There are Folks Who Want to Destroy the Middle Class, Obama Isn't Among Them

[ProSense]

There are Folks Who Want to Destroy the Middle Class, Obama Isn't Among Them

by Muskegon Critic

Man...All's I know is for most of a decade manufacturing plants were closing down without mercy or sign of slowing around here. Every day in the papers for years. And for years and years it was another plant closing down, moving out, downsizing. Brunswick. The century old paper mill. 100 jobs lost here, 300 jobs lost there. Constantly. All the time. ALL THE TIME...By early 2010 the U3 unemployment rate here was 15.6% with the U6 unemployment well into the high 20s.

By late 2010 unemployment actually started to DROP, in part because of a re-emergence of the US auto industry. Car plants were actually OPENING in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana as a DIRECT RESULT of this administration's policies. Not one but TWO advanced battery manufacturing plants opened in West Michigan in the Holland area as a direct result of Federal investment, with a third West Michigan plant planned for Musekgon, Michigan.

<...>

One of the best and fastest ways to shatter unions in America would have been to let the Domestic auto industries shrivel up and die. You can bet our Conservative pals in Washington and the talking heads were all a-drool with vulturous glee at the very notion of GM and Chrysler going belly up in early 2009, hacking a massive notch out of the UAW along with it.

<...>

Fortunately, our president didn't let that happen, and instead the UAW became large shareholders of the companies with a majority ownership of Chrysler and a commanding stake in General Motors. Make no mistake, these are now companies with huge levels of union ownership .

The United Auto Workers control about 65 percent of Chrysler and 17.5 percent of General Motors.

more

Also, these two recess appointments (one subsequently confirmed) revitalized the NLRB.

Mark Gaston Pearce was named Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board by President Obama on August 27, 2011. He was sworn in as a Board Member on April 07, 2010, following his recess appointment, and was confirmed by the Senate on June 22, 2010 to a term ending on August 27, 2013.

Craig Becker was sworn in as a Board Member on April 05, 2010, following his recess appointment by President Obama.

[yardwork]

1. Well, that is certainly damning with faint praise. I mean, really.

[woo me with science]

11. Says a lot, doesn't it.

Good lord, under what other Democratic Presidency would a headline like this have even been considered necessary?!

[Lionessa]

15. Good point. Seems that Obama sure wants to support those that do want to destroy

the middle class and debase the lower class.

[woo me with science]

17. This reminds me of, and is on a par with,

this stunning poll headline from October that was celebrated here, too:

Most Americans not scared of Obama's re-election
http://dailyme.com/story/2011102900001420

Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to praise...

:wow:

[ProSense]

19. Seems

This reminds me of, and is on a par with,
this stunning poll headline from October that was celebrated here, too:

Most Americans not scared of Obama's re-election
http://dailyme.com/story/2011102900001420

Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to praise...

...you're really captivated by that Fox Noise poll? Or are you getting nervous that President Obama will win?

[woo me with science]

20. Anyone can google that thread, Prosense....

so I wouldn't take that line if I were you...

I recall expressing shock that it was posted here as praise at all.

:wow:

[ProSense]

21. Why

"You are the one who posted it, Prosense."

...yes I did. I even understood that the author of the Daily Kos piece was writing about a Fox poll.

Fox poll says Fox News is failing: Most Americans not scared of Obama's reelection

It seems to have captured your interest in a distortive way. Hey, whatever turns you on!

[woo me with science]

22. Oh, it's very interesting.

Pathetic, but it says a lot about where we are after three years with this administration.

[ProSense]

23. Why

"Pathetic, but it says a lot about where we are after three years with this administration."

..."we"? Are you a Fox viewer or were you one of the poll participants?

[woo me with science]

24. Oooooh, you GOT me!

I just found myself in a DEVIOUSLY CLEVER and INESCAPABLE rhetorical TRAP! Because of course the word, "we," there can only refer to REPUBLICANS!

Except...well...actually, that makes no sense at all. :rofl:

You may have the last word if you want it, Prosense. You take care!

[jefferson_dem]

16. It shouldn't be necessary ... but it is. Frankly, I'm surprised.

I fully expected to click on this thread to find more of our resident fantasy promoters countering with "yuh huh...he does too want to destroy the middle class."

[girl gone mad]

25. .

[ProSense]

18. More

"Says a lot, doesn't it. Good lord, under what other Democratic Presidency would a headline like this have even been considered necessary?!"

...nonsense. What do you think?

Reality: Does the repeal of Glass-Steagall, NAFTA and Welfare reform ring a bell? You are here!

This: "what other Democratic Presidency"

... is equivalent to "blah, blah, blah." It's nonsense.

[jody]

2. IMO a large class of grey and blue collar workers are essential to keep the lowest quartile of

society under control and preserve the power of the 1% that own over 50% of our financial wealth and control all multinational corporations based in the US.

[ProSense]

4. That

"IMO a large class of grey and blue collar workers are essential to keep the lowest quartile of society under control and preserve the power of the 1% that own over 50% of our financial wealth and control all multinational corporations based in the US."

...statement seems anti-union?




source

[jody]

6. Only 6.9% of private sector workers belong to unions. n/t

[ProSense]

8. And

"Only 6.9% of private sector workers belong to unions."

...that's not a good thing. During the most prosperous years for American workers, union membership was five times higher.

[Major Hogwash]

26. That is perhaps the most understated use of the word "only" I have ever seen in my life!

Only 6.9% of private sector workers belong to unions.

That's like saying there are only millions of workers in the private sector that belong to unions, that's all.

[Evergreen Emerald]

3. He is not one of them, but he compromises with them.

And the end result is the same.

[Hutzpa]

5. Listening to Rush will do that to you

he is good at making the not so clued on clueless.

[Evergreen Emerald]

7. Nice

You will have to explain your sentence. I do not quite understand your point.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

10. .

You make no sense!

[bvar22]

12. Reality Check:

"Employers have demanded wage and benefit concessions from their unionized workers and often got them. Detroit is creating auto jobs again — but new hires are getting about half the pay that auto workers were getting before. "
---Robert Reich
http://robertreich.org/post/3638565075

"The cuts devastated many working families, but provoked few, if any, serious responses from UAW leadership, who wound up holding large amounts of the company’s stock.

UAW leadership then unilaterally signed away their members’ job bank program (a badly needed safety net for fired UAW members) and future cost of living adjustments without so much as a courtesy vote. The right to strike for the next several years was likewise surrendered, leaving the fate of abused workers entirely in the hands of the company.

Worst of all, in the eyes of many UAW workers, was the creation of the “two tier” wage system, in which two people working the same job are paid unequally, forcing some workers to take as much as a 50% pay cut."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/23/1019637/-Competition,-Bankruptcy,-and-the-Decline-of-the-United-Auto-Workers

As a committed "Free Trader" President Obama hopes to preside over the return of manufacturing jobs in America.
And that WILL happen,
when wages and benefits of the American Worker are reduced to the level of the 3rd World.

"For instance, the union represents about 250 employees of a Johnson Controls auto supplier plant in Northwood, who agreed to lower starting wages several years ago to win a contract to make vehicle seats. The work was nearly outsourced later to a plant in India, but local Johnson Controls workers implemented productivity improvements that allowed the Toledo-area facility to keep the work.

"Globalization has had a huge impact on the downward spiral of wages because we're competing with companies that are paying $1.50 to $4.50 an hour between Asia and Mexico," Mr. Baumhower said.

Many employers, he said, have tried to shoulder a portion of skyrocketing health insurance costs in the last decade, a cost that he believes has made it difficult for some companies to increase pay.


Ms. Hanauer said a two-tier wage system at automotive and supplier plants in the state, under which new employees are making $14 or $15 an hour -- about half of what veteran employees receive -- could make it a challenge for Ohio wages to increase during the next decade."

http://www.toledoblade.com/Economy/2011/09/07/Report-says-Ohio-led-U-S-in-pay-drops-in-past-decade.html

President Obama proudly proclaims that, "The American Worker can compete with workers anywhere in the World!"
....and that is TRUE.
Just as soon as the American Worker is hungry enough!



The Church of the Giant Invisible Hand, established 1984.
All Hail the Giant Invisible Hand!
This newly discovered Deity enjoys a bi-partisan congregation that includes the leadership of BOTH dominant political parties in the US,
despite there being absolutely NO evidence that such a Deity exists.




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
Solidarity99!
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[ProSense]

13. Actual

"Reality Check"

...reality.

Suggestion: update the links.

[bvar22]

14. "Update the links".. LOL ... I don't think so.

Lets take a look at the 3 articles from which I posted excerpts:


"The Real News on Jobs"
--Robert Reich
Friday, March 4, 2011


"Competition, Bankruptcy, and the Decline of the United Auto Workers"
---posted at Daily Kos
Fri Sep 23, 2011 at 12:34 PM PDT


and my final cite is from TODAY'S Toledo Blade
"Report says Ohio led U.S. in pay drops in past decade"
Sunday, December 04, 2011

I am satisfied that my links, information, and data are current and correct.
All 3 offer independent corroboration,
and are in no need of updating.

..but thanks for sharing your concern.



Solidarity99!
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[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

29. Get therapy!

Being anti-Obama and paranoid is not healthy.

[slay]

27. His actions sure seem to show otherwise

he signs free trade deals shipping more jobs overseas - he knows most of our jobs are gone and are never coming back. maybe he's on our side in a rigged game - but the game is still rigged and the middle class is still being destroyed. isn't he the one who signed extensions on the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% - as people are hurting for jobs those taxes could have created? yes, yes that was him.