car7858's Blog

Are you smiling yet?
Have a great day!!

 

THE IRONY OF LIFE IS THAT,
BY THE TIME YOU'RE OLD ENOUGH
TO KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND,
YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE ANY MORE.


Another nice one from my wife's cousin Linda!!!

Subj: FW: OIL
You don't & won't see this on any of your nightly news casts. This IS news! Why do you think they won't report it?

PLEASE pass this around.

Google it or follow  this link: http//www.usgs.gov/newsroom.article.asp?ID=1911.       
 The U.S.Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oilmen knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota; western South Dakota; and extreme eastern Montana ... Check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... At $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea.' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst
'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years,' reports The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada.
For years, U.S.oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves... And we no have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 41 years straight.

2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one

should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO, people!]

U.S.Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!

Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006 Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush Mandated its extraction.

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

-8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia

-18-times as much oil a s Iraq

-21-times as much oil as Kuwait

-22-times as much oil as Iran

-500-times as much oil as Yemen

and it's a ll right here in the Western United States!

How can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this!? Because the democrats, environmentalists and left wing republicans have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil.

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels. Untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.

Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to.

Got your attention/ire up yet? - Hope so! Now, while you're thinking about it ... And hopefully P.O'd, do this:

3. Pass this along.. If you don't take a lit tle time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices .. Because by doing NOTHING, you've forfeited your right to complain.

Now I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book.

George W.'s War...Read All The

Way To The End...

 By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

No one likes war. War is a horrific affair, bloody and expensive.

Sending our men and women into battle to perhaps die or be maimed is an

unconscionable thought.

Yet some wars need to be waged, and someone needs to lead. The

citizenry and Congress are often ambivalent or largely opposed to any

given war. It's up to our leader to convince them. That's why we call

the leader 'Commander in Chief.'

George W.'s war was no different. There was lots of resistance to it.

Many in Congress were vehemently against the idea. The Commander in

Chief had to lobby for legislative approval.

Along with supporters, George W. used the force of his convictions,

the power of his title and every ounce of moral suasion he could muster

to rally support. He had to assure Congress and the public that the war

was morally justified, winnable and affordable. Congress eventually

came around and voted overwhelmingly to wage war.

George W. then lobbied foreign governments for support. But in the

end, only one European nation helped us. The rest of the world sat on

its hands and watched.

After a few quick victories, things started to go bad. There were many

dark days when all the news was discouraging. Casualties began to

mount. It became obvious that our forces were too small. Congress began

to drag its feet about funding the effort.

Many who had voted to support the war just a few years earlier were

beginning to speak against it and accuse the Commander in Chief of

misleading them. Many critics began to call him incompetent, an idiot

and even a liar. Journalists joine d the negative chorus with a

vengeance.

As the war entered its fourth year, the public began to grow weary of

the conflict and the casualties. George W.'s popularity plummeted. Yet

through it all, he stood firm, supporting the troops and endorsing the

struggle.

Without his unwavering support, the war would have surely ended, then

and there, in overwhelming and total defeat.

At this darkest of times, he began to make some changes. More troops

were added and trained. Some advisers were shuffled, and new generals

installed.

Then, unexpectedly and gradually, things began to improve. Now it was

the enemy that appeared to be growing weary of the lengthy conflict and

losing support. Victories began to come, and hope returned.

Many critics in Congress and the press said the improvements were just

George W.'s good luck. The progress, they said, would be temporary. He

knew, however, that in warfare good fortune counts.

Then, in the un likeliest of circumstances and perhaps the most

historic example of military luck, the enemy blundered and was

resoundingly defeated. After six long years of war, the Commander in

Chief basked in a most hard-fought victory.

So on that historic day, Oct. 19, 1781, in a place called Yorktown , a satisfied George Washington sat

upon his beautiful white horse and accepted the surrender of Lord

Cornwallis, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.

What? Were you thinking of someone else?

car7858 sez: Another good email from my wife's cousin Linda!!!!!

As we finish celebrating Christmas & 2008 in in it's last week, Regina & I find ourselves grateful for many things. But the one thing I am indeed grateful for is this website & the many bloggers here. We have informed each other, argued, joked, listened & learned so much from each other this year. And I do look forward to corresponding with all of you in the coming New Year. We also wish to thank the Fox2 team for such a wonderful site & a quality newscast team. Regina & I wish all a Happy New Year and may 2009 bring hope & promise for our nation and it's people. Special shout-outs to the following: Shock, Mrshubbyd, Tallmanok2, Colt, Mikey66, Starrman, Mary, Jax, Seedub, Midevil, RattKiller, Princess9022, Sarge, Cat48238, David7750, UniversalSpin, ConstitutionalCrisis, MichiganMan, CharlesAnthonyTabone,RadicalRasheed, FormerDetroiter, Longshot, Zoot_Suit, Earl_E, ByeByeMichigan, Cat321, and so many more that I have corresponded with this past year.       

One situation I honestly didn't know about affects virtually every Michigan resident; When a person gets layed off or fired, they usually would file for unemployment compensationbut as I just read, a person has to file online with the Unemployment Insurance Agency. Because the nine UIA offices that were located throughout our state were closed in February of 2007 permanently!  I found this out when my sister was layed off from an automotive supplier in Warren She was given a weekly amount which was much less than it was supposed to be, so she wanted to go to an office & straighten it out. She called their contact numbers & was constantly put on hold or switched to other departments. When she did get through, the UIA operators told her she had to go to an office in Livonia that offers help to those that file for unemployment. I find it amazing that our Governor Jennifer Granholm made this ludicrous decision to close all the branches; What is even more sickening is that in light of our Big 3 layoffs and other major financial issues, Gov. Granholm has not even considered re-opening these UIA offices to help alleviate the massive flow of unemployed people in our state! Shame on you, Governor Granholm!!! Cutting such a vital, much needed service as unemployment branch offices is NOT moving our state forward! Especially in these rough times-SHAME!!! The link to this story is: www.theonion.com/content/news/thousands_lose_jobs_as_m
ichigan

Friday, December 19, 2008

The numbers are staggering. Should the Detroit Three automakers go out of business in the coming year, nearly 3 million jobs could be lost in the first year alone-- with another 2.5 million to follow during the next two years.

These job losses would reduce personal income in the United States by more than $150 billion in the first year and nearly $400 billion within three years. At the same time, the bill to local, state, and federal governments in lost taxes, and unemployment and health care assistance over three years could exceed $150 billion.

These numbers are made up of family members and friends; our neighbors down the street.

The industry that helped put the world in motion remains a great engine of the American economy. Domestic auto manufacturing, sales and servicing are our nation's greatest jobs multiplier, with one in 10 workers owing their job in some way to this industry. The auto industry also represents 4 percent of our nation's annual gross national product, more than 12 times the drop in GNP witnessed during the current economic "crisis."

This Arsenal of Democracy, our domestic, unionized auto industry, is also an arsenal of decency and community giving. The men and women of the United Auto Workers, Ford, Chrysler and GM don't just write checks, but volunteer in innovative and heartfelt ways that improve all communities.

Mentoring in the public schools. College scholarship programs. Women- and minority-owned business development. Safe driving programs for seniors and citizen patrols who foster safer communities. New playgrounds and camps for children. Toys for Tots and the Special Olympics. First responders.

This giving-back leadership of the UAW and Detroit Three includes:

The UAW's lead role in United Way's Operation ABC reading program; the March of Dimes WalkAmerica; the Make-a-Wish Foundation; and, to date, more than $145 million in contractual scholarships to more than 182,000 UAW dependents at GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and other companies, in addition to the Union Plus Credit Card scholarship program with UAW matching and National Labor College degree programs.

Clearly, this is a defining moment in our nation's history.

There is no logic -- or humanity -- in attacking an industry and its work force that have made sacrifices throughout the years and given so much back to our nation.

This is not the time to jettison a critical component of national security, the industry that makes up a huge portion of our nation's capacity in sophisticated mass assembly, not to mention the $12 billion the Detroit Three contribute each year to research and development.

The only way to work ourselves out of the financial and real estate mess is through job growth and wage growth, not through cheapening the contributions of those who helped create and sustain a vibrant middle class.

The Detroit Three do have innovative, appealing vehicles in the product pipeline, and its unionized work force is contributing to significant gains in quality and productivity.

All Americans must support comprehensive efforts to stabilize and then help revitalize America's domestic auto industry. Riding in the balance are the jobs of friends and neighbors as well as our credibility and security as a nation.

Doug Buckner is executive secretary/treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council Of Carpenters & Millrights.

Friday, December 19, 2008

President Bush recognized the unique but desperate situation of the Detroit automakers Friday and did the right thing by making $13.4 billion in short-term loans to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. He helps prevent the immediate collapse of the two automakers and the millions of jobs that would have been lost.

The president is making available the $13.4 billion immediately from the $700 billion financial bailout fund with an option to lend another $4 billion in February. GM gets $9 billion and Chrysler $4.4 billion.

The two automakers would be required to use the money to become more competitive through additional restructuring. If the incoming treasury secretary and the Obama administration decide the plans by Chrysler and GM don't make them viable, the government can demand immediate repayment of the loans.

Michigan can breathe a sigh of relief -- but it will be short.

The president's Troubled Asset Relief Program loans ask for "meaningful concessions" from all the parties involved. Their conditions mirror much of the House-approved aid package -- minus some counterproductive strings. There is no requirement that the automakers meet varying state requirements for fuel economy and emissions instead of the single federal standard -- a move that would have bankrupted the companies. There is no prepackaged bankruptcy, which the president had considered and some Senate Republicans had lobbied for.

The president does want the United Auto Workers to reform its work rules and lower their wages and benefits to levels that are competitive with the foreign transplants by the end of next year. The incoming Obama administration and its treasury could change this, although the president-elect reportedly signed off on Bush's plan. But Bush did call for the end of the jobs bank -- where laid-off workers make 95 percent of their salary to sit around or do charitable work. The UAW had indicated it would do this earlier.

"The time to make hard decisions to become viable is now, or the only option will be bankruptcy," Bush said. "The automakers and unions must understand what is at stake and make hard decisions necessary to reform."

Bush gave Detroit an early Christmas present. Now GM and Chrysler and other stakeholders must use this gift to reform their operations and stop the financial bleeding.  

Friday, December 12, 2008

They failed repeatedly to organize the foreign-owned auto plants proliferating down South, even now.

Their political action committee pumped millions -- $1,918,450 this election cycle alone, to be exact -- into the congressional campaigns of Democrats and only $12,500 into Republicans, according to opensecrets.org. In their 1999 contract, they won Election Day off and used it to back their (generally Democratic) candidates, a source of recurring irritation among the southern GOP stalwarts.

They ignored the Republicans, even auto state Republicans, who represent the so-called "New American Manufacturers" in places such as Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.

Those are the same states whose senators stood astride the $14 billion auto bailout bill Thursday saying, "No" -- imperiling life as generations of United Auto Workers have known it.

Now a federal bailout for Detroit's automakers appears close to dead, delivering a crushing blow to a Michigan economy reeling from high unemployment, skyrocketing home foreclosures and sagging tax revenue. The obstructionists: southern Republicans determined to use a financial crisis to rework corporate balance sheets and rewrite collective bargaining agreements on their terms and timetables.

Paybacks can be hell when business meets politics, as union leaders, their members and tens of thousands of folks associated with the Detroit-based auto industry are seeing clearly in the wrangling to craft an emergency bill to throw lifelines to beleaguered General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

Stripped bare and put in the regional context of union vs. nonunion and domestic vs. foreign, the toughened conditions pushed by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., are legislative cruise missiles aimed directly at Detroit's business model, the UAW's Solidarity House and 70 years of Big Three bargaining tradition.

How could they be anything else? Immediately match the pay and benefits of foreign-owned automakers operating in the South, his terms say. Reduce your expectations for Big Three contributions to the barely funded retiree health care fund and take some in stock. Eliminate the Jobs Bank and supplemental unemployment benefits.

And if UAW and company bargainers can't get there by a March deadline -- along with concessions from bondholders, management, shareholders and suppliers -- GM and Chrysler must seek federal bankruptcy protection like almost every other private-sector player would under similar circumstances.

That's tough-minded business, to be sure. Understandable, too, given Detroit's glacial pace of change. It's also a naked attempt to use the credit-induced crisis swallowing the Detroit Three to radically restructure their bloated labor costs, rework their debt-laden balance sheets in 60 days or less and, perhaps, put one or more of them into bankruptcy, if not liquidation.

"I don't think the southern senators understand this isn't a Japanese and Big Three thing," says Gregory Raymond, a member of UAW Local 372 who works at Chrysler's Trenton Engine plant. "It's an American thing. All auto companies use the same suppliers and they're all going to suffer if the supply base goes down."

Except Corker & Co. don't buy it and I'm not sure they care. To him and Republican Senate colleagues such as Alabama's Richard Shelby and Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, the desperation of Detroit and the UAW vindicates the superiority of the nonunion, lower-cost, foreign-owned auto industry growing in Alabama and Tennessee even as Big Auto stagnates in the union strongholds of Michigan and Ohio.

Like the green Democrats in the House eager to coerce Detroit into hybridizing entire product portfolios irrespective of market demands, capital needs or oil prices, the southern Republicans see a win for the home team in subjecting the northern competition to the corporate equivalent of chemo: To survive, endure the painful therapy.

Detroit Bubble, meet the Bigger America. Cynics might suspect parallel agendas in the South's legislative hammer -- agreement on cost parity by March or bankruptcy. How? Because the auto bosses have long wanted to break the union, the thinking goes, and the southerners are happy to oblige.

But there's another possible outcome here, one maybe overlooked by a GOP wing in smackdown mode. Contrary to the tired stereotypes coming daily from Washington, President Ron Gettelfinger's UAW is well on its way to helping Detroit's automakers achieve wage and benefit parity with foreign-owned rivals operating in the United States.

Come next month, amid recession anxiety, job losses and widespread distrust of business, the union and others like it are poised to reap the political benefit of having bigger Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and a labor-friendly Democrat in the White House.

The president-elect and the congressional Democrats all have signaled a willingness to pass labor's top legislative priority -- the so-called "card check" legislation, which would essentially abolish secret ballots and make organizing easier. Everywhere.

If it passes, I'm betting the first stops on the UAW's southern swing will be auto plants in Shelby's Alabama and Corker's Tennessee, soon to be home to Volkswagen AG's first U.S. plant in a generation.

Let the paybacks begin.

Daniel Howes' column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at (313) 222-2106 or dchowes@detnews.com or detnews.com/howes. Catch him Fridays with Paul W. Smith on 760-WJR.  

Friday, December 12, 2008

The collapse of the automotive bailout loan legislation is indeed, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday night, a loss for the country. What should have been a simple package to lend existing funds to Detroit's automakers turned into a political nightmare.

The task before Congress was to move $14 billion in emergency loans to keep the automakers operating for the next few months until their turnaround strategies could kick in, and to provide reasonable protections for taxpayers.

Instead, Congress chose partisan squabbling and political agendas over good public policy.

In the House, Democrats saw the loan package as an opportunity to saddle the automakers with strict fuel economy and emissions standards, limits on executive compensation and strict guidelines for how they run their businesses.

In the Senate, Republicans from southern states that host foreign auto manufacturers saw an opportunity to do a little union busting, insisting that the United Auto Workers negotiate concessions directly with senators.

And politicians from both sides of the aisle through this entire grueling process continued to spout the nonsense that Detroit's automakers had "their heads in the sand," in the words of President-elect Barack Obama.

After the failed vote in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., took the floor to excoriate General Motors, Ford and Chrysler one last time for building big trucks and sport-utility vehicles instead of hybrids and electric cars.

Answering these myths gets wearying. Detroit's automakers do build hybrids -- Durbin apparently hasn't heard of the Ford Escape. And General Motors last year offered more models that get 30 mpg or more than any other automaker in the world. Together, the three Detroit companies spend $12 billion annually researching alternative fuel vehicles.

But the congressional critics of the industry were never interested in inconvenient truths.

They smelled a chance to punish an industry that has been Congress' favorite whipping boy for a decade and they pursued that goal with relish.

How ludicrous that a Congress that has overspent its own budget by $500 billion this year and will double that amount -- at least -- next year felt confident in lecturing automotive executives about fiscal responsibility and sound management.

The Big Three are in this dire situation in large part because Congress' failure to anticipate and head-off the collapse of the financial industry has frozen credit markets.

And yet, as usual, lawmakers will accept no responsibility for their own mistakes.

Congress will soon see the result of its work. General Motors expects to run out of cash within a few weeks, and Chrysler is not far behind.

If the companies fail, they will take with them 4 million jobs throughout the economy, and 4 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product will disappear. Lost revenue to the federal government will be roughly $50 billion a year.

No amount of government manipulation will be able to keep the economy afloat.

Congress apparently is willing to take that risk. President George W. Bush must not. The administration today must find a way to get the loan money to these automakers.

The president still has the option of using funds from the already approved $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program to save the domestic auto industry.

Bush should put an end to the Congressional circus and direct Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to step in.

What's needed now is enough money to get the automakers into January when a new administration can negotiate a long-term stabilization plan.

If the automakers fail before then, it will be very likely that Congress will have many more industries to save.

Saving the automakers would be a heroic final act for the Bush administration.