Good morning.

I’m pessimistic about UAW and the economy today.

Marie Cocco is full of bull. Why can’t people accept that we DO NOT live in a meritcracy. It’s who you know, who you blow and what type of jeans and genes you sport.

Hillary was never elected to any office before she descended on NYS and became that awesome senator we know and love and now she is SOS with what foreign policy experience aside from kissing Ms Arafat?

People will always be advancing their own and their own familiy and their own friends and their own class for whatever reason. Blogo sees power as a path to cash. But isn’t this the way it works here? Power and cash go hand in glove. I am not excusing that slacker. Heck we really need an ethics re do in this nation along with and econimics re do and and environment re do and a re do in about everything.

We are a nation BS and self delussion. We think we are free, that we are “exceptional” and all sorts of other blather.

How could someone like Sarah and Joe the P get as far as they did? On their qualifications?

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck – it’s a duck. And we are a bunch of turkeys!

Look for SEIU to make some waves.

We need some of that Argentine business take overs by the workers over here. Bank grunts are unionizing?

Come on grunts! Get down and do it!

Bush Go Home!

and there’s this:

The problem with it is, of course, as I keep on pointing out here, that 95% of the billions of dollars and euros that are being spent by governments to rescue their corporations are simply wasted, sucked up by black holes of existing debt. You can try to save a real estate industry, or a car industry, or a bunch of banks, but doing that is really stupid and useless when home sales and prices are set to fall by 80% (which they are all over the planet), when car sales do the same move down (wonder what those prices will do), and when banks have far less deposits (everyone’s broke, nobody saves), and a rate of gambling debt so high it’s safe to make a bet on quite a few entire countries becoming insolvent.

Big favor, please -

Does anyone have one or more links to documentation to disprove the lie about auto workers getting $70+ dollars/hour?

It CANNOT be from the blog world…….it MUST be from corporate media. Have a good friend and her son who need to be made aware of the facts….don’t know about him but she automatically discounts any truth that comes from the blogs. This convincing may be an impossible task since she spends no time on-line in news gathering/comparison but it’s worth a try. :-)

Thankee!

lol, this is funny, The Apple iCar.

A 80 gig iCar? an iCar might be cool but a long time mac user I definitely wouldn’t be an iCar early adopter. Computer crashes are one thing…

The UAW website is a good place to start

The NY Times wrote this up the other day. funny because iirc, they are the ones who started this lizard lie.
$73 an Hour: Adding It Up

This may not do it but worth a looksee. Someone posted yesterday.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/0…..rst-time-l

Computer crashes are one thing…

LOL!

Sandero,

If you like labor activism, democracynow.org is doing a good job on the Greek situation and how it’s spreading to other European countries.

You can try this site. It does show how the got the number they are using. And if it doesn’t work, just do like repubs do when they want you to believe a lie——repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat (I can’t say that enough.) :)

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/1…..hour-try/2

Holy smokes. All of a sudden it’s a monsoon here.

I have to agree with Rachel. Ms Warren needs to spend more time on the corporate media. I can’t get over how refreshing it is to listen to somebody with a brain.

Why can’t people accept that we DO NOT live in a meritcracy.

How did Obama just get elected President?

It started at the Heritage Foundation I think.

The NY Times ran a big story about it yesterday.

Here you go.

1. We don’t know the details yet.

2. That one exceptional person can get all the way to the top is NOT proof that the U.S. is a meritocracy.

That is one where the vast majority of people get to where they are solely because of their ability to do the job, and regardless of skin color, gender, sexual orientation, etc. The U.S. is very far from a meritocracy for most people.

With the notable exception of George W. Bush. /s

Just starting to sprinkle here, but radar shows the heavy stuff less than an hour out. Don’t think I’ll turn the horses out for while…

It got real dark, I looked out and it’s like a cow pissin’ on a flat rock.

Exception duly noted. *g*

Now brightening up but with a lot of wind. Radio says surf’s up! Where’s my board?

Jobless claims at 26-year high

Who says that George Bush stands in his father’s shadow?

“The White House so far has failed to generate support among Senate Republicans, who have the power to kill the bill.”

Can’t help but think they’re waiting for their pork to be added like happened with the financial bailout.

And what is WITH the CZAR word being used so much? Do we need to use words that bring to mind dictators/tyrants and oppression?

Social historians, when writing about this era, will make a big deal out of that. It’s a very significant reflection on our society that we can only begin to appreciate in real time.

“That” being use of the word czar.

initial filings for state jobless benefits surged to 573,000 for the week ended Dec. 6

That was an increase of 58,000 from a revised 515,000 claims in the previous week.

The economy shed 533,000 jobs in November

If unemployment filings for the last week in Nov was 515K but the economy shed 533K jobs for the whole of November I’m wondering what metrics they’re using. Just from reading the article one could assume that the economy only lost 15K jobs during the first 3 weeks of Nov. Confusing.

Greg Hinz writing for Chicago Business:

Seems reasonably convinced that Obama has had no direct involvement with Blago, per Axelrod, but ponders the meaning of “direct.” The guessing game goes on.

(Excerpt)…Moreover, Mr. Blagojevich likely did not figure out on his own that the Obama folks were going to stiff him. Someone told him, someone who talked to them. And neither Mr. Emanuel nor Ms. Jarrett is the type to take kindly to being extorted or being pushed around. From my experience, either is quite capable of sending a message to Pat Fitzgerald.

So, at a minimum, it looks like Mr. Blagojevich literally tried to shake down the president-elect, and the president-elect and/or his folks wisely walked away from any transaction. The question is, did his folks do more?…

Czar and homeland. Methinks these people are enamored of totalitarianism.

you all know that besides being a professor at harvard warren is also a dfh blogger, and has been for a couple of years?

Marie Cocco’s piece doesn’t say anything of substance–Caroline doesn’t have political office experience–neither did Hillary. Caroline does have public service experience…something that politicians are supposed to be–public servants–which they (and I think some Americans) have forgotten.

Where are the scandals? Show me something that she’s done that smacks of greed, corruption, or being beholden to corporations.

It seems that the biggest argument against Caroline is that she’s a Kennedy.

As someone has said, being a Kennedy isn’t reason enough NOT to be appointed to office.

The last contract wages were lowered so they are lower than this General Moters website states. Open it up you see the GM logo. I’ll look for a more recent info. This is a GM site like you asked for.

A Union worker DOES NOT make $73. an hour.

G M W a g e s

Total Compensation: $46.17 per hour

The total of both cash compensation and benefits provided to GM hourly workers in 1998 amounted to approximately $46.17 per active hour worked. This total is made of two main components: cash compensation ($29.15) and benefits and government required programs ($17.02).

The average annual cash compensation for hourly employees in 1998 was $29.15 per hour. Included in average earnings are straight-time pay, COLA, night-shift premiums, overtime premiums, holiday and vacation pay and performance and profit sharing. In 1996, GM workers logged 71,621 in overtime hours for an average of 435 hours per worker; in 1997, 69,037 overtime hours for an average of 435 hours per worker; and in 1998, 62,004 overtime hours for an average of 457 hours per worker.

Benefit and government required programs in 1998 added an additional $17.02 for each active hour worked. These costs include: group life insurance, disability benefits, Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SUB), Job Security (JOBS), pensions, unemployment compensation, Social Security taxes, and hospital, surgical, prescription drug, dental, and vision care benefits.

http://www.media.gm.com/division/uaw/gm_wages.htm

The New York Times says $73 is a crock of hooey. Hope that helps…

SouthernDragon, if you’re looking for a different cesspool, may I suggest the political pool in Illinois?

The two sets of data, initial claims for unemployment insurance reported on a weekly basis, and the monthly employment/unemployment statistics, are not directly connected.

Without going into too much detail, and focusing on your Q, the monthly data are collected in the week of the month containing the 12th, i.e. roughly the middle of the month. So a large part of the A to your Q is that layoffs accelerated during November and into December.

You can get more background here, my diary explaining the monthly employment data. Feel free to ask whatever isn’t answered.
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/2249

Good snark on Illinois by Gail Collins, NYTimes.

RE: Sunshine at 34–

I used to work with a guy from Chrysler. In 2005, they forced the union to take a reduction in wages from $30 an hour to $15 an hour.

Yes, but not only top down control, a big push by W et al, but also the desire from bottom up to be protected & safe. W found fertile soil for his fear program. There was next to no resistence, not only from the spineless Ds in congress, but also none from the “real” Americans.

Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll stick with the capitalist cesspool. There I don’t need a program to know the players.

Ah so, desuka. Thanks. I did read your diary. Guess I should read it again.

And we have Chinese cars and Chinese banks coming to US to add to the foreign companies already here. If we are addicted to oil and sending zillions of our dollars to the middle east they we are also addicted to the Pacific Rim and sending zillion of dollars to them too.

Christy has a new, very funny post upstairs: “Oh Noes! Chertoff’s Homeland Security and Secret Service Screening Epic Fail?”

Here is the wages from the UAW website.

How much are current UAW auto industry wages?

In 2006 a typical UAW-represented assembler at GM earned $27.81 per hour of straight-time labor. A typical UAW-represented skilled-trades worker at GM earned $32.32 per hour of straight-time labor. Between 2003 and 2006, the wages of a typical UAW assembler have grown at about the same rate as wages in the private sector as a whole – roughly 9 percent. Part of that growth is due to cost-of-living adjustments that have helped prevent inflation from eroding the purchasing power of workers’ wages.

What is the compensation for auto industry executives?

The CEOs of Chrysler Group, Ford and GM earned a combined total of $24.5 million in salaries, bonuses and other compensation in 2006.

The next four highest paid executives received average salary and other compensation of $1.3 million at Ford and $1.4 million at GM. These substantial sums do not include the value of stocks and stock options that were also part of executive compensation.

http://www.uaw.org/barg/07fact/fact02.php

Thanks to everyone for your feedback on autoworker salaries!

Just because it’s engraved on my brain does not mean everyone remembers is on one read.

I did not mention about the date of collection for the monthly data (can’t anticipate every Q that will arise & didn’t want to lard too much eye rolling technical info), so that was worthwhile to note. I’ll try to remember to include that note when I do my next monthly update.

The UAW concessions were wages of $15. an hour for the new hires.

First glance, I really like Obama’s choices for energy and environment.

There was a guy from SEIU on the daily talk show on WMNF last week. He was talking about how people in the south historically look to authority to take care of them and follow whatever those in authority tell them to do. When I thought about that I began to notice the differences between 2nd and subsequent generations of southerners and those who have recently, within the last generation or 2, moved into the south. The good ol’ boys never question the leader while the transplants, of which I’m one, are full of piss and vinegar. That might just explain some of the Dem gains in the south this time round.

Czar and homeland. Methinks these people are enamored of totalitarianism.

wouldn’t work if we weren’t too. :(

Are you sure? He was a long time worker there and had said he was getting a wage reduction. He was very nervous because of his financial obligations.

All of the assumptions that Blago had to have approached someone on the Obama staff to know that he would only get gratitude for an appointment aren’t necessarily correct. As children, we all learned that it would be pointless to ask our parents for some things becuase we knew the answer without asking.

Additionally, all of the speculations seems to suggest that Blago spoke the straight truth when he told someone that Senator #5 was willing to pay, etc., etc.. It is remotely possible that Blago was occasionally a bullshitter who overstated his own power for egotistical reasons or to increase the amount others would be willing to bid.

The suppositions the MSM are stating may be correct, but not necessarily.

Ultimately, I’m starting to wish some Democratic congressman would propose a multimillion dollar investigation and special prosecutor to dig into the Obama/Blago connection. The absurd proposal might help put an end to the crap and bring attention back to the difficulty in keeping our society’s head above water.

…f’in’ lazy. Shrub gave the lizard brains the “Ah’m yer daddy and ah’ll take care of y’all” treatment and had them bowin’ and scrapin’. That’s why the world’s largest Confederate battle flag flies in Tampa. And detention deputies can dump wheelchair-bound inmates onto their faces on the floor. And let’s an attractive young white woman off with a slap on the wrist after a hit-and-run that cost the lives of some AA children crossing the street with their mother; parents, meanwhile, not charged for concealing and altering evidence (the car). I could continue but I don’t have anything soft handy to throw.

edit – And let’s lets

What other alternatives are there if this doesn’t pass?

The auto co’s will shut down soon for about 2 weeks for the holidays. GM is the only one who needs dollars now, they are the ones pushing our backs to a wall and saying they have to have this money during this out going congress & pres. I would love to see their books. Bush has destroyed every thing he has touched I do not want to see him appoint a Car Czar. Remember Andrew Card went straight from GM to the WH and everything the’ve did the past 8 years has hurt the auto industry.

Bernanke studied the Great Depression and here we are in another one.

Along with lay offs, co’s closings, I can see many companies having to go to a short work week because of the recession we are in. If you asked auto retirees if they would volunteer for a month or 2 to help change the dies and machines to revamp for the newer hybrid and gas efficient cars you would be surprised how many would volunteer.

What other alternatives are there to get us to Jan 20? Lets brainstorm.

Was he a Delphi worker, they took the reductions you are talking about. GM spun them off but are funding them.

Although Delphi was in the same vicinity, I’m fuzzy about whether he worked for them. Quite possible.

They are focusing on the bailout. The bailout will happen.
The question is will it happen in Dec/Jan through bush or Jan 20 from BO adm? Ford & Chyrsler can wait till Jan 20. But having them at the table with GM made it seem so much more scarry and they wanted to get in on these concessions that by pass the UAW.
It’s GM who says they can’t.

Remember we were worried abt bush declaring martial law? I hope we keep our cool for 40 more days. This next month is gonna hurt.