Ye Olde Master Painter

...working in the Neo-revisionist style.

;>)

Driving in my car, smoking my cigar

I haven't done this in a while, but I'd like to give our Golden Douchebag award to Sen. Bob Corker:

What makes the situation so dire for GM and Chrysler is that they're currently in the midst of major restructuring, and they are the only auto producers in the world that have massive built-in legacy costs. It's cheaper to produce cars in Canada, despite comparable labor costs and higher taxes, because the auto companies don't have to pay for health care for current and retired workers, both unionized and non-unionized. Take away the massive health care and pension costs borne by the Big Three—costs which foreign producers in the US don't have to the same degree, because they have almost no retirees—and the Big Three would be hurting like the rest of the global auto industry, but GM and Chrysler probably wouldn't be on the verge of a catastrophe.

So, it's possible that the GOP Senators like Corker and McConnell are stupid, and just don't understand some of the basics of the global auto industry. But we shouldn't dismiss the possibility that the ultras who've taken over the GOP, the people for whom ideology is more important than consequences and reality, would rather risk destroying one of our most important industries in an attempt to destroy a labor union.

The spreading meme that the UAW refuses to make any concessions is really pernicious. To counter it, read this from far left-wing ultra-conservative Forbes:

Unionized autoworkers are a favorite scapegoat for the problems facing U.S. automakers. Their job security guarantees and gold-plated benefits have surely cost General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler a bundle over the past few decades. Indeed, the domestics' historically high labor costs are among the reasons they haven't been able to compete with Japanese rivals, and why Detroit CEOs were back on Capitol Hill again Thursday asking for $34 billion in taxpayer loans to survive.

But the U.S. automakers probably would have collapsed by now if not for the concessions made by the United Auto Workers union over the past three years.

Once bitter enemies, the Detroit Three and the UAW have long since buried the hatchet and are now working together to close the wage gap with Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people ), Nissan (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ) and Honda (nyse: HMC - news - people ) through various productivity improvements and more flexible work rules, for instance.

The union has made some major concessions. Two biggies last year: The UAW agreed to cap the cost of retiree health care through creation of an independent trust fund and agreed to cut wages in half, to $14 an hour, for new hires in non-assembly jobs (20% of the workforce). More concessions came this week when the union agreed to end a controversial "jobs bank" program, which pays workers even when there are no vehicles to build. The union also said it would allow car makers to extend their scheduled payments to the health care trust fund. Importantly, UAW President Ronald Gettelfinger also said the union is ready to renegotiate additional contract terms.

Now, the playing field is just about level--or will be once the economy recovers.

. . . What do autoworkers really make? Detroit's hourly workers earn $28 an hour, or $57,000 a year. (Toyota workers make $25.) Benefits and payroll taxes bring the total cost per worker up to $54 an hour, versus $47 at Toyota. Under a breakthrough labor contract in 2007, new hires in non-assembly jobs will be paid only $14 an hour and will receive less generous benefits, which will narrow that remaining gap considerably.

. . .Not everyone believes the union has given its pound of flesh yet, however. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., home to non-union Nissan factories, said at Thursday's Senate Banking Committee hearing that the UAW must also forgo company-paid supplemental unemployment benefits (worth $450 per week for laid-off workers) and be willing to accept company stock as a partial payment for the car-makers' retiree health care obligation. It's the only way GM can get bondholders to agree to a recapitalization, he said.

GM chief executive G. Richard Wagoner defended the UAW, saying, "Ron Gettelfinger has done more to address the competitive issues in our industry in the last three years than anybody has in the last 30 or 40 years."

Which means GM can't use labor as an excuse any more.

Catch that 2nd to last graf? The odious Wagoner of GM doesn't blame the union? But Corker still does?

So just what actual difference in the price of cars would UAW concessions make?

Union leaders, not surprisingly, reject the notion that concessions are needed. “Talk of more givebacks by our union ignores the cuts we made just one year ago, when our union agreed to a 50 percent wage cut, down from $28 an hour to $14 an hour, and no pensions for new hires,” said Hammer. “Reducing our quality of life would have a ripple effect on our entire economy, and would just make things worse. The reality is that our labor constitutes just 8 percent of the price of a new car. We could work for free, and it wouldn’t solve the crisis.”

If you don't understand what good unions have done in this country, I probably won't persuade you. If you're a working stiff who despises unions because Hannity and Rush tell you to, then you're woefully undereducated. And maybe a little stupid. Are you just jealous that another blue-collar laborer like you can make $28/hr, and actually have a pension at the end of their career?

Yes, the Teamsters and the UAW have had bad times, and have been corrupt. That doesn't make them all bad. Does Blagojevich's corruption in Chicago mean we should destroy the city? No, just ditch the bad actors and move on.

Labor has lost so much ground in this country since the '50s, and too many people today don't seem to understand that one of the only ways for the working person to stand up against management is by joining a union.

Sad.

And do Corker and McConnell say anything about CEO compensation? I think they should:

Toyota's 32 top executives and auditors received 1.5 billion yen ($16.4mil) in salaries in the 12 months ended March. Nissan paid its top nine executives, including Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn, 2.52 billion yen ($27.6mil) in salaries.

In comparison, General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner's total compensation for last year was $10.2 million, the company said in a U.S. regulatory filing in April.

I don't like to categorize people, paint with too broad a brush. But what the hell.

Republicans are bastards.

Who's gonna take you home tonight?

(The Cars-Drive)

Following up on the last post, I wanted to find what auto manufacturing plants were located in the south. After much googling, I came up with this list:

MFR/Location Employees
BMW
Spartanburg, NC 5,400

Ford
Louisville, KY (2 plants) 7,143

GM
Arlington, TX 3,000
Bowling Green, KY 1,020
Doraville, GA 1,036
Shreveport, LA 1,877
Springhill, TN 3,000

Honda
Lincoln, AL 4,500
Tallaposa, GA 440

Hyundai
Montgomery, AL 3,300

Kia
West Point, GA 2,500

Mercedes-Benz
Vance, AL 3,869

Nissan
Canton, MS 3,700
Decherd, TN 1,200
Franklin, TN 1,500
Smyrna, TN 5,700

Toyota
Blue Springs(Tupelo), MS 3,000
Buffalo, WV 1,107
Georgetown, KY 6,974
Huntsville, AL 891
Jackson, TN 220
San Antonio, TX 1,955

VW
Chatanooga, TN 2,000 Projected, 2011

Total employees 65,332

That's obviously not only the foreign-based makers, but US brands as well.

I found this interactive site, which gives much of this information with a simple mouse-over.

So we have the following states:

Alabama
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
West Virginia

And who are the Senators from those states? Listed in order of states, with party affiliations and how they voted:

Jeff Sessions (R-No)
Richard Shelby (R-No)

Saxby Chambliss (R-No)
Johnny Isakson (R-No)

Mitch McConnell (R-No)
Jim Bunning (R-No)

Mary Landrieu (D-Yes)
David Vitter (R-No)

Thad Cochran (R-No)
Roger Wicker (R-No)

Richard Burr (R-No)
Elizabeth Dole (R-Yes)

Bob Corker (R-No)
Lamar Alexander (R-Not voting)

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-No)
John Cornyn (R-Not voting)

Robert Byrd (D-Yes)
Jay Rockefeller (D-Yes)

Speculation abounds that this vote, clearly designed to try and break the UAW, and by extension all unions, is the first battle in the war against the Employee Free Choice Act, something the right-wing has been opposed to since the outset.

From Think Progress:

Last night, conservatives in the Senate blocked the proposed $14 billion loan to General Motors and Chrysler. As Ali Frick notes over at ThinkProgress, conservatives blamed the bill’s failure on the United Auto Workers (UAW) refusal to accept steep concessions — introduced in a pay-cut amendment by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) — that would have effectively neutered the union.

But various media outlets have reported that blocking the bill also had a wider purpose: sticking it to labor unions in advance of the anticipated debate over the Employee Free Choice Act. Often referred to as “card check,” the Free Choice Act would level the playing field for workers looking to form a union.

As the LA Times reported today, conservatives circulated “an action alert” calling for lawmakers to “stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor“:

In doing so, analysts said, Republicans were planting the seeds for a fundraising appeal to big business — other than the Big Three, of course — as they gear up for a major political fight next year over expected legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize.

The BBC noted this line from the conservative talking points:

This is the Democrats’ first opportunity to pay off organised labour after the election. This is a precursor to card-check and other items.

If the rescue loan was a “pay off” to the unions, it was a pretty awful one, considering the UAW made serious concessions — including delaying Big Three payments into a retiree health care fund — as a prerequisite to the rescue bill proceeding.

Furthermore, conservatives denied the automakers their loan — potentially causing further harm to an already dismal economy — for the sake of preemptively sending a message on legislation that can help the economy. As David Madland and Harley Shaiken point out, competitiveness is “linked to productivity, quality, and innovation — all of which can be enhanced with higher wages” derived from unionization.

Bastards. Fucking bastards.

Here's the complete vote list, if anyone's interested.

Although nothing seems right in cars

(Gary Numan-Cars. I worked on his '83 US tour, was, um, interesting.)

Via email from Sen. Reid (D-NV):

"Given the unhappy choice between a bridge loan and bankruptcy, Democrats have always believed that we must give the Big Three and the millions of Americans they employ every possible chance to succeed.

"By rejecting every good-faith bipartisan compromise – including those from the White House and Senator Bob Corker – it is now abundantly clear that Republicans have no interest in keeping the Big Three from collapsing.

"Because Republicans failed to act, three million Americans are more likely than ever to lose their jobs and our economy is at risk of suffering even greater damage. Our hearts go out to those families who will now have to deal with this burden as the holidays near.

"Republicans may think that rejecting this legislation sent a message to the auto industry. Instead, they sent a message to every single American that they are more interested in settling scores than solving problems."

Look, this same congress gave a bazillion $$ to Wall St. with, by contrast, almost no oversight and discussion. Was there any talk of reducing fund managers' wages? Hell no!

But now the UAW has been painted like the BIG BAD GREEDY union totally repsonsible for the Big Three making crappy decisions and, for a time, inferior cars.

Lies about union wages appear in the traditional media every day, and the silly, vacuous public buys it. Unions are largely reviled these days, never mind that in the 20th century, unions helped in large measure improve working conditions and wages so a guy or woman installing rivets on an assembly line could buy a house. That's all they did, raise the standard of living for millions of working class people.

And they did help out the executives' bottom line, making the Big Three profitable for many years. But now the companies are having trouble, the right-sing bastards in the Senate want to use this as an excuse to bust the unions.

Any wonder that foreign auto makers have plants in Shelby's Alabama:

The United Auto Workers Union boss also hit out at those US States that have welcomed foreign-owned, non-unionised, transplant car factories with generous incentives. "Since 1992, states with transplants have spent over $3 billion in incentives," he said. "In Alabama, Hyundai has received $252.8 million, Toyota has received $29 million, Honda $158 million and Mercedes-Benz $258 million." He also said that Alabama's further incentives, such as training Mercedes workers, agreeing to buy Mercedes vehicles and clearing the proposed factory, amounted to a further subsidy of about $175,000 per worker.

I agree with Jane at FDL:

Funny, none of these bastards demanded wage and benefit cuts for Wall Street workers in the $700 billion bank bailout.

Before the vote, Reid said "I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow" — with a smile.

When I suggested that Reid call their bluff and make the Republicans filibuster and watch as the stock market tanked in their wake, I never thought he'd do it. Gotta hand it to him -- for the time being any way, he's not letting the red state culture warriors railroad the unions.

Indeed. Oh, and what's the answer?

Single-payer health care. Like the home countries of VW, Mercedes, Honda, Volvo, Nissan, Toyota, et al have.

Here's Chris Dodd:

Where you can live in the love of the common people, Be the pride in the heart of a family man

(Paul Young-Love of the Common People (Waylon Jennings)

Gov. Jon Corzine (D-New Joisey) had been thought to be on the short list for Pres.-elect Obama's cabinet as Treasury Secretary. Obviously that didn't happen, but Corzine is still pretty popular in Democratic circles. His Chief of Staff, Lisa Jackson, is on the Obama transition team.

Corzine just did a good thing, which should make him even more popular with liberals:

Gov. Jon Corzine said today New Jersey's civil unions law "hasn't done enough to narrow the gap" and same-sex marriage should be established in New Jersey "sooner rather than later."

He urged the Legislature to "seriously review" a report released today by the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission that said civil unions have failed to grant full rights to same-sex couples and urged the state to quickly enact same-sex marriage. The report likened denying same-sex couples the right to marry to racial segregation laws imposed against African-Americans.

"Indeed, the commission found the opposite - that civil unions may have widened that gap and fostered inequity by creating a separate class of relationships," Corzine said in a statement. "While this administration is focused squarely on the economic crisis for the forseeable future, it's clear that this issue of civil rights must be addressed sooner rather than later."

But while Corzine pledged to sign a gay marriage bill if it reaches his desk, it's unclear whether the Legislature will take up the issue, with Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) saying equality must come in "incremental steps."

Excellent. Corzine's statement. Codey's "incremental steps", not so much.

Listen, They're Playing my Song

Musicians Don’t Want Tunes Used for Torture

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Blaring from a speaker behind a metal grate in his tiny cell in Iraq, the blistering rock from Nine Inch Nails hit Prisoner No. 200343 like a sonic bludgeon.

The auditory assault went on for days, then weeks, then months at the U.S. military detention center in Iraq. Twenty hours a day. AC/DC. Queen. Pantera. The prisoner, military contractor Donald Vance of Chicago, told The Associated Press he was soon suicidal.

The tactic has been common in the U.S. war on terror, with forces systematically using loud music on hundreds of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, then the U.S. military commander in Iraq, authorized it on Sept. 14, 2003, "to create fear, disorient ... and prolong capture shock."

Now the detainees aren't the only ones complaining. Musicians are banding together to demand the U.S. military stop using their songs as weapons.
[...]
According to an FBI memo, one interrogator at Guantanamo Bay bragged he needed only four days to "break" someone by alternating 16 hours of music and lights with four hours of silence and darkness.
[...]
Vance, in a telephone interview from Chicago, said the tactic can make innocent men go mad. According to a lawsuit he has filed, his jailers said he was being held because his employer was suspected of selling weapons to terrorists and insurgents. The U.S. military confirms Vance was jailed but won't elaborate because of the lawsuit.

There might be a temptation to make jokes about being subjected to loud music being a form of torture, but it isn't funny, and it is torture.

And there might be a temptation in some folks less evolved to OK torture for them foreign brownish folks, but as noted above, our government also tortures white, christain, veteran, FBI informant, Americans.

More here:

Former U.S. Detainee in Iraq Recalls Torment

and here:

A different kind of hell for one American in Iraq FBI informant imprisoned and treated like an insurgent for 97 days

When Bush said "we don't torture"? He lied.

And his enablers continue to lie over and over.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Please let me love you and it won't be wrong

(Milk trailer/Focus Features)

We were invited by the Courage Campaign last week to a special screening of the new film "Milk", about San Francisco gay rights activist and city Supervisor Harvey Milk.

For folks here who don't know, the Courage Campaign is a wonderful organization dedicated to "progressive change in California." And among these changes are gay rights. Check out their web site, sign up for the e-newsletter, and contribute if it feels right to you.

The evening was hosted by Courage Campaign founder and all-around great guy Rick Jacobs, who then introduced "Milk" co-producer Dan Jinks.

The story of Milk was huge in California at the time. I clearly remember the Prop. 6 battle of '78. One of my mom's best friends was a wonderful gay elementary school teacher, who was in real fear of losing not only his life's passion, teaching, but also losing his job. I proudly wore a "No on 6" button every day before the election.

This is a tremendous film on so many levels. At times it almost feels like a documentary, as if we were viewing real events as flies on the wall of Milk's Castro Cameras shop. And not only is the story, and the message important, but the acting is just superb. There's always a risk in using a high profile actor, not for the studio bottom-line, of course, but for the story. An actor who is really well-known may overshadow the character they are supposed to play.

Sean Penn is one of the most important, and well-known actors today. And he completely overcame his own fame to become a totally unrecognizable actor inhabiting Harvey Milk's body. This was acting into territory not often found, especially by the many of the two dimensional talents working today. After the first 30 seconds or so, Sean Penn acting on screen ceases to exist, and it just Harvey's story.

Harvey Milk wasn't a perfect guy, he had many faults. But he also had a vision that still needs to be remembered today. He was told by the gay establishment at the time to "go-along, get-along" and not make his crusades about gay issues, but human rights issues. And he refused to do that. And it worked.

There is a portion of the conservative left today that has regressed back to that position: no confrontation, bi-partisanship, give away concessions to get something in return. So in many ways, we haven't progressed much from 1978.

So Milk's story is especially important today, coming on the heels of the horrible CA Prop. 8 recently passed. We all need to take a lesson in political activism from Harvey's story. Tell people the truth about what we are fighting for, and against, and don't let the timid hold us back. While it is about civil rights, it's OK to be for gay rights too.

Listen to Harvey's voice in this great video:

Lest We Forget

Another day older and deeper in debt

(Merle Travis singing his song "16 Tons")

I am so sick of right-wingers and corporatist fascists babbling on about "The Free Market™" as if they actually believed it.

Case in point:

Merrill Lynch & Co. chief John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million, but the battered securities firm's compensation committee is resisting his request, according to people familiar with the situation.

The committee and full board are scheduled to meet Monday to hear Mr. Thain's formal bonus recommendations for himself and other senior executives of the New York company. No decision has been reached, and it isn't known what Mr. Thain will recommend, but the compensation committee is leaning toward denying the executives bonuses for this year, these people said.

Merrill Lynch hired this douchebag and given him a big fat contract. They were clearly stupid. And if his performance wasn't tied directly to compensation, they screwed up.

But if he really presses the point, that contractually he may be entitled to his bonus, he will be shunned and reviled by any other corporation that he approaches, hat in hand, for a job. He will complain that he "deserves it", but if the market is supreme, he's a total failure. He may have engineered the sale to B of A, but so what? B of A has been trying to acquire ML for years, and all he did is preside over a wedding where the invitations had already been sent out:

Merrill has suffered net losses of $11.67 billion this year and is about to complete its acquisition by Bank of America Corp. later this month. On Friday, shareholders of both companies separately approved the deal. Mr. Thain has said he deserves a bonus because he helped avert what could have been a much larger crisis at the firm, say people familiar with his thinking.

Wall Street drives the Free Market™ into the toilet, and wants to be bailed out.

The Big Three™ American auto manufacturers build gas hogs, and want to be bailed out.

Privatize the profit, socialize the risks. That is the real motto of the right-wing business establishment in this country.

Thain deserves exactly $0.00 for his salary, let alone bonus. If he is ever hired by another company, that company should be shunned and destroyed.

Bastard.

Let them know it's Christmas time again.

(BNL doing Jingle Bells, Macy's 2004 Parade)

Anyone who has known me for a while knows I collect out-of-the-mainstream Christmas music. Here's a post I did in 2004, the music I talk about deserves fresh listening:


Working in the music business, I get a chance to collect some fun, different Christmas albums, and yes, Hanukkah albums too. I have the obligatory Beach Boys, Phil Spector's "A Christmas Gift For You," Elvis, etc. Also Louis Armstrong, Boy's Choir of Harlem, John Fahey, many many more.

But the real joy is finding some stuff outside the mainstream. I have several compilations from when I worked at Capitol Studios featuring such diverse artists as Kate Bush, Cliff Richard, Shawn Colvin, The Ramones, James Brown, Bobby Darin, well, the list goes on and on.

Until now, my absolute fave was The Roche's "We Three Kings." With humor and joy, their voices soar as only they can. They are a spine tingling delight as they take on the usual songs, plus originals.

But I've found something new: The Barenaked Ladies' "Barenaked For The Holidays." What a thrill! They do everything from very respectful versions of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" with Sarah McLaughlin, followed by a very witty ode to Elves who want to unionize, "Elf's Lament" with lyrics spun at the speed of their popular "One Week":




We have roller rink organ stylings, straight ahead rock'n'roll, even a version of Deck The Halls ("Deck The Stills") sung entirely with the lyrics "Crosby Stills Nash & Young". These guys are so charmingly out of their minds, it's a joy to hear. They even throw in a straight reading of "Do They Know It's Christmas," far and away a better Christmas charity song that MJ's treacly "We Are The World." I mean come on Mike, it's supposed to be a charity song about starving people in Africa, and the title includes the plural pronoun 'we'?

The ladies men also include "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah," and "I Have A Little Dreidl" for Jewish folks. And it's all topped off by a very earnest "Auld Lang Syne" that is so solid and rootsy, it almost makes you want to thrust your cigarette lighter into the air and wave.

This is the funniest, most creative ChrismaHanuKwanza album I have heard in years, and I highly recommend it.