Thursday, November 20, 2008
Event: More Reasons for the Bailout...
LeftHandedMan posted this brilliant comment on DailyKos:
The GOP never dreamed it would get to kill a massive part of organized labor and have an entire region of the country completely collapse on the Democratic parties watch to boot, but that is just the opportunity that has arisen for the Limbaugh/Coulter wing of the GOP.
A 25 billion dollar loan, with strings attached mandating the auto industry stay the fuck out of monkeying with healthcare reform and making them go green or else, could save hundreds of billions of dollars in social spending over the next 10 years alone.
10 to 12 million jobs lost, boom!, 200 to 1 trillion dollars in emergency social spending to deal with the collapse's impact on the region, the UAW dead and Wal-Mart the biggest employer in the region, Michigan in full economic collapse and millions of voters ripe for being in play in the next round of the Culture War.
The GOP, and the media pundits who are all clamoring for Obama and the Congress to let the auto industry die will be damning us and running against the Democratic Party as the party that 'Let Michigan Die' or 'Let Detroit Die' for a generation if the auto industry is allowed to die.
The auto industry is 4% of our GDP.
If it goes, thats several years added on to the economic crisis that we face.
And probably Bobby Jindal in 2012 running as Ronnie Reagan on a white horse to "save" America.
A 25 billion dollar loan, with strings attached mandating the auto industry stay the fuck out of monkeying with healthcare reform and making them go green or else, could save hundreds of billions of dollars in social spending over the next 10 years alone.
10 to 12 million jobs lost, boom!, 200 to 1 trillion dollars in emergency social spending to deal with the collapse's impact on the region, the UAW dead and Wal-Mart the biggest employer in the region, Michigan in full economic collapse and millions of voters ripe for being in play in the next round of the Culture War.
The GOP, and the media pundits who are all clamoring for Obama and the Congress to let the auto industry die will be damning us and running against the Democratic Party as the party that 'Let Michigan Die' or 'Let Detroit Die' for a generation if the auto industry is allowed to die.
The auto industry is 4% of our GDP.
If it goes, thats several years added on to the economic crisis that we face.
And probably Bobby Jindal in 2012 running as Ronnie Reagan on a white horse to "save" America.
Labels: auto industry, economics, EVENT, labor, Michigan, politics, Republican Party
0 comments.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Event: Bailing Out the Big Three.
New York Times: Congress Remains Divided on Bailout.
New York Times: Clout Has Plunged for Automakers and Union, Too.
New York Times: How Many Jobs Depend on the Big Three?
* * * * *
New York TimeS: Saving Detroit from Itself.
Paul Krugman: Cars.
* * * * *
Daily Kos: Ideas for an Auto Plan - GM Edition w/ Poll.
The articles above pretty effectively stake out the boundaries of my position. With possibly over three million jobs at stake, it isn't with a lot of pleasure that I watch the Big Three work the nation over now as they've worked Michigan for decades. What do I mean by work over? I mean that they draw assistance from the government (whether in terms of tax breaks, incentives, and now a bailot) to rectify a mess they've made, and in exchange for which the best they can seemingly offer is a non-worst case scenario. If that. In Flint, throughout the eighties and nineties, GM continued to drink that city's tax pool dry in infrastructural and fiscal accomodations as if they were dying of thirst at a desert oasis. And yet they persisted in the manufacturing strategy that has put them in dire straights. The cities and states which invest in these companies, essentially at gunpoint, rarely see such speculations realized. There is a risk of this being mirrored on a national level. The Big Three's market share will presumably continute to dwindle in the near-future, albeit hopefully at a slower rate, they'll close plants and hemmorage jobs, and if everyting goes perfectly, it will still be a long, long time before they can offer a fleet as well-adapted to the next global environment as their competitors.
It's just like the Wall Street Bailout all over again. These were my original reservations with that bailout package, and here is the upshot after just two months.
Let's learn a lesson from this very recent history and not be handing out blank checks.
Let's encourage our representatives to cautiously support a bailout for the auto industry, but let us absolutely insist that it only come with serious and meaningful restructuring that will lead to an industry that can legitimately compete. Symbolic shuttling of executives will not be sufficient (and the Wall Street bailout didn't even achieve that obvious step); any Company that requires taxpayer money to fight for profit is fair game for prudent meddling. It's more than auto plants that will need restructuring; it's the Big Three's entire corporate structure.
I wrote more on this at Daily Kos: Don't Be Flint, Michiganized by the Big Three.
Labels: auto industry, Detroit, economics, EVENT, Flint, Michigan, u.s. legislative
0 comments.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Event: Blue Skies Falling endorsements, 2008.
MY ARGUMENTS:
Information. Where to Get It and How to Use It.
What is Socialism? Is Obama a Socialist?
MICHIGAN : PROPOSAL 2008-02 : Embryonic Stem-Cell Research.
California Proposition #8.
MICHIGAN : PROPOSAL 2008-01 : Medical Marijuana.
Why I'm Voting Against Jan Schakowsky in the Illinois 9th District Race.
Understanding the Subprime Mortgage Crisis.
"Here's how Gov. Sarah Palin's Clearwater visit unfolded"
The Executive Branch is a Committee, with an Economic Example of Why it Matters.
Palin is a Footnote; Clinton is a Chapter.
A Few Thoughts on Abortion for Voting Catholics Like Me.
OTHER ARGUMENTS:
Chicago Tribune: Tribune endorsement: Barack Obama for president. The Chicago Tribune has a respected conservative-leaning editorial staff. Barack Obama is the first Democrat they have nominated for President since the newspaper was founded in 1841.
The Economist: An Endorsement of Barack Obama. The Economist is an editorial magazine based out of the United Kingdom. It has a well-respected global perspective, and is considered to be politically moderate by the standards of most American political discussions.
The Economist: Global Electoral College: What if the Whole World Could Vote?
EGAD or, (de)mythologizing the fetish of place: Flames.
New York Times: Barack Obama for President. The New York Times has a respected left-leaning editorial staff.
Purple Scarf: Harold and the Purple States.
Purple Scarf: In the Real America...
Third Rail Themes: Get Me a Beer, Bitch!
Third Rail THemes: Palin(g) in Comparison, Part the Second
A brief comment on "protest votes": Protest votes were one of many things that earned us the first Bush Administration, and unfortunately this entire class of political opportunity (theoretically equivalent to what is possible in Unions through striking) seems interminably linked to Ralph Nader.
Yet 2008 should be a great year for protest votes in low-risk national races. Many congressional Democrats will win by a large margin; yet since 2006, when the Democrats retook Congress with a mandate, their leadership has failed time and time again to use to tools at their disposal to stand up to the Bush Administration.
We don't want to unseat Democrats; a protest vote is a bad tactic in a closely contested race. However, votes are the ultimate currency in politics, and we can use it to demonstrate that our loyalty comes with a price. Democrats ought to behave as Democrats. Our Democratic led congress has lower approval ratings than President Bush; this is due to disillusionment by a base that feels that they have been represented by an unassertive and unmotivated congressional party leadership.
A brief comment on third parties: There is no time or space here to wade into the myriad and complex arguments about why we should or should not encourage the growth of third party movements in the U.S. My operational premise is that, while third parties in general expand our options and encourage a more mature and nuanced political perspective (both among the electorate and office holders), in the U.S. they are often manipulated by the major parties against each others. Voting Green, for example, is often promoted by the Republicans as a way of whittling away support for Democrats (and Republicans often lead in financial support for Green candidates). With this in mind, I generally discourage voting for a third party candidate unless, 1) you think they could actually govern well and 2) they have an active chance of winning. When these criteria are met, vote-away! For cases where the criteria are not met, but you still want to register a protest vote, consider a write-in instead.
MY ENDORSEMENTS
PRESIDENTIAL
Barack Obama - Democrat
MICHIGAN
U.S. SENATE
Carl Levin - Democrat
Please follow up your vote with a letter to Senator Levin that he is on notice until he justifies through legislation that the Wall Street bailout is administered with both robust oversight and strict penalties for mismanagement among recipients.
U.S. CONGRESS - DISTRICT 5
Dale Kildee - Democrat
Please follow up your vote with a letter to Senator Levin that he is on notice until he justifies through legislation that the Wall Street bailout is administered with both robust oversight and strict penalties for mismanagement among recipients.
PROPOSAL 1 - Yes.
PROPOSAL 2 - Yes.
ILLINOIS
U.S. SENATE
Dick Durbin - Democrat
Please follow up your vote with a letter to Senator Durbin that he is on notice until he justifies through legislation that the Wall Street bailout is administered with both robust oversight and strict penalties for mismanagement among recipients.
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - 9th DISTRICT
Morris Shanfield - Green
STATE SENATE - 7th DISTRICT
Heather Stearns - Democrat
STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - 13th DISTRICT
Greg Harris - Democrat
BALLOT MEASURE
Illinois Constitutional Convention - YES
JUDICIAL ENDORSEMENTS
COOK COUNTY - 4th SUBCIRCUIT
Pat Rogers - Democrat
COOK COUNTY - 12th SUBCIRCUIT
Pamela Elizabeth Loza - Democrat
North Side Judicial Ratings can be found at:
http://democracyforamerica.com/groups/247.
Labels: Chicago, elections, EVENT, Flint, Illinois, Michigan, politics, U.S.A.
3 comments.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Event: "We'll make 'em fit! It'll be fun!"
???
Dear Mr. Danziger,
For several years now I've openly described your work as my very favorite of political cartoonists. Your drawing has a precision that goes beyond a canny resemblance and your cutting captions can sum up an issue in better than a thousand words. Yours is a medium in which cheap shots seem to be both available and abundant, and the care which you take in your selections has always impressed me. After all, any sane critical thinker could spend eight years pummeling the Bush administration; your statements have been fresh and trenchant, and you've had ammo left over for the Democratic primaries, for Chinese domestic and foreign policy, and for all of the other misguided and tragically uninformed errrors in American politics this decade. Which is why I'm so dismayed by the lone autoworker you have exclaiming "we'll make 'em fit! It'll be fun" as he holds an oversized croquet mallet aloft this week.
I come to this personally: practically everyone in my family has worked for GM in Flint, Michigan and Oakland County. My father worked at Buick for almost 40 years before being bought out this year because the last plant in his division (Powertrain North) has closed. My aunt worked at EDS, my grandmother was a secretary at GMI, and my grandfather made spark spugs for AC Delco from the moment he got home from World War II.
Look, I know that doing what you do you are bound to anger people, that you can't be over-sensitive to anger, that calling things as they are is inevitably going to bruise some ribs along the way.
But I've always seen you as being very selective in choosing your targets, and more importantly, in choosing their foibles. In your recent piece you show an autoworker standing like an uneducated buffoon, a "Joe V6" who doesn't know a thing (and doesn't care) about anything other than banging metal on metal. Granted in the past you've called out the American automakers for their incompetent leadership, and maybe even for your perception that our domestic automakers have produced an inferior product. I have disagreed with many of these strips, but this is the first time it seems you've crossed the line.
Actually, excuse me, that's not right.
I should say, instead, that you've failed. After all, there are no lines that you should not cross. The mark of a great political cartoonist is the ability to eloquently disagree, and to render such disagreement visceral and visual to the larger public.
But why have you abandoned the rigor of your other pieces?
Why are you taking cheap shots at our autoworkers instead of their leadership or even their product?
For that matter, if you want to criticize autoworkers, why are you holding them up as mentally incapable, instead of criticizing a union that is as stubborn as it is often ineffective? Or holding accountable a rank-and-file that is often unable to look beyond their next paycheck to address the consequences of the agenda their employer is pursuing?
Why not pick a disagreement worth stating instead of promoting inaccurate misconceptions about the education and drive of our nation's most assertive and robust union workforce?
I could disagree with you on many of these other possible arguments, but these would be disagreements worth having.
Your characterization of the auto-worker in your recent strip is trite, pointless, obnoxious, insulting, and irrelevant. It does nothing to promote a worthwhile political argument, and it is a waste of both my own and your time. I wouldn't be so disappointed if not for the fact that you are my favorite political cartoonist. I hope that the abundance of material these days doesn't mean that your standards (the standards I most admire) are slipping; one could safely argue that an informed and powerful political critique in all media are more important these days than ever.
Sincerely,
Connor Coyne
Labels: auto industry, economics, EVENT, Flint, labor, Michigan, politics
3 comments.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Event: Information. Where to Get It and How to Use It.
EVENT
Information on National and Local Races.
ILLINOIS - COOK COUNTY
MICHIGAN - GENESEE COUNTY
NEW YORK - KINGS COUNTY
Congress.org: My races.
This website is a great, nonpartisan tool; it contains each candidates' statements of their own positions. Input your address and zip code and it will tell you which races are contested in the executive and legislative branches. Illinois residents can learn about their judicial candidates here.
Michigan voters should also consult the well-edited and comprehensive League of Women Voters guide.
Newspaper endorsements can be great as well. They have the benefit of knowing both the candidates and their immediate public thoroughly. Still, take a few minutes to scrutinize how they back up their assessments. Many editorial boards have at least a subtle partisan bent; it is telling this cycle that so many Republican-leaning rags have voiced support for Obama.
I personally, believe that it is very telling when a candidate won't provide a direct statement to surveys such as these; this is as close as we can get to direct, concise policy statements. It speaks volumes for a candidate to remain silent.
Additionally, each candidate deserves scrutiny on the basis of not only the particular office and policy positions they will hold, but on the political baggage they will bring to the position. Don't get me wrong; personality is important in any elected office. But in positions of national prominence, such as countrywide, congressional, or statewide posts, we should consider very carefully what a candidate's affiliations are, where their campaign money comes from, and who they are likely to appoint. These are at least as important as how likeable or reliable or even responsible the candidate is.
More locally, a small number of votes are more likely to make a big difference, and the cost of campaigning is low enough that it doesn't require candidates to take as many favors with strings attached. Often at this level personality is more important and party affiliation is less. Judicial races, city/township/town/village and county positions, school board governorships and so forth are all ideal for independent votes. They can give third parties and independent candidates a chance to assert and argue for their platforms without undermining a progressive coalition nationally, and liberation of such votes from compromise reduces the level of unnecessary baggage politicians tend to pick up early in their careers.
If you want to cast a protest vote in a national level race (I will be doing so, voting Green for Illinois' 9th congressional district), that can be effective, but please do so in an uncompetitive race. We need to acquire a large Democratic majority in this cycle.
If you consider yourself Independent, but want to vote Republican in a national level race, I urge you to consider very carefully why you are doing so. Parties change with time, and the last twenty years has made the Republican Party into a much uglier and more unfriendly entity than it has been in decades. These are not the Republicans who will cut your taxes or help small businesses, and they are certainly not the Republicans who will keep government out of your dining room and bedroom. Policy-wise, Eisenhower has more in common with Clinton and Obama than with Bush or McCain, and Gerald Ford spent the last several years of his life appalled at the behavior of his own party's leadership. An Independent who believes that extremes in government are destructive, and that policy-decision dictated by ideology and not a sober assessment of human nature and the world is an independent that should vote for Democrats this cycle.
Finally, it is a truism that when one party dominates government, it leads to a mess. However, the Republican party has pushed the U.S. so far to the right, and has drawn so much of the left towards center, that we need a Democratic supermajority in the senate and a large majority in the House to pass the needed changes. We will have to hold these Democrats accountable and make sure that they behave responsibly and answer to their constituencies, but there is a lack of both credibility and policy soundness in the Republican Party that cannot enjoy rational and reasoned discourse.
This doesn't mean that we should call off discourse; conversation with friends and enemies is essential, to paraphrase one of our presidential candidates in a different context.
But we shold be honest in confronting politicians and their organizations for what they are and how they have behaved.
The Republican Party does not deserved to be called sound or responsible this decade.
It deserves to be treated for the radical, reactionary, xenophobic position it has staked out in the world.
In this election, in national races, we need to look to the Democratic Party for leadership.
Labels: Chicago, elections, EVENT, Flint, Genesee County, Illinois, Michigan, New York City, politics, u.s. executive, u.s. legislative, U.S.A.
0 comments.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Event: Get Out of My House!
New York Times: McCain Pulls Out of Michigan.
Labels: elections, EVENT, Michigan, politics
0 comments.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Event: Thank. You.
CBS News: GM to Build $370M Plant in Flint, Michigan. Factory Will Make 4-Cylinder Engines for Chevrolet Volt.
Labels: auto industry, economics, environment, EVENT, Flint, Michigan
0 comments.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Event: Kicking You When You're Down - Foreclosure is a Forfeited Vote, According to the Michigan GOP.
Start from the beginning and move down:
Michigan Messenger: Lose Your House, Lose Your Vote.
Michigan Messenger: GOP has a history of voter ‘caging,’ according to Democrats’ lawsuit.
Michigan Messenger: Messenger rejects GOP plea for retraction.
Gemma discussed this here, with several insightful comments by herself and tyromaven.
If you're a Michigan resident (I was for many years) this should make you livid. It isn't really aimed at preventing voter fraud, and here's how I described the strategy at Third Rail Themes:
- Macomb County includes many of the Detroit suburbs and with 800,000 people is one of the most populous counties in Michigan.
- It also has a very high African American population which has been disproportionately affected by house foreclosures.
- Here's the real kicker: almost all of those voting would be Michigan residents because 1) arrangements can be made given foreclosure to remain living at a residence and 2) most people who are being booted out of their homes at the dead end of autumn cannot afford to make a major move to another state... most will be relocating to elsewhere around Detroit.
This strategy is based on the flimsiest and nastiest of circumstances.
In fact, it isn't just a below-board attempt to swing the state red. It is only a breath and a couple syllables from Jim Crow.
So write some letters to the editors!
- It also has a very high African American population which has been disproportionately affected by house foreclosures.
- Here's the real kicker: almost all of those voting would be Michigan residents because 1) arrangements can be made given foreclosure to remain living at a residence and 2) most people who are being booted out of their homes at the dead end of autumn cannot afford to make a major move to another state... most will be relocating to elsewhere around Detroit.
This strategy is based on the flimsiest and nastiest of circumstances.
In fact, it isn't just a below-board attempt to swing the state red. It is only a breath and a couple syllables from Jim Crow.
Labels: Detroit, elections, EVENT, Michigan, politics, Republican Party
1 comments.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Event: Michigan, In Tents.
Somehow, between following Ahmadinejad's visit and the UAW Strike, I completely missed this. This is evidently a very interesting month for Michigan, politically. It looks like Granholm took a stand on public services, which is nice, although it was a high stakes gamble for both sides. I'm astonished by how much could go to shit in just four hours.
I am above-average homesick.
0 comments.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Event: Walling / Williamson Crunch Time is Here.
Well, how disappointing.
In a move that may have been decisive, the AFL-CIO has formally endorsed Don Williamson. The Flint Journal article mentions allegations of bias; that the endorsement was very conveniently timed, given the renewal of key contracts. I don't know enough about the scene today to comment on the likelihood of that, but it's not necessary. It may be that ALF-CIO endorsed Williamson because he has set up a modest record of progress of painting over graffiti and repaving roads.
That's why this the endorsement so disappointing. "Modest progress" is insufficient for Flint's needs. Have the graffiti efforts made a real tangible effort in the quality of life? I doubt it. It could be fairly argued that violent crime has increased dramatically during the Williamson administration. Graffiti removal is a firstoff a matter of beautification, not crime control. I live in Brooklyn now, where every sidewalk, wall, and subway post is covered in graffiti, but the crime rate doesn't hold a candle to Flint's. While it's erroneous to think that graffiti is not related to the gang culture that thrives in Flint, it is certainly fair to say that graffiti cleanup has taken on an importance disproportionate to its actual benefits.
The road paving is another achievement that the Williamson administration loves to credit itself with. But it's quickly forgotten that most of that repaving happened through the use of state funds, and Williamson, given his constant feuds with the city council, local unions, and media outlets, can't possibly claim to have brought this home through any sort of diplomacy or negotiation.
Even if he somehow could assume credit for infrastructural improvments, does that really offset the $16 million in federal support Flint has lost under his watch? Remember that a few years ago, a debt of double that amount was sufficient to place Flint into state receivership and make local elections irrelevant. It also breaks down to $4 million a year, which is more than twice as expensive as maintaining an empty and derelict AutoWorld. Again, these are all funds that would have been earmarked for public housing, the schools, and public programs.
So I ask you, ALF-CIO members. Does this endorsement really make much sense?
Here's Winston Smith's manifesto on Williamson's record.
Here are my thoughts on Dayne Walling.
Here is Dayne Walling's website.
Labels: elections, EVENT, Flint, Michigan, politics
3 comments.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Event: It will be Dayne Walling against Don Williamson.
Some big news here. The Flint Journal writes of yesterday's primary: Williamson vs. Walling: Newcomer shows mayor is vulnerable.
With 12% of the population voting, incumbent Don Williamson took the plurality. However two thirds of the votes were divided among his six challengers. As some predicted, Dayne Walling handily walked off with the challenger's spot, taking 23% of the vote.
In fact, after the decisive tally was completed, mayoral candidate Norm Bryant drove to Walling's HQ at Luigi's Restaurant to formally endorse him. Even if Bryant's votes went to Walling, and all of the other challengers' votes went to Williamson (an unlikely situation, since it was pretty much a pile-on upon the sitting mayor), the challenger would win in a general election of the same distribution.
The wild cards, of course, are in whether the greater turnout of a general election would affect this distribution, and whether Williamson's better funding will make a critical difference.
I'm planning to use this blog to support the Walling campaign, though strictly in an independent capacity. Williamson hasn't been completely ineffective as a mayor, but he's cost the city millions of dollars in expired federal grants. He has been able to paint over graffiti and pave the roads. Still, given the lack of more substantial progress due to his perpetual stalemate with the city council as well as state and federal agencies, he has not earned a second term. On top of this, his autocratic style and high-flown pronouncements are particularly damaging to a city struggling towards innovative solutions and expediencies. These are remedies that can only come about in the context of a vigorous, open dialogue and with the cooperation and oversight of many levels of government.
Dayne Walling may not have the grit between his teeth we expect from a "typical Flint mayor". Maybe we somehow associate GM layoffs with his equally young and well-coiffed predecessor, Matthew Collier. Maybe he seems too new to the scene. Maybe there is something to the suspicion that navigating Americorps is not the same as surviving a political scene so bloodied and angry that it makes Chicago seem tame.
And yet, Walling's background is not of incidental importance. If there is one strand we can draw between his Americorps work and the photos with President Clinton, his association with D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and his writing for The Uncommon Sense, it is an impulse toward public service and an understanding of political realities. As I've been saying for years, this is, in fact, precisely the combination Flint needs in any effective mayor. It is a combination from which Flint has not recently benefitted, with the possible exception of the sadly trunchated term of Interim Mayor Darnell Earley in 2002.
So I'm officially putting my support behind the Dayne Walling candidacy.
I support it emphatically.
It's worth mentioning from time to time, but I don't live in Flint anymore. I love my hometown, and follow the news there weekly. If I think I have something worthwhile to say about local politics, it's my right and privilege to say it. I won't apologize about posting, even if I end up posting from Pitcairn Island. However, I've gotten comments from Flint residents from time to time, and I always hope to receive more. I ask and encourage Flint locals to either comment on these posts, of if you'd like to approach me about posting something you wrote yourself, I can be contacted here.
Labels: economics, EVENT, Flint, Michigan, poverty
0 comments.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Event: :(
New York Times: Detroit is Outsold by Imports in U.S..
Labels: Detroit, economics, EVENT, Flint, Michigan
0 comments.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Event: Mayor George W. Williamson.
Flint Journal columnist Andrew Heller has made a series of astute comparisons between our Commander-in-Chief and the Mayor of Flint. Talk about a double negative.
Labels: Bush, city council, Flint, mayor, Michigan, Williamson
0 comments.
