On Anti-GM, Wages And Tricks

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Apparently the Gazette has been getting some flak over their presentation of some recently released GM factory productivity reports, enough for the editor to clarify that the Gazette is not anti-GM. I agree, but if they’re not mixing words here, they’re mixing definitions.

JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On Editor’s views: The Gazette does seem negative toward General Motors. Any other papers reporting on the same issue do report much more positively. No one even remembers the strike 40 years ago, so that’s really a lame excuse. But I do remember a time when the Gazette was not so negative toward GM, and those were much tougher times for GM. -- anonymous

I don’t know how everybody is defining GM. Are we defining GM as the white-collar corporate behemoth or as the giant Suburban parked in the driveway? Or are we defining GM by the quality of their assembly-line workers OR by the unions, wages and benefits they represent?

The Janesville Gazette owes much of their sizable wealth to the success of the GM plant. Unlike some of the retail giants on the Northeast side, GM brings cash into Janesville so the old saying “how goes GM goes Janesville” still stands, and by Janesville that includes the Gazette. So I can’t see the Gazette ripping corporate GM, it would be against their political religious beliefs. And I can’t see the Gazette making a personal argument, whether right or wrong, against the workers because they are subscribers and that would hurt the paper's profits.

With the Gazette, they have everything to gain by editorializing about Janesville’s top-notch work force, with or without performance and productivity reports. But if everyone agrees that the Gazette as an entity leans heavily to the right, supports and promotes the Republican agenda enough to be labeled as a rubber stamp themselves, then it should be obvious ideologically speaking, they are anti-union. Not to be confused with anti-GM or anti-workforce. But would they ever admit it? Not in a million years. In fact, they tip-toed through this public relations minefield by already placing the blame for any possible inefficiencies at GM on the age and layout of the plant.

When was the last time anybody can remember the Gazette making a case promoting/supporting higher wages, fewer hours, and better benefits for union workers?

When was the last time the Gazette editorialized that union workers should have to co-pay for health benefits to balance a budget or take pay cuts to remain competitive?

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JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On presidential candidates: The Democratic candidates say they were tricked by President Bush. Do you want a president who can be too easily tricked? -- anonymous

Admitting you’ve been tricked is half the battle to recovery. Apparently, this caller still prefers to be hoodwinked by the Republican candidates who are staying the course in denial with the decider and the deception.

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JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On low wages: You would think that with all the stuff our government has gotten this country into that they would want to reap the maximum possible from the working people in the form of taxes on wages. But by conspiring with the corporate people to keep wages low and allowing illegal aliens to work, aren’t we just screwing ourselves out of tax revenue? -- anonymous

EXACTLY! I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ll flatter myself by saying this caller reads this web page because this rant is another one of my economic theories to prosperity for all. I might add that the non-tax paying worker is not only getting screwed out of a decent wage but also being cheated out of sharing in the costs to keep America strong – all for the sake of corporate profits for the few.

It really hurts that our Congressmen have been legislating this into law and helping corporate interests screw our country, particularly those republican compassionate conservatives.

This all began with Ronald Reagan, a hero to the Republican Party.

Not Even Dog Food

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I remember a time not too long ago when the weekly Farm & Fleet sales booklet would have these nifty little “made in the U.S.A” symbols next to at least 50% of the goods. Over the years that percentage had been dwindling down to a point where about two years ago, the only thing remaining in the sales booklet that still had those USA symbols was for the most part – dog food. At that time, while blogging on a pro-union Webpage I used that observation in one of my “support America” rants by saying that “the only thing still made in America is dog food.”

Sometime last year I paged through the F & F sales flyer and for the very first time, I couldn’t find one of those USA symbols anywhere, not even on dog food. So when I first heard about the pet food contamination and its link to China, the coincidence was all too obvious to me. Now, I’m only using the F & F sales flyer as an everyday example most people in Wisconsin can relate to when seeking out American made goods. This is not a slap at Farm & Fleet, they like everybody else, have to compete in a twisted business environment and in my view at least have been one of the last big retailers to succumb to Walmartization.

“Many companies buy melamine scrap to make animal feed, such as fish feed,” said Ji Denghui, general manager of the Fujian Sanming Dinghui Chemical Company, which sells melamine. “I don’t know if there’s a regulation on it. Probably not. No law or regulation says ‘don’t do it,’ so everyone’s doing it. The laws in China are like that, aren’t they? If there’s no accident, there won’t be any regulation.”

Its amazing that places having the non-regulated labor and environmental conditions American capitalists crave, are also the same places with the most working poor and poisoned environments. This is what we have to look forward to with an idiot's definition of the “free markets” and we need to go back to school to compete with them.

Carping about Imports

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Being an avid angler, I could not help but look in disbelief at the video of the flying fish. Apparently we have another exotic import to deal with adding to an already growing list of invasive intruders. The fish are Asian Carp and when a motorized device such as a motorboat is in the water nearby, the vibrations send the skittish fish into a flying frenzy. They have already taken over parts of the Illinois River, are said to be voracious eaters and are displacing native fish such as bass, catfish and bluegills. No matter what, this is not a good thing.

Many people may find this interestingly funny, but it is just another blow to our American way of life. We have been invaded not only by people who enter our country illegally, but also by different species of plant, insect and animal life that have never been in our country before. Thousands of years have successfully passed without the promotion of globalization, a system of trade what many economists and political leaders feel is mandatory for human progress. People who understand the consequences resulting from this profit oriented globalization are wrongfully labeled as “isolationists” or “protectionists” when they just want to keep the choice of life they have fought for secure, here in America.

Just consider the list of invaders that have taken over and displaced native species. The latest insect invader, the Emerald Ash Borer may end up destroying millions of Ash trees throughout the midwest. Chicago including nearby areas have fought off the Asian long-Horn Beetle and we have plenty of Eurasian Milfoil choking our lakes and rivers. Zebra Mussels and round Gobies threaten the Great Lakes, while closer to home in southern Wisconsin we have Garlic Mustard and Purple Loose-Strife among an ever growing list of invasive plants taking over. I haven't even scratched the surface.

I can’t help but think of the eerie similarities and correlation to all of this with foreign produce, electronics, furniture and vehicles that we willingly introduce into our economic environment just to “save” money. How imported vehicles have displaced our own American built is nearly identical to the spread of Garlic Mustard displacing lower growing native plants. The natives have simply been out-competed and are less prolific. How many products like an American made television for instance are now “extinct.” How far away is the lake perch, plankton or native phlox from becoming extinct?

The foreign made goods come at a huge price to our quality of life while those that raked in the profits have said they are doing us all a favor. People who refuse to ignore the problem are ridiculed and called complainers and whiners. Invasive people, plants, insects and fish combined with polluted air, contaminated water and soil are a threat to our national security and all seem to emanate from one central source, if you know what I mean.

From now on, I’m going to refer to the flying Asian Carps as “Toyotas,” just for kicks. That ought to rile a few feathers.