When it comes to getting around, Americans love to consider the question of “what if…?”
As a result, our cars have evolved into “land yachts”, our trucks have become “monster trucks”, and the desire to drag our living spaces around with us has morphed into converted busses with rooms that pop out of the side, a Mini-Cooper hidden under the master bedroom floor, and self-tracking satellite dishes that fight for space on the roof with air conditioning equipment.
And for more than a few of us, “what if…?” has even extended to “what if my car…was a jet car?”
In today’s improbable reality I’m here to tell you that Chrysler engineers asked that exact same question, for roughly a quarter of a century, and as a result they actually designed and deployed seven generations of cars with jet engines—and they came darn close to putting the eighth-generation design on sale to the general public.
It’s a story of pocket protectors and slide rules and offices full of guys who look a bit like Drew Carey…but as we’ll see in Part Two, it may also be a story of technology that couldn’t be perfected “back then”, but could be reborn in our own times.
Michigan innovators like Billy Durant, Ransom E. Olds, Henry Ford, and Walter Chrysler built the auto industry that put the world on wheels. Innovators like Walter P. Reuther helped the auto industry build the modern American middle class and a standard of living second to none. At the start of the Second World War, it was General Motors' president William Knudsen who stepped aside to serve his country, turning the factories of the Big Three into the Arsenal of Democracy that helped us win the war.
We know Michiganders know how to build, and we know how to innovate. It's time to do both.
Yesterday, I visited GM's Romulus Engine plant to talk to workers, plant managers, and local union leadership about the future of our auto industry. There, I saw the faces of our auto industry the national media often overlooks: the hard working men and women who have built Michigan. The Romulus plant has a reputation for quality and environmental stewardship. Last year, it was ranked in the top ten most productive engine plants in North America by the Harbour Report. Romulus workers also were honored in 2003 and 2006 as exemplary "Michigan Clean Corporate Citizens". The workers I met were proud of the job they do, and with the high quality products they turn out -- they should be!
I told Labor Secretary Solis and Dr. Ed Montgomery, White House Director of Recovery for auto communities and workers, that only protecting and increasing employment -- American employment -- will help move us out of the recession we're currently in. Fortunately, GM has a new, innovative labor agreement with the UAW to build subcompact cars here in the U.S., at an existing plant. GM has also announced it will not make cars in China available for sale in the United States. These are the right steps to take in reinventing an great American icon like General Motors, and the only way we'll turn our economy around.
For decades, innovators have called Michigan home. In times of hardship, Michiganders pull together. We innovate. We build. We look to a better, brighter future. I'm confident that despite Monday's wrenching news, we have brighter days to look forward to.
So there’s a lot of conversation out there about car dealerships being told they won’t be selling cars for Chrysler and GM any more.
The idea, we are told, is to save the auto manufacturers money by reducing the number of dealerships with whom they do business.
I don’t really know that much about the car business; and I really didn’t understand where these cost savings would come from, but I was able to have a conversation with the one person I do know who actually could offer some useful insight.
Follow along, Gentle Reader, and you’ll get a bit of an education at a time when we all need to know a bit more about these companies we suddenly seem to own...and about the closure of thousands of local businesses that will make the news about our bad job market worse.
Today's Washington Post brings one of the answers to Marcie Wheeler. In an earlier meeting with the banks, Steve Rattner gave them the news:
To save Chrysler, he told them, the four banks and several other financial firms would have to surrender their claims to most of the $7 billion the automaker owed them. And what would the banks get in return for this sacrifice? Nothing.
As the article notes, "jaws dropped." And it's one more affirmation why we have Gary Peters.
"These are banks that have received substantial investments from the government," said Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)..."We hope they will understand that what was given to them was not for their benefit, but to get the economy moving again and maintain American jobs."
The banks didn't see it this way at all, and rejected the 15 cents/dollar proposal. It was unfair. And besides, says one unnamed spokesperson,
" What's the incentive to provide loans if the government can come in at any time and trump you?"
The article helpfully fills readers in as to what's at stake: 180,000 jobs. And with that the further descent of Michigan, despite the best efforts of our leaders. There is, however, one other item to bring to the fore: what will the Obama administration do? Will they cave to the banks?
At this point, I wish I were much more economically literate. But for the moment, as Simon Johnson, James Kwaak and others have pointed out, the real challenge in the present crisis is by the financial oligarchs, and the corresponding need for their constraint. The battle for Chrysler is a case in point. The financial community's determination to harvest their share (estimated at fifty cents on the dollar) regardless of the damage such behavior does to community -- this is the challenge before the Obama administration. Will they they have the backbone? A Democratic Party unable to constrain the banks will face much more difficult time as it turns to pick up the pieces with a gubernatorial election looming.
Michigan and Chrysler have about 2 weeks to get JP Morgan Chase to renegotiate Chrysler's debt--or 300,000 people will lose their jobs. To pressure JP Morgan to negotiate, FDL and Progress Michigan are calling on people to boycott Chase.
The WSJ confirms what we've all probably suspected: the creditors that are forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy are the same banks that have been surviving only with the help of the federal government. And of course, they are refusing to offer the same generosity to Chrysler.
Multiple financial news outlets now report Chrysler will extend its previously announced two week shutdown to four weeks, beginning Friday Dec. 19.
Facilities that make Jeep Liberty, Dodge Nitro and Jeep Wrangler will be closed a week longer, until Jan. 26. Two other facilities that make the Dodge Viper and mini-van will be closed a total of six weeks.
The auto industry historically had a scheduled shutdown between Christmas and New Year’s Day, during which maintenance work was performed. The longer shutdowns are a response to plummeting demand for vehicles — off by as much as 47% in November — and a need to reserve cash.
(Disclosure: members of the author’s family are employed by vendors to the Big Three.)
If they're looking for input (see bottom of article), let's flood them with support / advice / examples / whatever might help them actually enact this. It certainly can't hurt. There is a strong automotive/Michigan economy-specific motivation for doing so too. Many believe that part of the reason the Big 3 won't mass produce fuel-efficient vehicles, especially plug-in electric hybrids, is the real or perceived notion that 'there is no viable market' to warrant a large scale production ramp up for such vehicles. This could be the hard proof they need. Probably not. But again, it can't hurt.
Please check out (and feel free to borrow from) the cheesy form letter below the copyright line at the end of the article. Then send an email to the address found in the article's last sentence.
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Dec. 28 proposed new "green purchasing policies and affirmative procurement programs" for all government contracting mechanisms and acquisition strategies to protect the environment and conserve natural resources and energy through contracting (72 Fed. Reg. 73,904).
The letter would require agencies to give preference to green products and services, including alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles; bio-based products; Energy Star and Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)-designated products; electronics registered on the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool; low- or non-toxic hazardous chemicals or products; non-ozone depleting substances; recycled content and/or remanufactured products; renewable energy; and water-efficient products.
"Agency acquisition policies and programs shall enhance and, where appropriate, mandate the purchase and use of green products and services covered in this policy letter," OFPP Administrator Paul Denett says in the proposed letter.
The policies would implement a Jan. 26, 2007, executive order (Exec. Order No. 13,423) directing agencies to strengthen the management of environmental, transportation, and energy-related activities, as well as various environmental and energy policy statutes. The letter would supersede OFPP Policy Letter 92-4, "Procurement of Environmentally-Sound and Energy-Efficient Products and Services," dated Nov. 2, 1992.
The proposed policies would apply to all acquisition and contracting mechanisms, including service contracts, purchases made using government purchase cards and fleet cards, and purchases valued at less than the micropurchase threshold.
Green Affirmative Purchasing Program.
Additionally, OFPP would require that each federal agency develop and implement a comprehensive affirmative procurement plan for the acquisition of green products and services, also to be referred to as a "green procurement plan."
At a minimum, the plan would be required to:
•?state a preference for the acquisition of green products and services, and require the flow of this preference down to all agency contractors and subcontractors;
•?explain the green acquisition roles and responsibilities of contracting officials, program managers, product specifiers, purchase card holders, and program administrators;
•?promote the acquisition of green products and services internally within the agency and externally to source providers and other government agencies, including agencies at the state and local levels; and
•?provide annual compliance monitoring, corrective action, and/or auditing of the agency green procurement plan.
Further, agency green plans should address:
•?the development and use of templates for incorporating green purchasing requirements into solicitations and contracts;
•?the use of government E-procurement tools, such as FedBizOpps.com, to publicize green acquisition requirements; and
•?the use of past performance evaluations of contractor adherence to green acquisition priorities.
Green Acquisitions, Socioeconomic Programs.
Under the policy letter, agencies would be directed to first determine their specific performance requirements for products and services and, if they determine that a green product or service can meet those requirements, to give first consideration to mandatory and preferred sources in obtaining such green products or services.
Socioeconomic programs administered by nonprofit agencies employing people who are blind or disabled, namely the AbilityOne program under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act and the Federal Prison Industries' UNICOR program, are mandatory sources in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation Subparts 8.6 and 8.7.
Small businesses, including small disadvantaged, women-owned, Native American, Alaska Native, Historically Underutilized Business-Zone, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, are preferred sources.
Additional Green Acquisition Requirements.
The OFPP policy letter also would require agencies to:
•?implement "automatic substitution policies" for the procurement of "functionally equivalent" green products and services in place of non-green orders for the same products and services ordered through central supply agencies such as the General Services Administration or the Defense Logistics Agency;
•?include requirements and preferences for the use of green products in all newly awarded services contracts, or in recompetitions of existing services contracts;
•?encourage the incorporation of requirements and preferences for the use of green products during modifications of existing services contracts; and
•?require GSA, DLA, and other contract supply agencies to supply "designated green products" and to "phase out any competing non-green products from their catalogs and on-line ordering systems."
Comments on the OFPP policy letter, "Acquisition of Green Products and Services," are due Feb. 26. Comments may be submitted by e-mail to "OFPPGreen@omb.eop.gov" ; subject line: "Proposed OFPP Policy letter."
Copyright 2008, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, D.C.
This is a fantastic proposal, not only for the country and planet, but possibly, hopefully, for places like Flint, Saginaw, Detroit and the rest of the industrial Midwest. If you saw any of the coverage of the recent Michigan Primaries, you know how badly we are hurting here. Many have suggested that green technologies are our only hope to reinvigorate the Automotive industry, to create green jobs here. With no other industry likely to come in to replace Automotive in any substantive way (we in Michigan have lost nearly 400,000 good jobs and great people since 2001), planet-friendly cars can and should (heck, must) be a real solution. Unfortunately, the Big 3 have been sluggish, even downright indignant towards the move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, particularly plug-in electric hybrids. I have a strong suspicion that what holds them back is the real or perceived notion that, 'there is no viable market' to warrant mass production of these products. Now I'm no 'government to the rescue' guy by any means, but this policy letter really can be part of the hard proof I think they need in order to take their foot off the brake, and produce these products at the level the people of Flint, America and the world need. Congratulations on this proposal. Let's make it happen!
DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC began laying off thousands of salaried workers Wednesday as part of an effort to slash costs in the company's new era of private ownership, a spokesman said.
The cuts won't end there. On Thursday, Chrysler planned to announce that the third shift at the Toledo North plant in Ohio will be eliminated in the first quarter of 2008, a reduction of 750 jobs, according to a congressional aide with knowledge of the announcement. The plant makes the Jeep Liberty and wasn't part of recent contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and Chrysler because it has a separate contract.
According to a statement issued by the UAW, the contract passed overall with 56% in favor among production workers and 51% in favor among skilled trade workers.
In addition, 94% of office and clerical workers and 79% of engineering workers voted to approve the deal.
"Our members had to face some tough choices, and we had a solid, democratic debate about this contract," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said in a statement. "Now we're going to come together as a union -- and now it's on the company to move ahead, increase their market share and continue to build great cars and trucks here in the U.S."
It was bad enough when Daimler acquired Chrysler in 1998 in an attempt to purchase both market share and distribution for its quality-challenged Mercedes products. Kirk Kerkorian was right (and screwed by the courts); this was never a marriage of equals but the attempt by a German company to subsume a thoroughly American institution, and was therefore doomed from the start.
But Chrysler's real problems may only be starting.
Q: What do Dan Quayle,
Former Treasury Secretary John Snow, Donald Rumsfeld, Hurricane Katrina, and the
disgraceful Walter Reed hospital scandal have in common with the
Chrysler Corporation?
Of course it's nice that Cerberus says
they'll protect
jobs and continue
their plans to build new factories in Michigan.
Unfortunately, they're probably lying.
Why
so cynical? Well, let's look at some of the cast of
characters we're dealing with...
John Snow
is George Bush's former Treasury Secretary - who as late as 2005 was
saying that his boss will be remembered for "having
significantly reduced
the deficit in his time." He's the chairman
of Cerberus.
Donald
Rumsfeld - no introduction needed. He was an investor
in Cerberus - and may still be - for all we know.
Ah...but
it gets better...
Cerberus currently controls over
30 different companies, and that list seems to be growing more and more
every day. One of them is IAP Worldwide, a company spun
off by a subsidiary of Dick Cheney's Halliburton. Here's
how they describe themselves:
IAP Worldwide Services
is a leading provider of support services and
expertise to the U.S. Department of Defense, other federal customers,
and state and foreign governments.
They're also a
FEMA contractor that couldn't figure out how to deliver ice when the
victims of Hurricane Katrina needed it. Read thisNew York Times article for more about that. And in
January, 2006, IAP was awarded
a 5-year, $120 million contract to perform support services
at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Needless to say, that did not turn out well either.
In theory, it's
possible that the Chrysler takeover could be blocked by federal
regulators. But considering who owns the federal regulators these
days...that seems rather unlikely. At the very least, it would be nice if Congress held some hearings.
There's much more
that can and should be said about Cerberus (read this excellent
aforelinked post by leveymg at dKos for more). But hopefully
by now the point should be clear: having a three-headed satanic dog
take over one of Michigan's major employers is not a good
thing.
