Tag: UAW (page 4)

cross-posted at theblogprof

They got a nugget or two yesterday when the woman announced that the big cost cutting move, amidst a billion dollar budget deficit, was a proposal to close the State Fair at a total savings of as little as $50,000 a year and they're STILL running that thing around the wires.  Oh, she's a cost cutter, look out!

They'll continue to dig today, they'll wonder what she's going to say, how her tone will be, how well the speech will be delivered and what she is wearing.  Then, no matter what the answer to those questions, they'll write glowing reviews about how seriously she takes the challenge and how she's fighting for Michigan and how lucky we are to have her.

They won't question any of her numbers.  They won't question any of her logic.  They'll just sit back and bask in her glory and whisper a silent prayer of thanksgiving for even being able to experience a moment in her presence.

Me?  I'm not star struck.

Yeah, I'm interested in what she's going to say.  I'm afraid it's going to be a speech only sprinkled with substance that ultimately leaves us worse off than when we started.  But it might just be more interesting to figure out what she won't say.

These are two graphs, for instance, that I'm pretty sure won't wind up in the Governor's fancy to-do this evening:

Residential property values plummeted last year throughout Wayne, Macomb, Oakland and Livingston counties. In a majority of the communities, home values dropped on average by double-digit percentages, according to tax assessments to be mailed out through the end of this month.

This is a far cry from the double-digit increases that many homeowners enjoyed just a decade ago.

Those lines, by the way, courtesy of today's Detroit News.

Read on...

Imagine the candidate looks you square in the eye and promises, sincerely, that if you vote for him and send him to Washington, DC he will kill your job.  Yours, specifically and individually.  He will target your industry, he will target your employer and he will implement policies that will just plain get you fired.

Probably not the best campaign strategy, but what do I know.  I'm not a UAW member.  Let's take a survey.

Show of hands, how many of you would vote for this candidate.  Why don't I see any hands?  Anyone?

OK, new question... how many of you would vote for this candidate, scribble him a check and volunteer on his campaign?  Still nobody?  

See, you guys and girls aren't team players.  If you were United Auto Workers members each of you would have both hands in the air and you'd be waving them around wildly, or you would if you were being honest.

Read on...