Although, to their credit, the so-called foreign automakers were largely silent on the collapse of domestic US automakers, it seems they weren’t that far above the fray. I don’t mean this as a vindication of domestic auto manufacturers. There’s no doubt their arrogance has been part of their legacy. The Big Three have been working on quality since the 1990s and have made great strides.
It is, therefore, particularly ironic to find that Toyota sacrificed quality, resulting in a major recall action. The recall involves more than 4 million cars across 8 nameplates. This should be a significant emotional event, although the mainstream media isn’t portraying it as such. What if this had been GM, Chrysler, or Ford? They’d be all over it like stink on rice.
Unfortunately, it seems Toyota has been ducking the issue for years. Don Slavik, an attorney representing a California man, said, “I think Toyota is still scrambling to find the root causes of all the sudden acceleration that’s been reported to them.” Slavik’s client’s wife died when their 2005 Toyota Camry crashed off a cliff.
There have been hundreds of complaints about Toyotas’ sudden acceleration, however. The complaints date back at least to 2003, but NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) routinely agreed with Toyota’s data that showed no evidence of defects. Some sources claim the issue dates back to the ’90s.
Since this problem surfaced, Toyota has issued two recalls. One, for floor mats, has been greatly expanded, as has the other, for gas pedals themselves. As part of an agreement with NHTSA, Toyota is applying a software change to shut down accelerator pedals when the brake is applied.
Toyota has factories in 8 different US locations. They’re represented by 5 Democratic Senators and 9 Republicans. Of those, one Republic did not vote on the domestic automaker bailout while 7 Republicans voted against saving US-based car companies. They are Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Kay Baily Huthison (R-TX), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Roger Wicker (R-MS). Of these, Hutchison and Wicker voted for the Wall Street Bailout. How does that make sense? The point is half the Senators—all Republicans—from states with Toyota factories didn’t vote or voted against the domestic auto industry. Coincidence? I think not. Question is, what was their motive? Pro-Toyota? Anti-union?
The Freepcharts Michigan’s falling educational levels and prosperty. In 1970, Michigan ranked 32nd educationally and 13th in per capita income. Back then education was less important to income. It was also the height of manufacturing in Michigan. By 2007, Michigan’s education ranking dropped 3 places to 35th, but per capita income plummetted to 28th, a full 15 point drop. In fact, today the top 10 states in education are also the top 10 in per capita income. The message is clear and validates my perspective on solving Detroit’s problems.
With such clear evidence, I have to wonder why the 3 stooges in Lansing don’t seem to get it. In June 2009, the Republican-controled Michigan Senate proposed cutting Promise grants, which award up $4,000 to Michigan college students. Senate Majority so-called Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) is the first buffoon in the latest war on education. The next, State House Speaker Andy “Two-Faced” Dillon (D-Redford) agreed to the Promise cuts as part of rather one-sided deal to balance the 2010 state budget. Never mind that Dillon repeatedly said he wouldn’t agree to cutting the Promise grants. Many think Bishop and Dillon became best buds in the interests of their political ambitions.
So the Republican-led State Senate cut Promise grants, effectively making it harder for Michigan students to get college degrees. And the Democratic-controlled State House and Governor were complicit and willing accomplices. Colleges are not the only educational institutions under attack, however. The State Senate cut per pupil funding by $165 for K-12 schools during the budget process and the House went along. Then Granholm slashed $52 million from the state’s richest districts. Another $127 per pupil cut by Granholm is on hold. That’s not a reprieve, though, and there are rumors more may be coming.
Now, I’m not a math whiz, but the way this adds up to me, Michigan’s politicians are against maintaining, let alone improving education. As a result, they want to continue to drive Michigan and its citizens to the bottom. Party affiliation has nothing to do with it. Throw them all out next election.
This has not been a good week for transportation in Michigan. Between the feds and the state, Michigan has lost a lot of traction on improving transportation. First, the US Department of Transportation only gave $40 million to Michigan, far less than the requested $993 million. Then the Michigan Transportation Commssion cut 243 road projects because the state doesn’t have the matching funds to get Federal money.
On the high speed rail initiative, Gov. Granholm (D) had signed an 8-state cooperation agreement to support the Midwest High Speed Rail Corridor, with Obama’s home town of Chicago as the hub. Granholm claimed the Stimulus money for high speed rail would create 7,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of temporary ones. How did she figure that? Whether trains from Detroit to Chicago go 79 mph or 110 mph, unless you add additional trips, there’s no change in permanent jobs. And even if you add another round trip trainset, how many jobs is that? 20? 50? Certainly not 7,000. I don’t understand.
But Granholm’s guesses on new jobs is all mute anyway. Obama’s Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, announced a Michigan’s share in high speed rail is a paltry $40 million. That money’s going to pay for new Amtrak stations in Troy and Dearborn, as well as renovations to the Battle Creek station. It’s far less than Michigan’s requested $993 million and hardly shows up on the radar screen in the overall $8 billion Stimulus bill high speed rail program. The only good news here? Illinois and Indiana got $204 million to upgrade the Detroit-Chicago corridor.
I’ve ridden the Detroit-Chicago (actually Pontiac-Chicago) line several times. I can verify the Indiana segment is a real problem with conflicts between freight and passenger rail, despite this being the great “Broadway”, an area of great competition between the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads. But no track upgrades in Michigan, which is the bulk of the run, means no real high speed for this corridor any time soon. Once again, Michigan loses out.
Besides the bad news in high-speed rail, which also affects efforts on starting commuter rail in southeast Michigan, Michigan’s highways also got dissed this week. Since the Governor and State Senate and Representatives decided to apply Stimulus money to the general fund, there’s none left for road projects. Rather than admit this and do the right thing, many are claiming the gas tax isn’t adequate to meet Michigan’s needs. Thus, they’re calling for tax increases. The net effect of canceling the 243 road projects is the loss of hundreds of millions of Federal funds. Penny-wise and dollar foolish.
I won’t argue about whether roads are adequately funded or not, but I will tell you there’s no need to increase the gas tax. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Many use the current economic climate to argue for more taxes, but Michigan’s tax system is faring very well compared to most others. As a result, the imbalance must be on the spending side of the equation, since no once questions the state has a definite problem with income and expenses. While there are certain government services I expect to receive as part of my taxes, I expect them to be provided efficiently and prioritized over non-essential services, such as legislative staffs or state bureaucracy. Unfortunately, there seems to be a growing interest in raising gas taxes to pay for roads when the real issue is deciding on priorities for spending. Michigan is not revenue deficient; rather, it’s over spending.
There are dozens of parodies of the scene from the German movie Downfall about Hitler’s last 10 days in the bunker below the Reichs Chancellery. This one, however, has to come pretty close to summing up how the Democrats and Pres. Obama feel after Republican Scott Brown’s election to finish Sen. Ted Kennedy’s (D-MA) term.
Pundits are busy huffing and puffing about the meaning of Brown’s victory in staunchly Democratic Massachusetts. It seems to me the Democrats have been mad with power. Witness Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid’s handling of the healthcare bill. But polls suggest the people are tired of being ignored by their elected representatives. Incumbents of either party should fear if they’ve failed to faithfully represent the will of their constituents. Otherwise, come November, they face the same fate as those in the video.
State legislators in Michigan have the second highest pay in the country. Who’s highest? California, probably the only state with a worse budget problem. So, this is a well-paid gig and the only thing the legislature must do is pass a budget.
Ok, so they’re not too good at their one key responsiblity. How about all the other stuff they do? Most might be pretty good, but 7 Michigan legislators missed 100 or more roll calls. I’m not sure about your workplace, but if I missed 15% or more of the time I was supposed to be working, I think I’d be out of a job. Remember, this is the second highest paid state legislature in the country. Never mind all their perqs and benefits.
How’s it all break down? Let’s look at the top guys first. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) missed not a single roll call. On the other hand, House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford) missed 91 roll call votes, or 13.8%. Not a very impressive record for a Governor-wannabe. Just sayin.
The only 2 in the Senate to miss more than 100 votes were Martha Scott (D) and Valde Garcia (R). Scott missed 141 roll call votes, or 19.7%. Garcia, however, missed an astounding 304 votes, equalling 42.4% of the roll calls. He was missing from nearly half the votes but drew full salary! What’s up with that?
In the Michigan House, every one who missed more than 100 votes was a Democrat. Doug Bennett leads the pack, having missed 311 of 682, or 45.6%, of roll call votes, besting even Garcia’s poor record. Keeping company with him were Mike Simpson, absent from 28.4% of the votes, Judy Nerat who missed 25.2%, George Cushinberry, who didn’t vote in 16.2% of roll calls, and Bettie Scott, who missed 100 roll call votes (14.7%).
With the Mole’s (John Cherry’s) withdrawel from the Governor’s race, there’s been speculation about who might be the next best Democratic candiate. Speaker Dillon’s had a foot in the ring since early fall, making me wonder if he didn’t sell his soul on the budget deal for the gubernatorial campaign. Voters should bear in mind, the so-called leader of the State House was just under my artificial threshold of 100 missed votes. Dillon missed 91 roll calls in the House; that’s 13.3%. What workplace can you think of where missing a day every 2 weeks is acceptable?
Two other potential Democratic contenders, Sen. Hansen Clarke and Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, missed 2.9% and 2% of the roll calls. From eye-balling the statistics, that’s probably within the average. In the interests of fair play, Republican State Sen. Tom George, another guvernatorial hopeful, missed 3.6% of roll call votes.
If 43 Michigan lawmakers can be present for every vote, why can’t they all? Since stuff happens, some will miss some votes, but why did anyone miss more than a percent or two? You had best not re-elect anyone to any office who missed more than 15 roll calls because they’re just stealing time and money from you. We cannot allow these people to continue to subjugate us, fail to represent us, and abdicate the responsibilities of the office we’ve entrusted to them.
Speculation is Cherry was seen as too close to Gov. Granholm’s administration and the woes Michigan has seen under her tenure. The state has had the highest unemployment rate for about 4 years. Then Granholm set her heir apparent up for failure by putting Cherry in charge of reforming Michigan government. In a no-win situation, Cherry angered state employees and failed to satisfy anyone else. The initiative essentially withered on the vine.
Cherry has shown me absolutely nothing. I call him the Mole since I’ve never seen him with his eyes open. But, if this is a set-up for House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford), as theblogprof suggests, then I’m even more revolted. Dillon is an even bigger opportunist than my least favorite Republican candidates, Mike Cox, current Attorney General, and Mike Bouchard, Oakland County Sheriff.
Speaker Dillon sold his soul to Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rocherster) in the recent Michigan 2010 budget fiasco, essentially agreeing to Republican Cuts to education and revenue sharing. To many, this wasn’t a well-concealed mutually beneficial deal, however. There has been anticipation of Dillon announcing a run for Governor; Bishop has already declared his candidacy for Attorney General.
Starting the New Year—and new decade—off with the wrong message, the US closed it’s embassy in Yemen in the face of threats from al-Qaida in the Arabian Penninsula. Granted, the embassy in Osama Bin Laden’s ancestral homeland has been attacked before and al-Qaida threats shouldn’t be dismissed. But enhancing security, increasing raids on suspected al-Qaida cells, and closer work with Yemeni authorities seems better than throwing up your hands and going home. Evacuating non-essential staff seems prudent, but just shutting down is giving in to the jihadists. To me it smells like taking the safe option to avoid another potential terrorist success. Well, no loss of life here, but it’s a terrorist success nonetheless. And it knocks a leg out from under the Yemenis in their antiterrorist efforts.
Pres. Obama’s expert on homeland security and counterterrorism, Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan appeared on Fox News Sunday on Jan. 3 and spoke with Chris Wallace. Discussing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to blow up NW flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day, Brennan said:
There was no single piece of intelligence—a smoking gun, if you will—that said that Mr. Abdulmutallab was going to carry out this attack against that aircraft.
What we had, looking back at it now, were a number of streams of information.
Brennan added “It’s much different than prior to 9/11,” meaning agencies were territorial and weren’t willing to share information. While that may be the case, the result is the same from my perspective. Agencies simply didn’t share information and, as Obama himself said:
There were bits of information available within the intelligence community that could have—and should have—been pieced together.
Had this critical information been shared, it could have been compiled with other intelligence, and a fuller, clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged. The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America.
Thomas Kean, former head of the 9/11 Commission, told CNN that Abdulmutallab’s father going to the authorities with his concerns should have been smoking gun enough. “We had an administration that’s not focused as it should be on terrorism,” Kean said. Noting health care reform and climate change, Kean added, “They weren’t giving this enough attention. It’s understandable but unacceptable.”
Many, including some senior politicians, have called for Abdulmutallab to be declared an enemy combatant and subjected to military interrogation. The Obama Administration did away with “enemy combatants” in March 2009. In fact, the administration changed a lot of terms in the interests of political correctness. Krauthammer cites these changes to the lexicon as responsible for “linguistic—and logical—oddities that littered Obama’s public pronouncements following the Christmas Day attack.” Thus, the terrorist is a suspect. Now he’s all lawyered up and awaiting charges and trial in the comforts of Milan Federal Prison. Krauthammer’s perspective:
This is all quite mad even in Obama’s terms. He sends 30,000 troops to fight terrorism overseas, yet if any terrorists come to attack us here, they are magically transformed from enemy into defendant.
The logic is perverse. If we find Abdulmutallab in an al-Qaida training camp in Yemen, where he is merely preparing for an attack, we snuff him out with a Predator — no judge, no jury, no qualms. But if we catch him in the United States in the very act of mass murder, he instantly acquires protection not just from execution by drone but even from interrogation.
Other lexiconic changes that permitted the Administration’s distraction from its core responsibilities—defense of the Constitution, the nation, and its people—include the end of the Global War on Terror. In its place, we have the more pubic relations friendly term of Overseas Contingency Operations. Perhaps that’s another reason why Abdulmutallab isn’t an enemy combatant—he committed his jihadist attempt to join the virgins in US airspace. He wasn’t trying to perpetrate a terrorist act; rather, he was attempting to induce a man-made disaster, according to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s way of thinking. Three Mile Island was a man-made disaster. Blowing up a plane is terrorism. And Obama’s repeated referred to him as a suspect and an extremist. He’s a jihadist, pure and simple.
You may think it’s just politics, and it’s probably not surprising, but former Vice President Dick Cheney said “Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war” with terrorists. The problem is, Obama’s reactions to two other jihadist attacks on US soil during 2009 bear this view out and I’ve said so before.
The military tradition of placing a Soldier’s empty boots with his rifle muzzle in the ground and helmet on the rifle butt is a means of honoring comrades who have fallen in battle. There were 12 sets of these for Pres. Obama to see when he paid tribute to the 13 fallen. Still, he sought to negate, or at least minimize the jihadist nature of MAJ Hasan’s attack at Fort Hood. Although thousands of Muslims serve honorably in the US military, willing to give their lives in defense of their country, family, freedoms, and way of life, MAJ Nadal Malik Hasan is not one of them. Hasan’s case is another with missed red flags. He received poor evaluation reports, was known to speak out against the Global War on Terror Overseas Contingency Operations, frequented Islamist websites, was pen-pals with a radical Imam in Yemin, and made no secret about not wanting to deploy to Iraq before the end of the year. Hasan’s job? He was an Army psychiatrist whose duty was to help Soldiers get over Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD), yet he berated some, if not all of them.
Obama’s initial response to the Fort Hood tragedy? He made a statement during a press conference at the Department of the Interior. Obama started with a shout out and schmoozed his cronies. He doesn’t get to Fort Hood until 2:28. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up! Video at the end of this post.
I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (ph) was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It’s good to see you.
Earlier this year, another domestic jihadist killed Army PFC William Long, 23, and wounded Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18. The two were shot outside an Army-Navy recruiting station in West Little Rock, AR, by a lone gunman. The shooter? Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, who had changed his name from Carlos Leon Bledsoe after converting to the Muslim faith. He, too, was under FBI investigation, having told others he was going to kill as many Army personnel as he could. Sadly, Obama didn’t comment on the West Little Rock attack for two days. In his statement, the President expressed his deep sadness, condolences, and wishes for a speedy recovery following the “senseless act.” What Obama is missing is a committed jihadist doesn’t see killing Soldiers as senseless.
So, to summarize. There were 3 terrorist incidents committed by Islamists on or over US territory in 2009. In all 3 cases, the jihadists were know to authorities as having extremist views. The victims include 13 military personnel killed in the Global War on Terror outside the designated combat zones. Will their families get the benefits they would be entitled to if they had died in Iraq or Afghanistan? They certainly deserve them. There was one civilian victim at Fort Hood. NW flight 253 nearly added 290 (11 crew and 279 passengers) to the death toll, not counting any potential carnage on the ground. All 3 incidents had red flags and the attention of the authorities. Yet, each time, authorities failed to react. And, in the Flight 253 case, Obama’s top counterterrorism/homeland security appointees have made buffoons out of themselves. Napolitano’s “the system worked” quote will go down in history and Brennan’s “no smoking gun” only makes sense because he caveats it with “no single piece of intelligence.”
The simple truth is the system failed miserably in all 3 cases. And, since none of them is related at all to “Overseas Contingency Operations” (except the Fort Hood Soldiers getting ready to deploy), we are still very much engaged in the Global War on Terror. Don’t get me started on the 90 days it took the Ditherer=in-Chief to decide if he was going to support his Commander on the ground. It’s time to fulfill that Oath you took.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The Oath military personnel take upon enlistment or commissioning includes defending the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign or domestic.” That’s certainly implied by the Constitution for the Commander-in-Chief.
For football fans—and their widows—we’re in the midst of college bowl season. Maybe there are too many bowl games. Just as most major league ball stadia have corporate sponsorship under naming rights agreements, so, too, do most of the bowl games. I think this commercialization of our entertainment is a travesty. It highlights our society’s shallowness and could well be one of the reasons those in less fortunate quarters of the world hate the US. But I digress
I’m not a big football fan, nor do I play one on TV. But I am a bit of a traditionalist. I liked the Rose Bowl being played on New Year’s Day. We don’t have that anymore—now it’s the Rose Bowl Game by Citi. And is Citi paying for those naming rights with taxpayer dollars (from the bailout)?
My other issue is if Citi is presenting the Rose Bowl, why do I have to buy tickets? If I have to buy tickets, it’s paid for by me (and everyone else and the broadcasters). To add insult to injury, this year’s game was the 96th Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi. Um, the current corporate sponsor did not present all the previous games, so stop pretending like you did. For the record, I’m not more likely to do business with Citi because they “present” the Rose Bowl nor am I any more likely to attend the game.
Here’s a list of former bowl games that are now under the corporate spell. A spell, by the way, those corporations write off on their taxes just so we have to say longer names for games we’re interested in. Those in bold have no single blatant corporate sponsors in their names or on their web sites. I’m not opposed to sponsors—that’s just advertising. But don’t make it part of the name. Only 5 out of 34 (15%) fit that bill.
December 19th games
St. Petersburg Bowl Presented by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s
New Mexico Bowl IV—no blatant single corporate sponsor
December 20th game: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
December 22nd game: MAACO Bowl Las Vegas
December 23rd game: San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
December 24th game: Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
December 26th games
Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl (formerly the Motor City Bowl Presented by GM, Ford, and Union Carpenters and Millwrights)
Meinike Car Care Bowl
Emerald Bowl—no blatant single corporate sponsor
December 27th game: Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Franklin American Mortgage Company Music City Bowl in 2010)
December 28th game: Advocare V100 Independence Bowl
December 29th games
Champs Sports Bowl—no blatant single corporate sponsor
EagleBank Bowl
December 30th games
Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl—any irony in a truck stop chain being associated with humanitarian?
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
December 31st games
Texas Bowl—no blatant single corporate sponsor
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Insight Bowl
Brut Sun Bowl
Chick-fil-A Bowl (formerly the Peach Bowl)
January 1st games
96th Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi
75th Anniversary Allstate Sugar Bowl
Outback Bowl
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
Capital One Bowl
January 2nd games
PapaJohns.com Bowl
Valero Alamo Bowl
AT&T Cotton Bowl
51st AutoZone Liberty Bowl
International Bowl—no blatant single corporate sponsor
January 4th game: 39th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
January 5th game: FedEx Orange Bowl
January 6th game: GMAC Bowl—no wonder they got into trouble; the countdown to kickoff says 367 days, but I figure it’s 3 days
January 7th game: BCS Championship Bowl in association with Fox Sports
As if the bankruptcy of two of the Big 3 domestic automakers wasn’t bad enough, Detroit suffers another blow. The Motor City Bowl is now a pizza bowl. Nothing against Little Ceasars, but couldn’t they have gone with the Motor City Bowl Presented by Little Ceasars? Sheesh!
Lake Superior State University, located in Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan’s upper penninsula, released its 35th annual list of banished words. The list started during a New Year’s Eve party in 1975. Since then it has been an annual effort to banish words and phrases from the Queen’s English for misuse, overuse, and general uselessness.
Said a word banishment spokesperson, “the list this year is a ‘teachable moment’ conducted free of ‘tweets. In these economic times’, purging our language of ‘toxic assets’ is a ’stimulus’ effort that’s ‘too big to fail’.”
The List of Banished Words is developed from reader submissions. Here are the 2010 banished words and phrases.
Shovel-ready—a project fully designed but waiting for work to begin
Transparent/transparency—easily understood and fully disclosed
Czar—a specialized, high authority appointment
Tweet—sending a message on Twitter; also banned are all tweet’s variations, such as tweetaholic, retweet, twitterhea, twitterature, and twittersphere
App—as in applets for the iPhone
Sexting—sending sexually explicit pictures and text messages by cell phone
Friend as a verb—adding someone to your network on social media sites; also banned are the related friending, unfriend, and unfriending
Teachable moment—how about just plain lesson?
In these economic times…—aren’t all times economic?
Stimulus—it’s just plain overused and has no clear boundaries (or effect, that I can see)
Toxic assets—a euphemism for bad investments and debt
Too big to fail—no one knows if anything’s too big to fail because we’ve never seen it happen
Bromance—a close relationship between two straight males
Chillaxin’—a combination chilling and relaxing; a multi-year nominee, it finally wore out its welcome
Obama-prefix or roots—such as Obamanomics, Obamanation, Obamafication, Obamacare, Obamalicious, and Obamaland; although it got no nominations, the Word Banishment Committee decided Obamanough already
