Attack on American dream

Attack on American dream

EDITOR:

I have watched and listened to the debates and rhetoric for the last two weeks pertaining to what is known as the automobile bailout, which is really a bridge loan. I am in disbelief that the U.S. Senate would vote this down after giving in excess of $700 billion to the very people who are a big part of the problem, not only in the auto industry, but to the whole economy.

The more we see and hear, the more the fight is about tearing down the middle class, because that is exactly what happens when you have more people making between $10 and $15 per hour. I have had the privilege of representing newspaper workers throughout the state of Ohio for 40-plus years, and I can tell you that if it were not for unions, there would be no middle class — there would be the rich and the poor. If it weren’t for unions, there would be no $15 per hour jobs. It is because of union that the nonunion employers pay something above the minimum rate.

Only in the halls of the U.S. Senate and Congress can you demand something more than a majority vote to carry an issue. In the American Labor Movement, a simple majority always rules. The senators from Alabama and Tennessee are interested in only filibuster, rather than solving the problem.

Maybe the time has come for the only filibuster that is meaningful and effective, by taking a page from our brothers and sisters in Europe, which would be by asking all American workers, union or not, who have a stake in this to join in and give Washington, D.C., a good old-fashioned demonstration — for as long as it takes to get this job done.

Never forget the people who are responsible for attempting to further destroy our American dream.

CARMEN E. PARISE

Business Representative

Teamsters Union Local 473

Brook Park, Ohio

Grateful in Iraq

EDITOR:

Greetings from Iraq! To all who write and continue to write me in response to the Hometown Heroes article in The Vindicator, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to you for thinking of me while I am away for the holidays. The response was simply overwhelming. I cannot begin to name all the thoughtful people who have written and sent me packages, and it is a testament to the fact that we have wonderful, generous citizens in our midst.

This is my second consecutive Christmas in Iraq, but this holiday season I am much closer to returning home. I deployed to Iraq in November 2007 with my husband, 1st Lt. Justin Chabalko. While I operated in eastern Baghdad just outside of Sadr City, he operated in southern Baghdad as a platoon leader.

Over the course of our deployment we were able to fly out to see one another a total of six times. It was challenging because we had to fly to see one another and it had to be conducive to our work schedules. One evening when my husband was scheduled to fly to my location, he was actually in the air, and the aircraft was turned around. He was told that due to ongoing operations, they could not land. Fortunately our supervisors were sensitive to our unique situation, and were able to get him assigned to my unit in October 2008, albeit for the last 90 days of the deployment. Currently he works in the tactical operations center on the night shift, while I work as the brigade health services support officer and the brigade commander’s assistant. We both have busy schedules, but we manage to see each other each day and enjoy dinner together.

We have been very fortunate to serve alongside and even lead America’s sons and daughters out here in Iraq. While it hasn’t always been easy, it certainly has been an honor to serve here, putting into practice the true heart of our profession.

Again, thank you for your continued support of myself, my husband and the many other service members stationed overseas. It is my hope that we will all be home soon to celebrate holidays with you in the states.

Capt. ERICA URBAN CHABALKO

4/10 Brigade Adjutant

Iraq

America is on the road to de-industrialization

EDITOR:

“Made In America??”

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find the above on consumer products sold in this country. We are the consumer capital of the world and the only country in the world whose biggest export is jobs. The de-industrialization of America started in the late 1960s when companies started outsourcing work to third world countries because of cheap labor. By the mid seventies, whole industries were relocating overseas. The result, we are losing our manufacturing base and the power and prestige in the world that goes with it.

We are now in the middle of the worst recession since the 1929 depression. We have some of the greatest economic minds in the world, yet not one can predict how bad it will get nor how long it will last. That brings me to the point of this letter.

Yes, the “Big Three” auto makers must take some of the blame for the mess they are in but, there are very few industries that have not been adversely affected by the current economic conditions. Car sales have plunged, financing and credit markets have all but dried up and the auto industry has been made to plead to Congress for a loan that will keep them operating through the rest of the year.

It was the greed of the financial institutions and their sub-prime mortgages and credit lines that was the core cause of the current recession. Be that as it may, the financial industry was given a bailout to the tune of $700 billion and, they got it without going before the inquisition formally known as, Congress.

Sen. Richard Shelby is a Republican who represents the anti-union state of Alabama, a state that has the distinction of being one of the so-called right-to-work states that have at least three foreign car manufacturing plants. Is it any wonder that he advocates the possible demise of the Big Three?

It is my personal opinion that if our domestic auto industry is allowed to fail, we will have a jump start on the final phase of the de-industrialization of the United States. In which case, we better learn to speak Chinese, or maybe even Russian.

BILL MALONE

Struthers

’Tis the season

EDITOR:

The Christmas season is upon us once again, the season when we all buy all sorts of stuff from China to give as gifts. These are items like shoelace pairs of two different lengths, a whistling tea kettle that doesn’t whistle but does dribble, zippered jackets that won’t zip, and socks with holes in them. Imagine the excitement on Christmas Day when someone gets the gift of a DVD player that won’t accept a disc, a candle that has no wick, a night light that will not light or a leather belt that will separate within a week.

You could always buy your pet some treats made in China and hope they don’t have melamine in them. You could receive a pair of pants from China and find that the pockets have no bottoms. You could give a pair of glasses that would fall apart when they are opened. You could give a telephone that makes no sound. You could give a ballpoint pent that will no write or a light bulb that will not light.

But the spirit is in the giving and not in the gift. And it is the spirit of the season so aptly expressed on one package: “Morry Chritmas.”

DONALD BUTLER

Warren

Increase the cash flow

EDITOR:

Another week has gone by with no solution in sight for the auto industry’s dilemma, while our politicians and industry experts argue over what needs to be done. We are in a recession and our economy is getting worse and what we don’t need is more finger pointing and accusations of mismanagement and greed. Now is the time to act quickly to solve the problem.

My basic understanding of the auto industry problem is cash flow to carry it for the next few months. Cash flow is generated by selling the company’s products, manufacturing new products and repeating the cycle. This cycle will solve many problems, but more importantly it preserves jobs.

Here is an alternate proposal to the bailout. Instead of handing out cash to the auto companies, the government should give consumers an incentive to buy American made automobiles from GM, Ford and Chrysler. As an example, give consumers a $5,000 direct credit to be applied toward the purchase of a new automobile (after all the manufacturer’s rebates). Using the original request of $25 billion, this incentive would apply up to 5 million cars. At an average car cost of $20,000 each this could potentially generate $100 billion dollars cash flow for the auto industry, but most importantly it would retain jobs and maybe create new jobs.

Let me go on record by saying that I am not in favor of the current cash bailout, however I cannot stand by to see one of the mighty industrial giants destroyed overnight.

OZZIE FURANO

Poland

Spreading around the blame

EDITOR:

Bailout, bailout, bailout. Give me a break. In 1979 when Lee Iacocca of Chrysler went to Congress for a $1 billion loan to assist in restoring Chrysler to profitability. Congress fashioned a $1.5 billion loan because it felt that he (Iacocca) was not giving himself any “wiggle” room if something untoward would happen, and they did not appoint a czar to oversee that the money was used properly.

There are many reasons the automobile business is in the mess it is in today. First and foremost is the American consumer. We wanted every make of automobile in every model with all the latest gadgets imaginable, and all the colors you can make from the rainbow.

Congress wants to have some one to blame. Ridiculous. As is appointing a czar (ala Treasury Secretary Paulson, who gave PNC Bank $7 billion who promptly used $5 billion to buy National City Bank stock at a bargain basement price) to oversee that the money is used judiciously. Congress has had a bigger hand in the catastrophe that faces the nation today.

Members of Congress at this time in our history are more interested in being re-elected than in taking care of what their work in the Congress is all about. Maybe Congress needs a czar to bring them back to the beginning of this nation when the welfare of the country was foremost in the congresses of those days, and self aggrandizement and re-election were not primary concerns.

LEONARD J. SAINATO

Warren

Scrutiny is job of the press

EDITOR:

As to Lisa Antonini (chair of the Mahoning County Democratic Party) and her Dec. 10 complaint that The Vindicator “scrutinized” recommendations made by the party to replace John Boccieri as state senator: The purpose of a newspaper is to scrutinize, to probe, to examine.

We should all thank The Vindicator and other newspapers for bringing to our attention information for the public good. A free press is an essential foundation for our democracy.

LOWELL J. SATRE

Youngstown