"Among the measures that Congressional Democrats successfully held out for -- against the wishes of the White House -- were meaningful oversight mechanisms that would allow Congress and others to track what the Treasury Department is doing with all that money."That seemed like a victory for taxpayers at the time. But now, over two months later, we've learned a bit about what those oversight mechanisms have been able to provide. And there's real reason to question whether in fact they were designed adequately for the task in the first place.
"'It's a mess,' Eric M. Thorson, the Treasury Department's inspector general, told the Washington Post last month. 'I don't think anyone understands right now how we're going to do proper oversight of this thing.'"
"But Saturn quickly started losing its shine. G.M. executives cut spending, and shoppers flocked to S.U.V.’s. Eventually, many workers resisted the new management style. Now the brand that was once a symbol of G.M.’s future will have a bit part, at most."G.M. said Tuesday that it was 'exploring alternatives' for Saturn, which come down to selling it or relegating it to a smaller role in G.M.’s lineup.
"G.M. once hoped it would sell 500,000 Saturns a year. But sales peaked at 286,000 in 1994, according to Motorintelligence.com. Unless Saturn sales rise sharply in December, this year the division will sell fewer than 200,000 vehicles, for the first time since 1992."
"The reason the tax works is that it encourages us to conserve in every way we possibly can. Nobody likes to pay higher taxes, but if we are serious about reducing emissions, a carbon tax is the most fair and comprehensive way to get the job done."
Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy, and Christopher Phelps, who teaches at Ohio State University at Mansfield, compare the Flint Sit-Down Strike with the current takeover of the Republic window factory in Chicago:
Just as FDR once told reporters, "If I worked in a factory, the first thing I would do is join a union," so too has President-elect Barack Obama declared the Republic workers "absolutely right" in their quest for remuneration. More importantly, Obama observed that the Republic factory closure "is reflective of what's happening across this economy."
Indeed, it is not just that workers are suffering during a severe recession, but that the owners of capital, both large and small, are morally compromised in the crisis that besets the nation.
Bank of America, the giant lender, played a large role in the Republic factory closure when the bank, noting a decline in Republic's sales, cut off the company's line of credit. In normal times, this would have been considered prudent banking practice, but just last month Bank of America received $25 billion in a financial bailout meant to keep loans and credit flowing.
But Main Street managers have dirty hands as well. According to the union, the owners of Republic Windows and Doors failed to give their workers a legally required 60-day notice that they would close. And the Chicago Tribune reports that in the weeks before the factory shutdown, people with apparent ties to Republic formed a corporation that bought a similar plant in western Iowa.
It is hardly surprising that Republic's workers have laid temporary claim to the factory in which some have given decades of their lives. Its owners and creditors have forfeited their own claims, both moral and legal, to rightful stewardship.
Tom Wirt tempts fate on The Tiles
Would you ride your bike across this thing?"This was where you went to prove your bravery in the '60s.Now Tom Wirt (a.k.a. Jar With Most) has provided these stunning 1974 photos — including one with Tom strolling nonchalantly across the ravine — proving that we weren't imagining The Tiles after all.
"My friends and I were not that stupid; if you fell off while crossing you would either kill yourself or be maimed for life.
“This was the main sewer line for the city of Flint running all the way to the waste treatment plant located off Beecher Road. There is now a subdivision located next to the black pipe, but this was all field in the '60s. We always heard the legend about the kid who crossed it on a bike but that would have been impossible due to the large joints which protruded outward. I walked out about twenty feet on it before turning back, so I guess I was a little ignorant.”
