(Editor's note: Ok, we have a winner! Out of the entries received, I am going with jfromga's pick. Sorry no prize..hrmm, maybe in the future I should hold a contest? Anyways, congratulations jfromga!)
For anyone whose read my pieces in the past, knows that I hold a certain disdain towards former Reagan White House OMB Associate Director/conservative-libertarian Ayn Rand acolyte Larry Kudlow. It's nothing personal against the guy, it's his ideas and economic policy objectives that I find fault with. For the past couple of months, he's been going on about this is the "Goldilocks economy." Essentially, that we're worrying about nothing because one bad economic indicator is being offset by a good one (mind you, he's often just used productivity as that one). Well today, despite his claims that all is almost well, we got some news that just proves Larry Kudlow wrong!
Greetings ladies and gentlemen to the latest episode of Manufacturing Monday. Couple of interesting things to discus today, and some interesting numbers to watch this week. First we have what appears to be a new take on price fixing by manufacturers. Next we explore the recent collapse in the price of grains. Our last piece is a story from the Financial Times where companies and groups are hiring the very element that help drive up their costs, speculators, to well...sorta fight speculators. Kinda reminds me of those old westerns where they hire a gunfighter to take on the baddie. Finally, as mentioned, there are numbers we're watching, the Producer Price Index being released tomorrow, Jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed Survey on Thursday.
At the Saddleback Faith Inquisition, err, Forum, both McCain and Obama were asked, "Who are the three wisest people that you know, and that you would rely on heavily in your administration?"
Obama:
His Wife
His Grandmother
Too many valid perspectives to limit to three
McCain:
General Petraeus
John Lewis
Meg Whitman
Fair enough and true to form, Obama was truthful and tactful; McCain was truthful and shooting from the lip.
The contrast in approach and thought process aside . . . Meg Whitman? The General and John Lewis were typical examples of McCain's pandering/bolstering version of straight-talk. No real surprises there – though Mr. Lewis may disagree. But Whitman? Really? OK, I'll play along.
It's ironic that an organization tasked with monitoring the truthfulness of the campaigns spews analysis that is so lacking in that very quality. The latest example can be found in a Newsweek article about an Obama ad criticizing the McCain involvement in the Ohio DHL deal. The ad is entitled, Distorting the DHL Deal . Now the title is pretty damning, the problem is the contents of the article do not justify the title. And that is the real distortion.
There is no doubt that current U.S. policies discourage corporations from locating jobs in the United States. Ideally, responses to that problem will consider the interests of both U.S. and foreign workers, looking for a win-win. Further, effective policies must not be based on political one-liners that ignore economic realities. We have to insist on the best answer.
Every Wednesday noon I go to lunch with a bunch of old friends I call The Curmudgeons. We are all more than 50, most over 60 and a few of us over 70. We are all yellow dog Democrats who enjoy sitting around our round table and cursing TGDSOBGWB abd the cowardly Democrats and criminal Republicans in the US Congressw and among the Bush Administrations appointments.
At the same time, we curse with equal passion the criminals who have taken over the control of most of our MSM and major corporate board rooms.
One of the Curmudgeons, an funny IrishAmericanteacher of American history sent this to all his friends this mrning.
Unfair trade practices have had a devastating impact on our local communities. Since 2001, the state of Ohio has lost more than 102,000 jobs to China alone – the 5th highest amount of all 50 U.S. states.
Two thirds of U.S. jobs lost to China have come from our manufacturing sector, which won’t surprise local community members who have seen factories closed and jobs shipped away.
this isnt really a diary, but this video is hilarious and a point that needs to be made...
edit: people are referring to the military, of which sen. mccain was a less than a lackluster, lazy, and undisciplined student at the naval academy, and we honor him for his service... but i think the guy in the video was referring to the kind of back-breaking or tedious or menial labor jobs that you know, every day people have, and people in Ohio and Michigan and Pennsylvania are losing.
the point is, he's out of touch, and never had to work at a job where he had to actually apply and go through interviews and such like everyone else in America, because of his celebrity status, his grandfather and father's military positions, and his wife's beer money.
edit: changed the title, people were getting the wrong idea. (i have siblings fighting overseas, and in no way was this intending to deride john's military service and heroism as a pow)
There are some items up on News Unfiltered that may interest the community.
The DNC released their first web ad on "Exxon John":
The Democratic National Committee today launched the first web ad of the Exxon-McCain '08 campaign. The ad, called "Exxon John," highlights McCain's promise of more giveaways for his new friends in Big Oil. Released on the same day activists across the country are participating in an Exxon-McCain '08 National Day of Action, "Exxon John" is a parody of the "Big John" video released earlier this year by Republican Senator John Cornyn.
As you know, I think a lot about language and the meaning of word. Every word has a connotation, and some have a few. The same word might not mean the same thing in one ear as it does in another.
Slurs like n----r, or f----t and others are unspeakable in almost every social setting. But I've discovered there is one slur that you can say almost everywhere -- even among the most liberal crowd of people you could ever hope to meet.
John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan that will create millions of good American jobs, ensure our nation's energy security, get the government's budget and spending practices in order, and bring relief to American consumers. Click to learn how the McCain Economic Plan will help bring reform, prosperity and peace to America.
From the Obama campaign, "Embrace," which will begin running on national cable tomorrow:
And from the DNC, "Job Killing John," which was scheduled to be used by surrogates in Pennsylvania yesterday in preparation for McCain's swing through the Keystone State today:
And from the Ohio Democrats, watch McCain surrogate Rick Davis dance around his lobbyist ties and responsibility for job losses in this new web ad:
(Discussion of "Embrace" ad is going on in jazmen8's recommended diary.)
Greetings folks, welcome to another edition of Manufacturing Monday. Sorry about last week, it's normally my goal to have a new edition out on the first day of the week, but sometimes life can be unpredictable and throw you a curve ball. Well, several interesting things this week ranging from manufacturing activity to California looking to gain Tesla's plants. Plus the Financial Times reports on China dethroning the US from it's Manufacturing title.
The minute the Obama campaign releases an ad on the involvement of John McCain's campaign manager in Ohio layoffs at the German-owned delivery company DHL, the McCain campaign is sent into a tizzy.
Instead of challenging the substance of Obama's ad, the McCain camp replied with McCain questioner saying, in effect, how dare Obama bring up layoffs where I live.
Here's a link to the televised version of the original McCain town hall exchange on that issue.
If this is the best McCain can do, his campaign is going to be sent down the long slope toward not merely defeat, but a humiliation of monumental proportions in November.
More below.
We clipped coupons from the daily papers and saved them in an envelope taped to the fridge. We washed all our clothes in cold water on the gentle cycle so they would last longer. We never go out on pricey dates, went without car washes, clothed our baby in hand-me-downs, ate dinners at home rather than going out.
We tightened our belts and pulled up our bootstraps, and we wouldn't have minded any of it if only it had worked out for us, but it never did.
And so, another teacher has left the public education system for lack of pay. This time, it was my wife.
There are some items up on News Unfiltered that may interest the community.
Will McCain stand up for Ohio jobs?:
John McCain will visit Ohio today amid new revelations about his role in a deal that will cost Ohio more than 8,000 jobs. Yesterday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer revealed that while Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, McCain, and former DHL lobbyist and current campaign manager Rick Davis, played instrumental roles in helping DHL and its German parent company take over operations in Wilmington, Ohio in 2003, despite concerns about the local impact of the deal. Both companies hired Davis' firm to push the deal through Congress, with DHL-Airborne Express paying Davis and his business partner $185,000 in 2003 and $405,000 from the German company Deutsche Post for other work in 2004 and 2005. [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8/6/08]
