Free Republic

The Chrysler reorganization is shaping up as another milestone in the decline of the rule of law under Barack Obama. We've said for quite a while that bankruptcy is the only viable option for Chrysler and General Motors, not--as Obama claims--because they don't know how to make the right kinds of vehicles, but because their unsustainable union contracts make it impossible for them to be profitable. That reality (has now been turned on its head) as the administration has tried to bully Chrysler's secured creditors into going away, while the United Auto Workers Union, solely on the basis of political...

Does Michael Moore, of "Roger and Me" fame, have any credentials to be considered a working-class hero? A number of blue-collar workers, and a new biography, question his claims.Citizen Moore, a biography of film-maker and gadfly Michael Moore penned by Roger Rapoport, includes a chapter entitled, "Who is Mike Westfall and Why is he saying these terrible things about me?" While Flint Michigan-native Moore has acquired a measure of success in doing cookie-cutter films, which has given him the luxury of becoming a matinee idol by ridiculing people and making fun of important issues, just what is the real story...

DETROIT -- One measure of how tough times are in the Motor City: Some of the offenders in jail don't want to be released; some who do get out promptly re-offend to head back where there's heat, health care and three meals a day. "For the first time, I'm seeing guys make a conscious decision they'll be better off in prison than in the community, homeless and hungry," said Joseph Williams of New Creations Community Outreach, which assists ex-offenders. "In prison they've got three hots and a cot, so they commit a crime to go back in and come out...

An Easterner who finds his way into the saloon of a mining town, having been warned that the Faro wheel is fixed, sidles up to the grizzled miner who is playing the wheel and whispers, “Word is, that wheel is fixed.” The miner replies, “Everyone knows this wheel is fixed. But, Hell’s bells, son, it’s the only wheel in town!” The “bailout wheel” in Washington, D.C., is obviously rigged - - but it looks as if we’re playing the only wheel in town.

The first shipments of Chrysler cars built by China's Chery Automobile Co. could reach the U.S. or Europe within 30 months, Chrysler said on Wednesday, opening the door for Chery to be the first mainland auto maker to do so. "The first product within one year, and then into the United States and western Europe within two to 2- years," Chrysler Group chief executive Tom LaSorda told reporters. The first auto built by Chery Automobile Co. for Chrysler could be exported to North America, but not the United States, said LaSorda, who made the forecast at a Beijing signing ceremony...

Canada's largest private sector union said on Thursday that thousands of jobs in the auto industry could be at risk if a left-leaning opposition party succeeds in persuading the government to quickly introduce binding emissions standards on vehicles. Jack Layton, who heads the New Democratic Party, says he will not consider propping up the minority Conservative government unless it brings in new emissions rules for vehicles immediately. Buzz Hargrove, head of the Canadian Auto Workers union, wrote to Layton to say he and his union members had been "taken aback" by the tough comments on emissions. "If this issue is...

It's like watching a tragedy unfold, what's happening at the top of the auto industry. A happy ending, in any true sense, isn't in the cards. At best, after thousands are off the scene, survivors still may be standing on U.S. soil. But forget happy. The scene: bankruptcy court. No, General Motors and Ford aren't there yet, although their share prices seem to discount it, at about $20 and $8 respectively. But how grim it was for Delphi Corp, the nation's largest auto parts supplier, to ask a bankruptcy judge in Detroit to throw out its labor contracts and approve...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused Republicans of "playing the fear card" of terrorism to win elections and said Democrats cannot keep quiet if they want to win in November. The New York Democrat, facing re-election this year and considered a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Republicans won the past two elections on the issue of national security and "they're doing it to us again." She said a speech by presidential adviser Karl Rove two weeks ago showed the GOP election message is: "All we've got is fear and we're going to keep playing the fear card."...

Breaking on Bloomberg and Reuters. GM will cut 30,000 jobs in massive restructuring. More....

Toyota Fuels Ideas For Another Hybrid In North America By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL November 12, 2005; Page A3 Toyota Motor Corp. is looking at boosting manufacturing capacity in North America again, creating more jobs at the same time as it continues to put pressure on Detroit auto makers. With demand for Toyota vehicles continuing to rise in the U.S., company executives interviewed by The Wall Street Journal say they are scrambling to find a site for a new plant to produce more engines and transmissions in the U.S. Toyota's continuing expansion in the U.S....

<p>Modern American politics is dominated by the doctrine that government is the problem, not the solution. In practice, this doctrine translates into policies that make low taxes on the rich the highest priority, even if lack of revenue undermines basic public services. You don't have to be a liberal to realize that this is wrong-headed. Corporate leaders understand quite well that good public services are also good for business. But the political environment is so polarized these days that top executives are often afraid to speak up against conservative dogma.</p>

I do not have a link as of yet. But it seems that a UAW type, went postal in the Jeep Plant in North Toledo OH. 3 shot not including shooter, 2 dead including the shooter. There is also a rumor of a bomb in the shooters coat. He was going to get "displined" for something, what it was they [the police] are not saying as of yet.

Thousands of workers at Saab's last Swedish automobile manufacturing plant will stop working for two hours Tuesday, protesting a planned wave of job cuts by General Motors that will see 12,000 jobs in Europe eliminated by 2006. Union leader Chresten Nielsen said the action wasn't a strike per se, calling it instead an informational meeting during work hours. "There is a development agreement, and according to this the labor organizations have the right to give information during working hours," he said. "We have never used this possibility in a way that has stopped production. This will be the first time."...

CORUNNA, MI – Sam Burwell, third generation UAW member and autoworker, Local 362, today issued the following statement: "President Bush has presented a clear agenda for a more hopeful America and a more prosperous economy, but John Kerry has responded with nothing but cynicism and false attacks. John Kerry's plans for higher taxes, increased regulation and more government spending would devastate Michigan's economy. “Kerry's proposal for higher CAFE standards would kill 450,000 jobs and has been criticized by the UAW for its harmful impact on the American auto industry. Michiganders aren't going to trust a candidate who cares more about...

U.S. Vehicle Sales Seen Edging Up in '04 Sat Jan 31, 5:59 PM ETU.S. new car and light truck sales are expected to increase this year as the economic recovery puts the pedal to the metal for the auto industry... Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Association, said new vehicle sales will total about 16.8 million vehicles in 2004, up from 16.6 million in 2003. That would still mark a decline from the all-time high of 17.4 million vehicles sold in 2000, however, a banner year for an industry that accounts for roughly one-fifth of U.S....

Auto workers are not generally thought of as being in the vanguard of environmental protection. So it's a surprise that the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) is proposing one of Canada's most promising revolutions in environmental policy in years.The CAW is calling on Canadian governments to apply a policy called "extended producer responsibility" to the auto industry. Also known as take-back legislation, this policy holds manufacturers accountable for the goods that they produce for the product's entire lifetime. This means that owners can return vehicles to the manufacturer at the end of their useful life. Instead of cars winding up...

Retired Auto Workers in Beijing Protest Loss of Benefits BEIJING (AP) - About 100 retired autoworkers protested Wednesday outside their former factory in downtown Beijing, briefly stopping traffic on a main artery but dispersing peacefully when managers agreed to see them. The lunchtime protest outside the state-owned Beijing Automobile and Motorcycle Company follows days of demonstrations by laid-off workers in northeast China, in the cities of Daqing and Liaoyang. Millions of Chinese workers have lost jobs and welfare benefits as moribund state companies shed staff or fold. Witnesses said complaints by the Beijing Automobile retirees echoed those of workers...