trust established to provide health care for UAW retirees -- the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) -- to exchange a large portion of their claims for stock in the companies.
"These agreed-to changes," Gettelfinger said, "would have made an enormous difference and a major contribution toward resolving the companies' financial problems."
The tentative agreement reached with Corker also called for the proposed auto czar to ensure that wages and benefits paid to active UAW employees at domestic automakers would be competitive with compensation paid to workers at foreign-owned transplant factories.
"It's unfortunate that Sen. Corker was unable to persuade his colleagues to accept the agreement we negotiated, which included substantial additional sacrifices by our members," said Gettelfinger.
The stumbling block was a demand by the GOP caucus that UAW workers and retirees had to be treated differently from all other stakeholders, instead of requiring all parties to come to the table.
"This demand is not only unfair, it is unworkable," said Gettelfinger. "Modifying wages and benefits alone cannot solve the structural and financial problems faced by the domestic auto industry."
Also at this presser Ron Gellelfinger was asked about the possibility of the Republicans wanting to "bust the unions" His reply was to read them an email he had been sent that had had the to and from area's redacted. It should also be noted that later in the day Sen. Corker was asked about this email by Norah O'Donnell from MSNBC. He did NOT deny the existence of it nor did he deny receiving it. He did say he did not attend the meeting as he was at another meeting in another room at the time. Here is a copy of that email.
From:
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:12 AM
To:
Subject: Action Alert -- Auto Bailout
Today at noon, Senators Ensign, Shelby, Coburn and DeMint will hold a press conference in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery. They would appreciate our support through messaging and attending the press conference, if possible. The message they want us to deliver is:
1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.
2. This rush to judgment is the same thing that happened with the TARP. Members did not have an opportunity to read or digest the legislation and therefore could not understand the consequences of it. We should not rush to pass this because Detroit says the sky is falling.
The sooner you can have press releases and documents like this in the hands of members and the press, the better. Please contact me if you need additional information. Again, the hardest thing for the democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans, we can beat this.
The Republican's came up with an alternative on Thursday, and presented it Friday morning at what is mostly known as the " 11th hour" which as we all know is way too late.
The “alternative” was all of two pages, one of which is spent criticizing the proposal passed by the House. With the remaining page, conservatives reveal that their plan for helping “the Big Three to become competitive again” amounts to busting their union. After stating that United Auto Workers hold “to concessions already made” conservatives demand that the union:
Concedes the elimination of Supplemental Unemployment Benefits; Concedes elimination of the Jobs Bank Program; Agrees to either reduce company retiree health care obligations or otherwise convert a portion of such obligations into equity; and Agrees to reduce wages and benefits to the levels paid by non-Big Three manufacturers.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said yesterday on NPR that, in regards to an auto loan, “we’re not going to do it with the barnacles of unionism wrapped around their necks.”
First, it is worth pointing out that the UAW has already agreed to suspend the Jobs Bank, and delay automaker payments to a retiree health care fund. Furthermore, the union has implemented a plan to permanently shift retiree health costs into a UAW trust fund in 2010. Therefore, the second and third “concessions” that conservatives are demanding have, for all intents and purposes, already happened.
The other two “concessions,” however, are where the trouble really begins. The last one implies that Big Three workers are paid substantially more than their non-Big Three, non-unionized counterparts. However, as the New York Times and the New Republic pointed out, UAW workers don’t earn significantly more in hourly wages. The first, meanwhile, calls for cutting unemployment benefits at a time when economists and lawmakers are advocating extended benefits as an important response to the financial crisis.
Ultimately, these union-busting demands are counterproductive. As David Madland and Harley Shaiken note, “unions help foster a competitive high-wage, high-productivity economic strategy“:
Unionization and high worker productivity often go hand-in-hand. Fairness on the job and wages that reflect marketplace success contribute to more motivated workers. Given the pressures of globalization and competitiveness today, unions have been responsive to increasing productivity and embracing new innovations.
The UAW has already conceded to help the Big 3 manage their financial troubles. New innovations — not a lower-paid, uncared for workforce — will help Detroit get back on its feet.
Demint claimed there will be "riots" if the automaker rescue occurs:
We're going to have riots. There are already people rioting because they're losing their jobs when somebody else is being bailed out. The fairness of it becomes more and more evident as we go along.
To put to rest the case of the wage difference...it is constantly being stated the UAW workers are paid more than the foreign car makers. Here is what was found in a study done by After Market News:
In that instance, Toyota Motor Corp. gave workers at its largest U.S. plant bonuses of $6,000 to $8,000, boosting the average pay at the Georgetown, KY, plant to the equivalent of $30 an hour. That compares with a $27 hourly average for UAW workers, most of whom did not receive profit-sharing checks last year. Toyota would not provide a U.S. average, but said its 7,000-worker Georgetown plant is representative of its U.S. operations.
So, when Sen. Corker said he thought the UAW members should get the same pay as the Toyota plant workers does that mean that they should get a raise of about $3.00 an hour since they are getting paid less than those non-union workers in Georgetown, KY??
Sixty votes were required to end a filibuster of the bill before final passage, and the vote was 52-35. A batch of conservatives, led by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), objected to it because they wanted to squeeze even more wage and benefit cuts from factory workers who belong to the United Auto Workers.
The $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization and Recovery Act — which created the TARP — passed in October, and included fewer strings and employee wage and benefit cuts than the auto loan package. Yet, there were 20 senators who voted in favor of rescuing the financial system, while voting against extending a $14 billion loan to the automakers. Ten others voted yes to the former and did not cast any vote last night.
These lawmakers were willing to write a huge blank check to Wall Street that gave AIG $123 billion, Citigroup $25 billion, and JP Morgan $25 billion, yet left America’s domestic auto industry out to dry. Had eight of these 20 voted for the White House proposal, the auto companies would avoid catastrophe this year:
Yes to TARP, No to auto
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. John Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
Yes to TARP, Absent for auto
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Sen.Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)
Some of the those who were absent for the vote had understandable reasons, of course. Kerry was in Poznan, Poland, representing the United States at United Nations climate change talks, while Biden was attending to transition duties and Alexander was home recovering from surgery.
In any case, hopefully President Bush will loan money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program to ensure that GM and Chrysler avoid bankruptcy for the next several months, thus enabling them to restructure, recover, and thrive by building the super fuel efficient cars of the future.
Also this statement from a press conference by the UAW this morning regarding the failure of the Senate vote last night, Gettelfinger provided details on the negotiations with Senator Robert Corker (R-TN):
"We reached a tentative agreement with Sen. Corker," Gettelfinger said, "with the understanding he could win approval from the Republican caucus in the Senate. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so."
The tentative agreement reached with Corker, Gettelfinger said, would have required bondholders, as well as the independent trust established to provide health care for UAW retirees -- the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) -- to exchange a large portion of their claims for stock in the companies.
"These agreed-to changes," Gettelfinger said, "would have made an enormous difference and a major contribution toward resolving the companies' financial problems."
The tentative agreement reached with Corker also called for the proposed auto czar to ensure that wages and benefits paid to active UAW employees at domestic automakers would be competitive with compensation paid to workers at foreign-owned transplant factories.
"It's unfortunate that Sen. Corker was unable to persuade his colleagues to accept the agreement we negotiated, which included substantial additional sacrifices by our members," said Gettelfinger.
The stumbling block was a demand by the GOP caucus that UAW workers and retirees had to be treated differently from all other stakeholders, instead of requiring all parties to come to the table.
"This demand is not only unfair, it is unworkable," said Gettelfinger. "Modifying wages and benefits alone cannot solve the structural and financial problems faced by the domestic auto industry."
Also at this presser Ron Gellelfinger was asked about the possibility of the Republicans wanting to "bust the unions" His reply was to read them an email he had been sent that had had the to and from area's redacted. It should also be noted that later in the day Sen. Corker was asked about this email by Norah O'Donnell from MSNBC. He did NOT deny the existence of it nor did he deny receiving it. He did say he did not attend the meeting as he was at another meeting in another room at the time. Here is a copy of that email.
From:
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:12 AM
To:
Subject: Action Alert -- Auto Bailout
Today at noon, Senators Ensign, Shelby, Coburn and DeMint will hold a press conference in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery. They would appreciate our support through messaging and attending the press conference, if possible. The message they want us to deliver is:
1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.
2. This rush to judgment is the same thing that happened with the TARP. Members did not have an opportunity to read or digest the legislation and therefore could not understand the consequences of it. We should not rush to pass this because Detroit says the sky is falling.
The sooner you can have press releases and documents like this in the hands of members and the press, the better. Please contact me if you need additional information. Again, the hardest thing for the democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans, we can beat this.
The Republican's came up with an alternative on Thursday, and presented it Friday morning at what is mostly known as the " 11th hour" which as we all know is way too late.
The “alternative” was all of two pages, one of which is spent criticizing the proposal passed by the House. With the remaining page, conservatives reveal that their plan for helping “the Big Three to become competitive again” amounts to busting their union. After stating that United Auto Workers hold “to concessions already made” conservatives demand that the union:
Concedes the elimination of Supplemental Unemployment Benefits; Concedes elimination of the Jobs Bank Program; Agrees to either reduce company retiree health care obligations or otherwise convert a portion of such obligations into equity; and Agrees to reduce wages and benefits to the levels paid by non-Big Three manufacturers.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said yesterday on NPR that, in regards to an auto loan, “we’re not going to do it with the barnacles of unionism wrapped around their necks.”
First, it is worth pointing out that the UAW has already agreed to suspend the Jobs Bank, and delay automaker payments to a retiree health care fund. Furthermore, the union has implemented a plan to permanently shift retiree health costs into a UAW trust fund in 2010. Therefore, the second and third “concessions” that conservatives are demanding have, for all intents and purposes, already happened.
The other two “concessions,” however, are where the trouble really begins. The last one implies that Big Three workers are paid substantially more than their non-Big Three, non-unionized counterparts. However, as the New York Times and the New Republic pointed out, UAW workers don’t earn significantly more in hourly wages. The first, meanwhile, calls for cutting unemployment benefits at a time when economists and lawmakers are advocating extended benefits as an important response to the financial crisis.
Ultimately, these union-busting demands are counterproductive. As David Madland and Harley Shaiken note, “unions help foster a competitive high-wage, high-productivity economic strategy“:
Unionization and high worker productivity often go hand-in-hand. Fairness on the job and wages that reflect marketplace success contribute to more motivated workers. Given the pressures of globalization and competitiveness today, unions have been responsive to increasing productivity and embracing new innovations.
The UAW has already conceded to help the Big 3 manage their financial troubles. New innovations — not a lower-paid, uncared for workforce — will help Detroit get back on its feet.
Demint claimed there will be "riots" if the automaker rescue occurs:
We're going to have riots. There are already people rioting because they're losing their jobs when somebody else is being bailed out. The fairness of it becomes more and more evident as we go along.
To put to rest the case of the wage difference...it is constantly being stated the UAW workers are paid more than the foreign car makers. Here is what was found in a study done by After Market News:
In that instance, Toyota Motor Corp. gave workers at its largest U.S. plant bonuses of $6,000 to $8,000, boosting the average pay at the Georgetown, KY, plant to the equivalent of $30 an hour. That compares with a $27 hourly average for UAW workers, most of whom did not receive profit-sharing checks last year. Toyota would not provide a U.S. average, but said its 7,000-worker Georgetown plant is representative of its U.S. operations.
So, when Sen. Corker said he thought the UAW members should get the same pay as the Toyota plant workers does that mean that they should get a raise of about $3.00 an hour since they are getting paid less than those non-union workers in Georgetown, KY??
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