Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Thank President Obama!



New York Times:

Chrysler said Wednesday that it would add 1,100 jobs at a sport utility vehicle plant here as it spends $1.7 billion developing new models for its Jeep brand. 

The new jobs, to be filled in 2013, amount to more than half of the 2,100 that Chrysler committed to creating under the four-year labor agreement that its unionized workers ratified in October.....

If President Obama hadn't bailed out GM and Chrysler, those companies would not exist today.

Here is a little reminder from the Washington Monthly (May 10, 2011):

....Republicans hate Obama’s rescue of the American automotive industry, but love taking credit now that it’s a sterling success.....

....Kasich, like other Ohio Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, decried Obama’s rescue of the American automotive industry. The president said it would work, Kasich said it would not. Obama was right; Kasich was wrong....


Gov. John Kasich was against the bailouts but today is trying to take some credit for the jobs. By the way, those auto jobs are union jobs.  What does the anti-union Kasich think about that?

In other Ohio job news:

(1) A company that has been in business for 65 years will be closing, and 23 people will be jobless (see Toledo Blade and  Daily Job Cuts).

(2) The Rite Aid in Mayfield Heights is closing (see Patch and Daily Job Cuts).

.....................................

*****  Could Republican Rep. Steve Stivers be in trouble with voters?

ThinkProgress has the results of some recent polling by Hart Research to see how people felt about "....votes to block the cleanup of toxic pollution from incinerators and industrial boilers (HR 2250)...." (Those who voted "...to block the cleanup..." included Steve Stivers.)

ThinkProgress:
  • Swing voter support for Steve Stivers dropped by a stunning 15 points between the pre-ad and post-ad polls, cutting his advantage over an unnamed opponent from a twenty point lead to a five point lead. At the same time, the percent of undecided voters increased by 15 points during the same period, landing at 53% undecided after the ad.
  • Most swing voters – 53% say that knowing their Representative had voted to weaken clean air standards would cause them to feel less favorable toward the Rep – and 27% say this would make them feel much less favorable.
  • Swing voters’ negative feelings toward Stivers went up by 6 points between pre- and post-ad polls. Of those voters who definitely recalled the ad, 28% viewed Stivers negatively....

Stivers continues to vote for bills that protect bankers and major polluters. The people in the 15th district should demand that he start working for people --- not corporations.