Andy
Posted at 9:37am on Mar. 4, 2008 Since it's awards season...
By RightMichigan.com
Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.
I didn't watch the Oscars this year. I mean, I rarely watch the Oscars but I have in the past. There just wasn't anything there for me this time. No rooting interest. I'd seen a few of the movies being discussed but the whole thing was anti-climactic. Javier Bardem was going to win best supporting actor and "No Country for Old Men" was a lock to take home a couple more little golden statues. Probably deserved them too. It's the sort of creepy movie that gets under your skin for a few days. And I'm not too proud to admit that when I got home from the theatre the first thing I did was check my deadbolts to make sure they hadn't been knocked out of place.
The movie wasn't a dark horse and it did what it was expected to do. It won it all.
Same situation with the Wolverine State and "States and Governing" magazine. You may recall that back during the 2006 gubernatorial election Michigan was actually rated the best managed State in the entire Union. And let's be honest... this particular publication is written about state governments. You think they're going to have any sort of smaller-government editorial policy? Heavens no. It's a periodical for bureaucrats by bureaucrats. Bigger and more obtrusive equals better in that world. It's really almost a shock that we fell all the way to third!
But it did wake me up in a sense. It'd be unfair if we let this time of year go by without unsealing envelopes and naming winners of our own. Since it's awards season and in honor of Michigan's shocking third place finish in the magazine's management rankings I figured there's no time like the present to keep red carpet unfurled. And hey, we'll start small. Instead of looking back over the whole year let's just take a look at today's news and hand out some little statuettes. (Readers lacking a sense of humor please note: I am not actually going to give anyone any physical statuettes. I'll simply distribute them in spirit.)
So without further ado, I'd like to present the first annual, or monthly, or weekly... or, well, today's... LEFTY Awards!
Best Use of a Bribe To Get Favors from Corrupt Michigan Democrats:: Fifth / Third Bank and Christine Beatty
The Detroit News reports this morning that Kwame Kilpatrick's girlfriend and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty seems to have received a massive grant to purchase a second home. The tricky part is, when she received the cash the grant program hadn't been created yet. And she got more than they ever awarded after they did create it. And internal memos indicate the payoff was designed to influence the mayor and his administration. And Kwame and company fought tooth and nail to keep those memos from ever seeing the light of day. But it's all above the board. They promise.
Not only was Beatty the first Detroiter to receive a grant under the program, the $12,000 the bank gave her was more than anyone else in the program received, Fifth Third senior vice president Jack Riley confirmed. Four months after Beatty received her grant, Fifth Third set a $2,500 cap on individual grants, an amount that later was increased to $5,000, Riley said.
The Detroit News previously reported the bank gave Beatty the money after a loan officer wrote a memo that Fifth Third should approve a $237,000 mortgage for Beatty, despite her poor credit rating, because she was "a personal referral from the mayor" and the bank was working on a deal with the city for collection of taxes.
"This could go a long way with 5/3 Bank's efforts in the City of Detroit and the Mayor would think very favorable of our bank," bank official Keith Anderson wrote in the April 14, 2004, internal bank memo.
...A federal judge did not order Fifth Third Bank to create that "economic empowerment program" until May 19, 2004 -- two weeks after Beatty received her mortgage, federal court records show.
Yep, nothing shady about that at all. Democrats are perfect and noble and good and wonderful and smell like clean linen and shine like the face of Moses after he walked down from the mountain. No graft. No corruption. No bribes. No personal favors. No purchasing of influence. No need to resign. No affair. No romantic trysts. No standards. No ethics. No accountability. No integrity. No... oh, wait... nevermind. Next category.
Best Use of Greed to Kill Jobs: The United Auto Workers
The Associated Press reports that the number of plants now shuttered because of the UAW's greed-fueled strike of American Axle has reached five. Nearly twenty-thousand moms and dads are officially out of work this morning as the union refuses to talk. According to reports last week American Axle has been waiting at the table for days but is entirely absent a negotiating partner.
You'll remember that the union bosses called the strike when the company sought a bit of wage parity. Their competitors in the United States currently pay between $20 and $30 an hour all-in per employee. American Axle currently pays their UAW workers $73 an hour all-in.
About 3,600 workers represented by the United Auto Workers at five American Axle plants in Michigan and New York went on strike last week in a contract dispute.
American Axle and the UAW haven't returned to the bargaining table since talks broke off on Feb. 25, although both sides have said they're ready to resume negotiations at any time.
American Axle spokeswoman Renee Rogers said Monday afternoon that no talks have been scheduled...
The closures bring to five the total of factories GM has closed due to a lack of parts made by American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., affecting more than 13,000 GM hourly workers. The laid-off workers will get most of their pay under their union's contract with GM.
If you listen to the fat-cat union bosses at the UAW halls you'd think this was about NAFTA, CAFTA, the SHAFTA and Mexico. The three amigos plus one. If you listen to the competition here in the United States and to common sense you realize this is about survival. But hey, you can't make an omelet if you don't break a few eggs. What are 3,600 Michigan jobs in the long run? Small price to pay to maintain a tough-guy-on-the-block image and forced dues money for the UAW. Big deal if thousands of moms and dads find themselves out of a job.
Best Example of How Living Up to Expectations Isn't Always a Good Thing: The Big 3
Sales are down. Way down. Again. As predicted. And now it's costing folks their jobs.The Ivory Tower reports:
In all, Detroit's automakers posted a combined decline of 11%. Sales were off 14% at Chrysler LLC, 12.9% at General Motors Corp. and 6.6% at Ford Motor Co. That led GM and Ford to announce North American production cuts of 5% and 10%, respectively, for the second quarter.
Two months into the year, this much is clear: The dreary auto sales market predicted for the first half of 2008 is living down to those lousy expectations...
Posted in Andy | Blogosphere | jennifer granholm | Michigan | NAFTA | UAW —
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