What is killing the unions?

There is a good reason for this, it is economic related, but there is another problem as well.

But first, the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s as cash-strapped state and local governments shed workers and unions had difficulty organizing new members in the private sector despite signs of an improving economy.

Government figures released Wednesday showed union membership declined from 11.8 percent to 11.3 percent of the workforce, another blow to a labor movement already stretched thin by battles in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and other states to curb bargaining rights and weaken union clout.

Overall membership fell by about 400,000 workers to 14.4 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half the loss, about 234,000, came from government workers, including teachers, firefighters and public administrators.

via News from The Associated Press.

The fatal flaw of the protectionist racket is this right here. When you close the shop to outsiders and do not allow employers to hire new people; such is the case with the big three — eventually, your membership roll begin to decline as your members begin to die off. Right now in the agreement which the UAW has with the big three in their contracts and that is that they cannot hire anyone from outside any of GM’s plants, unless they bring back someone who is laid off first. This stems the tide of new employees, and thus decreases membership rolls.

On the other hand, another thing that is happening too, is that the big three, when someone retires from one of the plants; does not hire anyone to replace that person. They simply pull someone from another plant or someone else from within that plant to fill that job. This too, causes membership rolls to dwindle. The reason the auto companies do this, is because they do not want to have to contend with the Unions about who they can or cannot hire and so forth. Not only that, if they do actually hire someone in, they want to hire that person in for half the wages that the other union folk are actually making. This, in this writers opinion, is totally unfair. If you are going to hire someone in, hire them in accordance the contract agreed to by the union membership.

Another thing that is killing the union is these so-called “free trade” agreements. Which were passed by globalist Republicans and Democrats and signed by an internationalist Democratic Party President, Bill Clinton. These agreements are starving the American worker out of a job. Furthermore, the unions suffer as well. Patrick Buchanan, who is about the only Conservative writer, that I happen to think is worth two cents anymore; has been writing the same thing for years and he is right about it too.

America’s soul is being robbed, by the ones who claim to represent the people that make up it’s very soul — and it is not Republicans either. Until the Democrat Party becomes a pro-America party again and not this internationalist mess that it has become now. America’s standing in the World will be what it is now — minimal.

Answering Digby

Just thought I’d answer a progressive blogger.

Digby who runs Hullabaloo, which is a left-wing blogger, reacting to this story here, asks the following:

I have to say that while Scott Walker is clearly the meanest of all the GOP wingut Governors (and Jan Brewer is clearly the dumbest) Rick Scott has got to be the weirdest. And that is saying something.

Florida, what were you thinking?

via Hullabaloo.

The same darned thing that you progressives and the rest of the rube idiots were thinking, when you elected and reelected that flipping dishonest, wall street brought and paid for, Marxist asshole in the White House — that’s what! The man campaigned on hope and change and what’d we get? More of the same. More of the same polices of George W. Bush. More drone strikes of American Citizens, More of “F*** the big three!” More of this President being interested in so-called “High tech jobs” and not low tech, general labor jobs.

So, the next time you want to lash out at the right there Digby. Remember, try looking in your own backyard for a change. (Hope Change?) Because your man is not really much of a prize either. In case you have not figured it out; I was not, am not, and never will be a fan of this President. Not because of his skin color; but because of what he is. Malcolm X summed him up very nicely — there are two kinds of blacks — Field and House; and Obama is a House. I have friends who are Field, and they are the best people ever. Most of the House kind are on Fox News and now are in the White House.

Now only this; and this comes from a personal standpoint; namely mine. He promised these jobs would come springing out of the woodwork. Just where the hell are all of these jobs at? I am unemployed, have been since 2005. Well, except for blogging, which really does not count as a job; because for one, I love doing it and for two, it really does not pay that great. But, where are these “Shovel-Ready” projects that this idiot actually had the stones to say would come popping out of woodwork? Now, you cannot blame the Republicans! You all had a majority in the Congress and the House for the first two years. Not to mention now, you basically have a majority in both houses, with a bunch of candy ass Republicans in both houses. So, where are the jobs at, that your “Hope and Change” savior promised?

The truth is, he could not create jobs! You knew it, Obama knew it; and the Democratic Party knew it! But, they instead chose to LIE to the uneducated idiot voters and they bought that damned lie and proceeded to elected and reelected the man. I knew what Obama was about, long ago. Which is why I broke away from that Party! Yeah, the Republicans are for the rich people. I get that; but at least they do not blow smoke up people’s butts and promise them stuff that they cannot deliver on. I give them that credit. Which is a heck of a bunch more than I can say about Obama and the Democrats now.

My detractors always tell me, “get a job!” My response is, “find me one, and I will!”

Of course, when you are a housewife out in Santa Monica and not actually in the real world, trying to find a job; one can only expect so much. I am just saying.

I got two words for AllahPundit of HotAir.com

Fuck You.

The entire damned thing was staged for the cameras, they pulled down the tent themselves.

So, there, Jeremy — Why don’t you try reporting the facts, instead of the stupid bullshit that the corporatist pigs and crony capitalists tell you to report?

…and by the way, how’s life treating you in queens these days? Heh. You obviously are living large, seeing you are getting paid to spout corporatist bullshit.

I’m just asking… and let me tell you something else; there will be blood and lots of it. The first time one of them free-loading motherfuckers steps into a union shop and tries to get hired. The union guys will stomp fucking piss out of them; and people like me, will cheer. You don’t cross union lines, when you do, you get your ass beat or worse. That is how it is. It has been that way for years and it is not about to change anytime soon. Least of all because some paid corporate shill got his ass beat or when some pussy motherfucking anonymous blogger writes false bullshit about a story either. He is lucky, he didn’t get shot or stabbed to death. Which really should have happened.

In the name of my Father…..

The best darned thing written so far about Detroit, The Labor Movement, and “Right to Work”

This is very good:

To understand why the impending transformation of Michigan into a right-to-work state is so mortifying to labor and its supporters—far worse, even, than what happened in Wisconsin and Ohio—one must consider the totemic status of the United Auto Workers (UAW). Although there are, despite all you have heard, many good reasons for public-sector workers to have the right to unionize, nobody ever made a movie or wrote a song about a public-sector worker; public-sector organizing campaigns are pretty tame affairs. But if someone were to write a book titled (with apologies to Vivian Gornick), The Romance of 20th Century American Unionism, it would likely be a dual case study. One story would be about the United Farm Workers of the 1960s and 1970s, courageously built from the grape and lettuce fields by migrant Latino laborers in California.

The other would span from the mid-1930s until about 1970 and tell the story of the United Auto Workers, the union that the Prospect’s Harold Meyerson correctly called the other day the “best” American union. Mass industrial workers, whom many believed were impossible to organize, spawned the UAW. These workers, the immigrant laborers of their time, shocked the nation with the imaginative militancy of their factory-floor sit-downs and “flying picket” lines at the legendary Flint, Michigan, strike in 1937. The union’s brilliant, incorruptible president, Walter Reuther—himself beaten and bloodied in organizing campaigns—sought, with the power of his union and his ideas, to leverage the United States into something resembling the social democracies of Western Europe. He had to settle for millions of working-class people ascending into the middle class in the 25 years following World War II, benefiting directly from UAW collective-bargaining agreements, or seeing their own wages and benefits tied to those of the UAW (and Steelworker’s union) standard.

Reuther, furthermore, supported both the nascent civil-rights movement (and fought hard to cleanse his own union of racism), the New Left, and even supported the beginning of modern environmentalism. The Port Huron statement—the founding, now canonical, document of Students for a Democratic Society—was written in 1962 at a UAW-owned campground for use by its members. You can see Reuther standing behind Dr. Martin Luther King during the “I Have a Dream” speech on the Mall in 1963, while George Meany’s AFL-CIO, from a mixture of racism and red baiting, shied away.

The UAW had enormous political clout, too. It couldn’t change the political economy of the country, but it was a powerful member of the Democratic Party coalition. Reuther had the ear, and vice versa, of every Democratic president and candidate of the postwar era. During this era, the presidential election campaign would begin for the Democratic candidate in—where else?—Cadillac Square in Detroit before a throng of union, mostly UAW, members. One can measure the changes in the Democratic Party, Michigan, and the country from, for example, reading the text of JFK’s 1960 Cadillac Square speech.

When Reuther died in a private plane crash in 1970, every auto plant in the country stopped its assembly lines for one minute in silent tribute—thus the “Big Three” car companies honored their remarkable adversary and the formidable institution he and his members built.

via This Is Not Wisconsin. It’s Worse – RICH YESELSON – American Prospect

I could not have worded it better myself. This isn’t about “right to work”, this piece of legislation is simply about destroying the labor movement in Detroit. Which is what the Republicans in Michigan and in Washington DC have wanted to do for ages. If the labor movement is smart, they will stand up to the weasel Snyder and not let this stand. Hopefully, they have the guts to do it.

Governor Rick Snyder starts to feel the heat for his idiocy

I find this to be very encouraging, perhaps Governor Snyder did not realize what he was getting into, or maybe he did.

The Story via Greg Sargent at Washington Post:

The “right to work” battle in Michigan may not be over quite yet.

Top Democrats in the Michigan Congressional delegation just wrapped up their meeting with Governor Rick Snyder, during which they urged him in no uncertain terms: If you go forward with “right to work” legislation, you’ll be consigning the state to years of discord and division. They urged him to consider vetoing the legislation or postponing it until the next session — or even agreeing to subject it to referendum.

According to Dems who were on the call, Snyder told them he would “seriously” take into account their objections — which they took as a genuine indication of possible willingness, for now, to reconsider.

“The Governor listened, and he told us he would seriously consider our concerns,” Senator Carl Levin said on a conference call with reporters.

The tenor of the meeting, which participants described as urgent and intense, underscores the gravity of the situation — not just for Democrats, but for the state itself. Dems told Snyder that forging ahead with “right to work” legislation risked undermining the progress in labor-management relations in the state and could create a situation similar to Wisconsin, where an ongoing battle over collective bargaining tore the state apart for over a year.

I do not trust the weasel myself, and here is why; This comes via Deadline Detroit, which I had some choice words for once, and which I retract those words too — granted, I have not always liked what I have seen there, but I was a bit harsh on them, they have the right to publish what they wish, just like I do…:

Signing right-to-work legislation will have serious, even dire consequences on the state, congressional Democrats told Gov. Rick Snyder this morning, according to Kathleen Gray in the Free Press.

In a private meeting in Detroit between seven members of Congress and Snyder, Sen. Carl Levin told reporters afterward they asked Snyder to either veto the legislation or remove the appropriation attached to the bill, which would allow a statewide vote on the issue.

“The labor environment has dramatically improved in the state,” Levin said. But with right to work, “instead of having a Michigan united, we’re going to have a Michigan divided.”

A couple of hours after meeting with the delegation, Snyder signaled his continuing support of the right-to-work bills when he tweeted, “Freedom to work is all about creating more and better jobs in Michigan.”

So, basically, this guy is nothing more than a lying snake. If I were the labor movement, I would not trust him at all. if anything at all; I would begin to mount a recall effort against this man and get him out of office as soon as they possibly could. Like others have noted, Governor Snyder has proven that he is nothing more than a lying stack of crap and will say and do anything to stay in power — including straight up lie to get elected, like he did to me and every other person who trusted him.

There is two things in this world that I have little or no use for — and that is thieves and liars; and this idiot Snyder is a lying piece of crap, if there ever was one to be behold. As the Detroit Free Press rightly noted, Governor Rick Snyder knowingly lied to the people of Michigan, including disillusioned Democrats like myself, who come from Democratic Party voting families and who happen to care about this State and this Country and do not agree with the far socialist left agenda of President Barack Obama. This does not mean, however, that we think that unions ought be outlawed and busted up.

Again, as I wrote before on here, this was nothing more than a pander to the extremist wing of the Republican Party and by doing this; Governor Snyder will pay a terrible price.

Sorry, but this strikes me as incredibly dumb

Look, I am all for unions fighting for their right to organize; but this, is just plain stupid:

They looked jolly in red scarves and reindeer antler headbands, but the carolers outside of Troy’s Oakland Mall today were actually protestors conveying a serious message: No to right-to-work legislation in Michigan.

And they delivered their feelings about proposed bills and Gov. Rick Snyder through pointed, modified Christmas carols. Think “Frosty the Snowman.”

“Rick-y Snyder knew he couldn’t get his way — so he took the votes from the working folks so the wealthy get our pay,” they sang.

Shalaya Bryant, who works at a nursing home, said the group was trying to send the message that “right to work is not for Michigan.”

via Modified Christmas carols used to protest right-to-work legislation at Oakland Mall | Oakland County | Detroit Free Press

First of all, they are nowhere near the capital building in Lansing. Second of all, what a great way to show that Democrats and Unionists hate traditional Christian values, by butchering Christmas Carols. I mean, the left wants to be accepted by the rest of America; but yet, they pull stuff like this here. This is why the rest of America loathes the labor movement. Because they simply do not respect traditional values of America. Butchering Christmas carols makes the labor movement look selfish.

Thirdly, who told these people they could sing?!?! 😯 Egad. 🙄

Want to know why Republicans cannot win elections?

I am going to forewarn you, this posting here is not something that you would normally read at a blog like mine. This blog never was about partisanship. As you know, it is called “Thinking Americanist” and it is called that for a very good reason. Because I do not happen to tow the so-called “part line” and I do not participate in the normal echo chamber of either side in the blogosphere. I speak the truth and if it angers either side, that is just too bad.

You want to know why the Republican Party is having so much trouble winning elections? It is because of mind-numbingly stupid stuff like this right here:

That was none other than Fox News’s resident House Negro and one man minstrel show, Charles Payne.

Transcript:

PAYNE: It is tragic. I don’t think something like this will happen again. Don’t think that the people in Bangladesh who perished didn’t want or need those jobs, as well. I know we like to victimize everyone in this country, particularly when it comes to for-profit motivation, which is being assaulted. But, you know, it is a tragedy but I think it is a stretch, an amazing stretch, to sort of try to pin this on Walmart but, of course, the unions in this country are desperate.

Think Progress rightly notes:

The Bangladeshi factory in question, Tazreen Factories, had no functioning extinguishers, locked the exits, and employed managers who told factory workers to go back to their stations when the fire alarm went off. Since 2006, over 200 people have died in Bangladeshi garment factories as a consequence of the substandard safety precautions prevalent in their factory.Some believe companies like Walmart — whose brands were found in the burnt factory — would move if production at the faculty were more expensive; that is, if things like basic safety precautions were implemented.

During his defense of the factory, Payne referred to himself as “a spokesman for capitalism and the American Dream” and said “for a lot of people, this [Walmart business practice] is a step in the right direction.”

This tragic event happens to remind me of another tragic event like this one that happened in New York back on March 25, 1911. I am referring to, of course, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

Some photos:

The building’s east side, with 40 bodies on the sidewalk. Two of the victims were found alive an hour after the photo was taken.

Police placing victims bodies into coffins.

There is a site, by the way, where you can see even more of these types of photos from the fire. It called the “Remember the triangle fire coalition.” It was this fire, in case some of my Conservative and libertarian friends do not know, that started the wheels turning for an organized labor movement in this Country.

As the site says,

The Fire
The Triangle Waist Company was located one block east of Washington Square Park. There were over 500 employees – most were young women, most were recent immigrants. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the 8th floor. Workers ran to the fire escape. It collapsed, dropping them to their deaths. On the 9th floor a critical exit was locked. People on the street watched as the workers began to jump out the windows. Fire trucks arrived but their ladders only reached the 6th floor. The elevators ran as long as they could as workers pressed into the cars; some tumbled down the elevator shaft.

In the end 146 people died. There was a trial but the owners, long known for their anti-union activities, got off. The fire became a rallying cry for the international labor movement. Many of our fire safety laws were created in response to this tragic event.

Sounds familiar does it not? You see, as an Americanist, I am all for good old fashioned capitalism, which is why I have so many ads on this site. What I am forcefully against, is corny capitalism or capitalism that exploits, represses and hurts others. I have always been against that sort of thing, even when I was on the left. This is why unions came to be folks, because of crony capitalism. I happen to know a great deal about the labor movement; because my Father is a retired General Motors worker, who worked for the Clark Street Assembly Plant in southwest Detroit and later at the Poletown Assembly Plant as well. My Father, who is now retired also is a member of the UAW, Local 22.

Now about that site that I mentioned; I realize that there is some things on that site that might offend some Conservatives, especially the communist section of the archive.However, I believe that this sort of thing is important; there is nothing wrong with workers wanting safe working conditions. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with a worker wanting a decent living wage. I believe that at one point in America, unions served a legitimate purpose, and this was to keep the crony capitalists honest and to force them to take better care of their workers, with better working conditions. However, my biggest gripe with the unions, is that they became greedy themselves, they began to associate with elements of the communist movement, they began to make unreasonable demands — the recent instance with Hostess being a perfect example.

However, as a free-thinking American, I do not believe that the answer is to proverbially, “Toss out the baby with the bath water” as they say; but rather to stop with the labor movements overreach. The labor movement needs to realize that this is not the 1940’s and the 1950’s anymore. The industrial revolution is already passed us by, and there are times when concessions are needed to save jobs. You would think that with a labor movement friendly President like Barack Obama, that American labor killing things, like the so-called “American free trade agreement” would be stricken off the books and large scale tariffs put into place to prevent China and other Countries from stealing our market share. However, not everything is as it seems. Barack Obama is not an “American First” democrat, Obama is an “Internationalist Democrat,” who sees American through the lens of the World and believe it is quite small. This is why the relationship between the President and the labor movement has been frosty at best.

In closing: To my Republican friends and conservative ones too: This is what needs to change. Indifference toward tragic events like this one and making idiotic statements like this too. When conservatives makes statements like this, the rest of America, you know, people like me? We tend to see you as heartless thugs, who care only about making money and not about those who actually help you make that money. It is simply all in messaging. The conservative movement, while not perfect, has some really great ideas; but has always had this message problem and also the Republican establishment problem as well. Those things need to change and messaging needs to be changed too. If we can do that, we can win elections again.

Others: Boing Boing, The Raw Story, The Hinterland Gazette, Associated Press and Firedoglake

Uh Oh! No More Ho-Ho’s?

Oh my word! Surprise

Seriously? I rarely, if ever, eat the things. They are way to sweet for me. In fact, the last time I tried eating a pack of ho-ho’s and a bottle of mountain dew, I ended up feeling a bit sick.

Here’s the story via NBC in Dallas, TX:

Video:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Story:

Hostess, the makers of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread, is going out of business after striking workers failed to heed a Thursday deadline to return to work, the company said.

“We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike,” Hostess CEO Gregory F. Rayburn said in announcing that the firm had filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to shutter its business. “Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.”

The reason?:

The Irving, Texas-based company had already reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. But thousands of members in its second-biggest union went on strike late last week after rejecting in September a contract offer that cut wages and benefits. Officials for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union say the company stopped contributing to workers’ pensions last year.

NBC’s Savannah Guthrie read a statement on “Today” from the bakers’ union that said: “Despite Greg Rayburn’s insulting and disingenuous statements of the last several months, the truth is that Hostess workers and the union have absolutely no responsibility for the failure of this company. That responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of the company’s decision makers.”

Rayburn responded that he had been “pretty straightforward in all the town hall meetings I’ve done at our plants to say that in this situation I think there is blame that goes around for everyone.”

As the Son of a retired G.M. worker and a retired UAW member; I can empathize with the union’s position. However, I have always said and have always believed that sometimes unions can be a double-edged sword. Speaking of which, the fine folks over at HotAir.com have some very interesting information as to what is really going on:

Update II: Like I said, I haven’t paid much attention to this fight, so I don’t have a lot of insight into whether labor or management has been more unreasonable. However, the Teamsters’ web site seems to lay the blame on the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) for refusing to go along with the Teamsters to accept the last offer from Hostess:

In fact, when Hostess attempted to throw out its collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters in court, the Teamsters fought back and won, ensuring that Hostess could not unilaterally make changes to working conditions during the several months’ long legal process that recently ended. Teamster Hostess members were allowed to decide their fate by voting on the final offer conducted by a secret mail ballot. More than two-thirds of Hostess Teamsters members voted with 53 percent voting to approve the final offer.

The BCTGM chose a different path, as is their prerogative, to not substantively look for a solution or engage in the process. BCTGM members were told there were better solutions than the final offer, although Judge Drain stated in his decision in bankruptcy court that no such solutions exist. Without complete information, BCTGM members voted by voice votes in union halls. The BCTGM reported that over 90 percent rejected the final offer and three of its units ratified the final offer.

On Friday, Nov. 9, the BCTGM began to strike at some Hostess production facilities without notice to the Teamsters despite assurances they would not proceed with job actions without contacting the Teamsters Union. This unannounced action put Teamster members in the difficult position of facing picket lines without knowing their right to honor such a line without being disciplined.

As is our longstanding tradition, Teamster members by and large are honoring Bakery Worker picket lines when encountered and complying with their contractual obligations when not encountering picket lines. The BCTGM leaders are putting Teamster members in a horrible position – asking them to support a strike that will put them out of a job when they haven’t even asked all their members to go on strike.

That strike is now on the verge of forcing the company to liquidate – it is difficult for Teamster members to believe that is what the BCTGM Hostess members ultimately wanted to accomplish when they went out on strike. We may never know unless the BCTGM members, based on the facts they know today, get to determine their fate in a secret ballot vote. Teamster members would understand that the will of the BCTGM Hostess membership was truly heard if that was the case.

That’s a pretty remarkable statement from the Teamsters.

Update (MKH): Just a little background. There’s a lot going on, here, though the bakers union strike was certainly the last straw for Hostess. The company has been in bankruptcy twice in the last decade, and as Allahpundit notes, the culture of organics and calorie-counting was working against them.

But the bakers union deserved to get thrown under the bus by the Teamsters because it looks like they threw the Teamsters under the bus, first. The Teamsters and the bakers worked together to come to a deal with Hostess in September. The bakers were quiet during negotiations, and apparently pulled a surprise move when they rejected the deal.

Now, I believe that people who wish to have organized labor should be allowed to have such a thing. But when organized labor closes a plant or a bunch of plants; because one union decides it is not going to play ball. Then that union ought to be decertified. However, knowing this President, and his fitness crazy wife; that will never happen.

Again, this is a very sad situation and one that could be rectified easily, but instead these unions decided to dig in and that my friends is a real shame.

Round up of Bloggers at memeorandum

Update: Bill Quick thinks that this is quite funny.

Video: President Obama tosses general labor workers under the bus

This video is quite damning to the President. In last night’s debate, President Obama basically said that he was not going to fight for so-called “Low Skill” jobs. Here is a newsflash for the President; a good part of Michigan is filled with people who would work these “low-skill” so-called “low-income” jobs. Not everyone in America has the skills or the ability to get the skills to work those high-tech jobs. There are people, like me; who have disabilities, like A.D.H.D. which affect their ability to do math very well and because of this, we are unable to get a high school diploma.

Here is the video: (via Yahoo News)

This video is damning for a number of reasons; first, when he said, “Some jobs are not coming back.” It makes the President sound as if he really does not give care about those who cannot get, because of lack of education; one of these sort of jobs. Those who are on the far-right would say that basically the President wants these people to be on the Government dole. Furthermore, it also makes the President sound like he is basically saying that he is not going to fight to bring general labor jobs back to the United States; and with as many people as we have that are out of work, some of which do take those “low-wage” and “low-skill” jobs — that just sounds very bad.

You can try and spin this and try to wrap it up into a contextual argument or even try to say that the President is being realistic. But, as far as this voter is concerned, Obama just threw in the towel for the average, everyday, unemployed, general laborer. Something that I have been for a good part of my life. Which is why I plan to vote for Mitt Romney in November. Romney might not be perfect, but, he knows what makes this economy work and that there people who do not have degrees, like me; who simply need a 40 hour a week or more job. The only workers that President Obama cares about, are the Unionized workers at the big three, something my Father was, he also wants to tax their pensions as well, something my Father is not happy about too.

But for the non-unionized workers, like me. President Obama simply does not care; Obama would rather focus on the high tech jobs, because those people would be more inclined to vote for him. This is the difference between President Obama, and Governor Mitt Romney — Governor Romney knows that it takes ALL kinds of workers and getting those workers back to work is what he wants to carry out.

Here is Mitt Romney’s message to the middle class: (Via HotAir.com)

Most of the people that come here and read, know that I have been unemployed now for 8 years. Some of that, is my fault; a career change that did not work out like I planned it. But the majority of it is due to the piss poor economy in Michigan. The President has helped take care of my Father and seen to it, that his pension is preserved and that he will get everything that he needs — for this I am very grateful. My question to the President and to the Democrats, as an American, is this: What has President Obama done for people, like me? What has President Obama done for people, who do not have the unions standing in their corner? What has the President done for those who are “low-skill” workers, who are not minorities?

The truth is, The President has done nothing and will do absolutely nothing for us. Which is why, if you are a general laborer and you are voting for President Obama again; you are a fool. Trust me, as the above video shows, President Obama does not give a remote damn about we, who use our backs and our bodies to work. This is because he never had to do it, ever.

I close on this note here: I realize that many working class folk might not like Romney. He is far from perfect, I know what Bush did; and I cannot change that — But, I believe that with Romney it will be much different. So, I ask you, as Americans:

VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY IN NOVEMBER AND LET’S PUT OUT THE DESK JOCKEY AND PUT IN SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE WORKING CLASS!

GM’s jobs news is nothing more than a ruse

Great and wonderful news, right? Wrong. Just another bogus headline from a company that is about ready for bankruptcy. This story comes via MLive.com.

General Motors Co. and the state are expected to announce today that GM will create 2,000 new jobs in Michigan, beginning with up to 1,500 at a new information technology innovation center in Warren.

The automaker and the Governor’s Office are expected to make formal announcements later today.

It’s unclear where GM would add the other 500 jobs, but the state says the innovation center is the first of three projects the company will announce.

GM will invest $300 million combined for the three. The state said GM plans no major investment spending on the information technology center; it will be housed in an existing building undergoing renovation on the Warren Tech Center campus.

The center will hire 1,500 new employees within four years and will add to information technology employment already in Warren, Randy Mott, GM’s vice president of information technology and chief information officer, said in a Friday interview.

via GM to add 2,000 jobs in Michigan | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com.

This is where I am going to get accused of sounding like a Democrat or something worse.

This headline is the biggest stinking joke, since the election Barack Obama. These jobs above here? There are not jobs that anyone could do, you know, like me? These jobs are one that would need some serious degrees —- none of which I honestly have at all. So, these are not 2000 jobs for the public, like labor jobs; as the labor jobs are protected by the unions. These are tech jobs that will end up being filled by immigrants, legal or otherwise from foreign countries; who have the degrees to get these jobs. The rest will go to protected minorities, who happen to have those degrees as well.

I just have to ask aloud; how much of this investment, came from the taxpayers dollars that ended up bailing out this failed business? I really do not know if I really want to know the answer to that or not. However, what I will say is this here; the local Detroit media needs to stop with the dishonest headlines and get out of tank for the big three. I mean, do not get me wrong, I want to see General Motor succeed, as their success personally affects my family, namely my Father, who retired from that company after 31 years. But, when I see dishonest headlines like this, it disgusts me. People scanning through, think GM is mass hiring workers for the plants. Which they are not, they are hiring salaried employees, that they really do not need and doing this, will most likely make them go broke again.

It is time, that the local Detroit media started telling the complete truth about the big three.