Eureka Iron Works

Bye to 2008

It's been a sucky 2008, at least the last 4 months.  2009 will likely be worse.

As the car industry has gone, so have fortunes, 401k's, jobs, communities and the like.  However, in the midst of our despair the capitalist system that we live under can again regenerate itself and put us on a path to growth and prosperity, if we remember this..

"It is not unpatriotic to want the greatest return for the money you work so hard to earn.”

Think about it.  Do it.  (link to story here: I Drive A Foreign Car. Should I Feel Guilty?)

And hope that Obama and the Democrats don't print and give away so much money as to render this statement moot.

Happy 2009 to you.

It's About Time

I can't imagine living in Israel with the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists all over the place blowing things up.  But I'm glad that the Israelis are finally getting serious about blowing up those terrorist bastards:

Israeli airstrikes kill hundreds in Gaza

Kill 'em all.  And don't listen to those terrorist-apologist whingers, either.   

Freep and Detroit News Going Down..No One Cares

Not I.  The quality of their reporting has gone down substantially in the last 10 years, as has the differentiation and vigor of their editorial policies.  Other than substantial local stories like the Kwame Extravaganza, the paper is mostly marked-up wire stories.  

WSJ: Detroit Papers Set to Curtail Print

I canceled weekday delivery 4 years ago, and the Sunday Only subscription I have right now is not going to be renewed. 

Much better news is available from specialized and on-line media sources, and it's leaps and bounds above the drivel dispensed by the Detroit newspapers.  

I've noticed that I don't miss the daily paper any more.  Not exactly the "news" they want to hear.

Unions Screw Car Companies (and Taxpayers) Again

By now we've all seen the stories about the aborted Detroit bailout (nee bridge loans) in the news.  What is not really being reported is who really stopped the deal:  Ron Gettelfinger and the UAW.

Though the willing accomplices in the media have trumpted those evil southern republican senators, the truth is different:

Who’s Losing the U.S. Car Business?  Look no farther than the UAW.

A good quote:

"All Corker asked was a 2009 date for union pay restructuring. Sen. Corker never specified his date. He asked the UAW to name its date for a new pay package. But it had to be in 2009. In return, union members would get a lot of stock in this deal — up to $10.5 billion of new equity as GM’s heavy debt burden would be converted into common shares.

But the UAW refused to make concessions. Instead, it insisted it would only renegotiate its current contract when it ends in 2011. That was the sticking point that killed the deal.

You have to ask this question: If the Detroit carmakers are in dire straits, going broke in two weeks, right now in late 2008, how can the UAW wait until 2011 to make its concessions? The financial problem is today, not two years from today. The threat of liquidation, with perhaps a few million autoworker, supplier, and car-dealer jobs lost, is today’s threat, not a 2011 threat. So what’s the UAW waiting for?"

Everyone was taking a hit to make the deal:  the car companies, suppliers, banks, bondholders, stockholders, and taxpayers.  But not the UAW.  

The union has been part of the problem.  And they had a chance to be part of the solution, and they passed. They are sitting on premium labor rates, jobs banks, 90% sub pay, gold plated benefits and pensions when compared to average workers.  And they do a sub-average job.  

I work for a supplier to the car companies,  My job is on the line.  My company is sacrificing like eveyrone else and we're on this ship too, going down with the rest.  And these union assholes are pulling the women and children out of the lifeboat so they can have a seat. 

So, forgive me when I say screw them.

A bit more:  UAW Is Driving Detroit Off a Cliff, The coddled union won't make concessions on its industry-killing contract.

And more:  Unions start to get the message 

More still:  22 Pounds of Fat: UAW's Work Rules Weighing Down Industry