Conservative Thread: We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once

[Saxsoon]

I am getting very frustrated in regards to a particular thread. I think most of you know why.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I know you've mentioned that MI has taken an economic hit in recent years. What's the problem...are people moving away and factories/jobs/businesses closing down? Do they know the reason?

Quite the opposite. Factories/jobs/business are closing down so the people are leaving.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Morning all.

I hope Michigan can find a way out of this. Maybe they will recover first as they have been dealing with it the longest? Hopeful thinking anyway.

Did anyone else wake up to ice? StL had a coating this am. It is gone now but slick for the am drive! Snow is one thing but ice

 

[Geoff_M]

The amount of layoffs/early forced retirements/plant closings in SE Michigan is staggering.

Lately, even the normally insulated SW Michigan is getting into the act. Last week out of the blue MPI (a contract pharmaceutical research company) laid off what's believed to be a couple hundred workers. Earlier this year they had announced that they were going to expand an bring in a couple thousand high-paying jobs to the county starting next year... those plans have now been pushed back and will be revisited as things unfold. It looks like Pharma R&D is slowing down in general.

 

[Mr Man]

"The power of Isengard is at your command, Sauron, Lord of the Earth."

Regards, Saruman (The "Wise") aka Sharkey

I am getting very frustrated in regards to a particular thread. I think most of you know why.

Which one? It is a "target rich" environment out there.

 

[Geoff_M]

I am getting very frustrated in regards to a particular thread. I think most of you know why.

You know, at a point you just have to "let them go". Others will see their comments for what they are.... hyper-partisan nonsense.

 

[#1hockeymom]

Lately, even the normally insulated SW Michigan is getting into the act. Last week out of the blue MPI (a contract pharmaceutical research company) laid off what's believed to be a couple hundred workers. Earlier this year they had announced that they were going to expand an bring in a couple thousand high-paying jobs to the county starting next year... those plans have now been pushed back and will be revisited as things unfold. It looks like Pharma R&D is slowing down in general.

Not good. I talked to my BIL this weekend but I think he's just enough removed from the job market that he's clueless. ON the plus side, he's doing well! (ask your wife for background!)

"The power of Isengard is at your command, Sauron, Lord of the Earth."

Regards, Saruman (The "Wise") aka Sharkey




Which one? It is a "target rich" environment out there.

LMAO!!

Every time I've looked at that picture I keep on seeing my son running into the kitchen to announce he has new "priest pants". (World of Warcraft player). I couldn't stop laughing. I really tried to be positive and say good job but.. priest pants? Just yesterday I asked him, on the way home from hockey practice, "How are those priest pants working out for ya?" LOL
He likes the game, I know where he is, all is good!

 

[Geoff_M]

Here's a little O news from over the weekend... For starters, it seems like The occupant of The Office of The President-Elect is still stuck in campaign-mode:

Meet the Press, With The President-Elect And His Strategic Ambiguity

You can't say the man is avoiding reporters. President-elect Obama appeared on Meet the Press this morning, with Tom Brokaw, for the full hour. However, when Brokaw asked Obama, point blank, about some of the tougher decisions facing him once he takes office, concrete answers were few and far between; ‘well, maybe’ seem to be the slogan of the morning. Perhaps the incoming president is being extremely deferential to the outgoing president, or Obama is playing his cards extremely close to the vest on the most challenging issues facing him, or maybe he isn’t quite sure what he wants to do yet.

Take the possibility of an auto industry bailout. Asked whether the Big Three should survive, Obama began by saying that the Big Three have made “repeated strategic mistakes,” but said that “I don't think it's an option to simply let it collapse.” He said any government assistance is going to be based upon “significant restructuring” because they “don't have a sustainable business model right now… I’m concerned about us ing 10 or 20 or $30 or whatever billions into an industry, and then six months later they come, hat in hand, and say, ‘give us more.’”

Despite the somewhat tough tone of some of the comments, Obama was careful to never quite say, ‘if the Big Three don’t make enough changes to be more competitive, they will go out of business.’ The tone suggests that Obama wants a bailout, and may make the auto industry jump through additional hoops in demonstrating that they have a long term plan. At the end of the day, though, the Big Three seem to be in the reassuring position of knowing that the incoming president is afraid to see them go out of business, and who is willing to open up the Treasury to keep them in business.

Asked whether the current management will have to go, Obama said, “What I will say is I want to see an end to the ‘head in the sand’ approach to the auto industry that has been prevalent for decades now.” Thus, asked a pretty straightforward yes or no question, the incoming president took the opportunity to dispel the notion that he endorsed a head in the sand approach. Thanks, Mr. President-Elect.

On whether or not Obama would be raising taxes in his first year, or would simply wait until the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011, the answer was, essentially, 'maybe, wait and see.' Obama repeated that his economic advisers were studying the issue and had not yet charted a course: “We don’t yet know what the best approach is going to be… My economic team is looking at this right now.”

Discussing a future economic stimulus package, Obama mentioned infrastructure improvements and "shovel-ready" projects that the governors had ready to go. Unmentioned by Brokaw or Obama is the regulatory complications of enacting those projects, and the near-inevitable lawsuits other challenges that delay and complicate such projects, regardless of need or validity.

On the stimulus package: “How much it's going to cost, my economic team is looking at that right now.”

Then on India, and the pursuit of the perpetrators of the Mumbai Massacre:

MR. BROKAW: I want to move now to international affairs, the war on terror. Obviously, we have all been stunned by what happened in India at Mumbai. It is still playing out in that part of the world. You have said that the United States reserves the right to go after terrorists in Pakistan if you have targets of opportunity. Does India now also have that right of hot pursuit?

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Well, I'm not going to comment on that. What, what I'm going to restate is a basic principle. Number one, if a country is attacked, it has the right to defend itself. I think that's universally acknowledged. The second thing is that we need a strategic partnership with all the parties in the region—Pakistan and India and the Afghan government—to stamp out the kind of militant, violent, terrorist extremists that have set up base camps and that are operating in ways that threaten the security of everybody in the international community.

Thus, if you’re India, and wondering if the U.S. will support you if you launch a cross-border strike in Pakistan to kill terrorists, you’re left with the answer… “well, maybe.”

And finally, on the number of troops that will remain in Iraq long-term:

MR. BROKAW: Before we leave that part of the world, on Iraq, there's a new phrase that has come into play called "residual force," how many troops will stay behind in an Obama administration. Speculation is 35,000 to 50,000. Is that a fair number?

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Well, I'm not going to speculate on the numbers. What I've said is that we are going to maintain a large enough force in the region to assure that our civilian troops—or our, our, our civilian personnel and our, our embassies are protected, to make sure that we can ferret out any remaining terrorist activity in the region, in cooperation with the Iraqi government, that we are providing training and logistical support, maintaining the integrity of Iraq as necessary.

Perhaps next week incoming host David Gregory could interview members of the economic and foreign policy team and get some real answers.

And The Left is still getting their undies bunched up about Obama's political appointments thus far: Liberals voice concerns about Obama. I'd tell them not to worry, we still haven't seen any proposed legislation out of him.

 

[Saxsoon]

"The power of Isengard is at your command, Sauron, Lord of the Earth."

Regards, Saruman (The "Wise") aka Sharkey




Which one? It is a "target rich" environment out there.

There are 25 MILLION potential threats out there. If you catch my drift.

 

[breezy1077]

"The power of Isengard is at your command, Sauron, Lord of the Earth."

Regards, Saruman (The "Wise") aka Sharkey

 

[Tink & Goofy]

Quite the opposite. Factories/jobs/business are closing down so the people are leaving.

So do you stay due to DH's job or for the love of MI?

 

[Michelle67]

Since you dislike Starbucks, I have a cute little story you might appreciate. The other day my FIL was at a little strip center that has a Starbucks on one end and a Dunkin Donuts on the other. As he walked up to Dunkin Donuts a young lady was coming out with a couple of boxes of donuts and one of those big drink boxes filled with coffee.

So he holds the door for her and offers to help her carry it to her car. She politely declines because she is just walking down to Stabucks. She saw the puzzled look on his face and explains that her and her coworkers can't stand Starbucks coffee so they make a Dunkin run everyday to get some decent cofee! He then watches as she walk right over to Starbucks and goes right in.

 

[Mahnahmahnah]

Fun quiz time!

So, which of Santa's Reindeer are you?


http://www.blogthings.com/whichofsantasreindeerareyouquiz/



I'm Cupid.

 

[TeresaNJ]

I just realized the thread I started regarding the cheers President Bush received at the Army/Navy game got shut down last night. Figures. The haters were out in full force, I see. Oh well. I don't care what they say. I am proud to be an American, I am proud of President Bush, I appreciate everything he has done for us and for doing all he could to keep us safe, and I know that "hate" poisons our hearts, minds and souls, so the haters can keep their hate and hateful words.

Imagine, not knowing the difference between raucous cheers for someone you really appreciate and respect, and cheering because you feel you have to. I know people are alot smarter than the hate they spew, but if it makes them feel better, I guess they can have at it. It's just a sad, sad way to live in my opinion.

Enough of that though! Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone is doing well, and that your weekend was fun. I had a great time being in my cousin's wedding yesterday. It was a beautiful ceremony, and we had a blast at the reception.

 

[Michelle67]

Glad the wedding was fun! I love weddings. I know some people don't, but I guess I just know fun people.

Sorry about your thread. I'm not surprised, though. If anything I'm surprised it lasted more than an hour before it got shut down.

 

[Tink & Goofy]

Fun quiz time!

So, which of Santa's Reindeer are you?


http://www.blogthings.com/whichofsantasreindeerareyouquiz/



I'm Cupid.

Dasher.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Another Cupid here.

 

[MeghansMommy]

I know you've mentioned that MI has taken an economic hit in recent years. What's the problem...are people moving away and factories/jobs/businesses closing down? Do they know the reason?

We've been in our own little recession for about 5 or more years now. My opinion is that it's primarily the automotive industry - just about everything here in MI is tied to it, so when the automotive industry has problems, so does everything else in the state. Our governor hasn't done much to bring new business here either. So people are moving because there is no work here. It's such a beautiful state. I love living in Michigan.

*switching back to news*

I have this deep dark feeling that 75 is just going to shut down. ie, everything along it will just cease to exist. We can't deal with anymore layoffs around here! Every day it's someone else. We were commenting Saturday night when we went out Christmas shopping how strange our little town feels. The houses do have lights up, but most turn them off at 9pm or there abouts. The houses are dark. People are turning off lights and keeping down their electric bills. People who have jobs go ot work and come home. There isn't a lot of driving done outside of those things. Our little town is just TOO quiet now! The huge traffic jam when school lets out for the MS no longer exists. The kids are on the buses now. Grocery stores are more filled, but if you look in the carts its more basic items, less frills. Restaurants are definitely emptier. I would say most people who live here have Chrysler, GM, Delphi, or other GM supplier tie.

Its going to be a long winter.

We're feeling it up here too. Even though we aren't directly tied to the automotive industry, we have many Big Three retirees who have moved up here and a plant that manufactures packaging for all sorts of places. If you aren't shipping products, parts, etc. you're not using our packaging.

Since you dislike Starbucks, I have a cute little story you might appreciate. The other day my FIL was at a little strip center that has a Starbucks on one end and a Dunkin Donuts on the other. As he walked up to Dunkin Donuts a young lady was coming out with a couple of boxes of donuts and one of those big drink boxes filled with coffee.

So he holds the door for her and offers to help her carry it to her car. She politely declines because she is just walking down to Stabucks. She saw the puzzled look on his face and explains that her and her coworkers can't stand Starbucks coffee so they make a Dunkin run everyday to get some decent cofee! He then watches as she walk right over to Starbucks and goes right in.

LOL - priceless. FWIW, I hate coffee. Will not drink the stuff.

The amount of layoffs/early forced retirements/plant closings in SE Michigan is staggering. Its not just the big three, but their major and minor suppliers along with many engineering firms (McClaren comes to mind. My uncle worked (past tense, he's layed off)for them). The news seems to keep on forgetting to post the existing losses when they talk about what could happen if the industry goes under. For all the family members I had working directly or indirectly with the auto industry the only person still working is DH. Scary.

As of last month Michigan ran out of Unemployment money. I'm guessing we're taking federal dollars now.

I didn't know that Debbie. Wow - we have no unemployment $$ - what are they going to do now?

It's a big domino effect here in MI. When the auto industry goes down, so will the rest of the state. Huge domino effect.

I am getting very frustrated in regards to a particular thread. I think most of you know why.

Don't go out there - not worth the stress. It's safe and warm here.

Morning all.

I hope Michigan can find a way out of this. Maybe they will recover first as they have been dealing with it the longest? Hopeful thinking anyway.

Did anyone else wake up to ice? StL had a coating this am. It is gone now but slick for the am drive! Snow is one thing but ice

No ice, but tons and tons and tons of snow.

Lately, even the normally insulated SW Michigan is getting into the act. Last week out of the blue MPI (a contract pharmaceutical research company) laid off what's believed to be a couple hundred workers. Earlier this year they had announced that they were going to expand an bring in a couple thousand high-paying jobs to the county starting next year... those plans have now been pushed back and will be revisited as things unfold. It looks like Pharma R&D is slowing down in general.

What's going on with Blue Cross Blue Shield now? I keep getting emails from Mike Cox (atty general) saying that BCBSM is going to be raising prices 65%. Oh my! Have any of you Michiganders heard this?

Here's a little O news from over the weekend... For starters, it seems like The occupant of The Office of The President-Elect is still stuck in campaign-mode:
And The Left is still getting their undies bunched up about Obama's political appointments thus far: Liberals voice concerns about Obama. I'd tell them not to worry, we still haven't seen any proposed legislation out of him.

Mr. Ambiguous.

So do you stay due to DH's job or for the love of MI?

We stay here because we want to be near family and we love the state of MI. Plus, DH is a doctor, so we can pretty much go wherever we want. We love where we live and wouldn't live anywhere else. It's sad to see our state in this predicament as it's such a beautiful place to live.

Fun quiz time!

So, which of Santa's Reindeer are you?


http://www.blogthings.com/whichofsantasreindeerareyouquiz/

I'm Cupid.

I'm Prancer.

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form.

Why You're Naughty: Because you're Santa's pet, and you won't let anyone show you up.

Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and the sweetest carrot breath.

I just realized the thread I started regarding the cheers President Bush received at the Army/Navy game got shut down last night. Figures. The haters were out in full force, I see. Oh well. I don't care what they say. I am proud to be an American, I am proud of President Bush, I appreciate everything he has done for us and for doing all he could to keep us safe, and I know that "hate" poisons our hearts, minds and souls, so the haters can keep their hate and hateful words.

Imagine, not knowing the difference between raucous cheers for someone you really appreciate and respect, and cheering because you feel you have to. I know people are alot smarter than the hate they spew, but if it makes them feel better, I guess they can have at it. It's just a sad, sad way to live in my opinion.

Enough of that though! Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone is doing well, and that your weekend was fun. I had a great time being in my cousin's wedding yesterday. It was a beautiful ceremony, and we had a blast at the reception.

Ooh - I can't wait to hear the details about the wedding. I love weddings.

I'm sad to see your thread shut down. I agree- under the circumstances provided to him, I think President Bush was a fine president. Sure, he made some mistakes, but hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[Tink & Goofy]

LOL - priceless. FWIW, I hate coffee. Will not drink the stuff.

I don't either. And DH's family are coffee drinking fools.

I should add this:
I'm Dasher.

You're an independent minded reindeer who never plays by the rules.

Why You're Naughty: That little coup you tried to stage against Santa last year

Why You're Nice: You secretly give naughty children presents.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Originally Posted by MeghansMommy
LOL - priceless. FWIW, I hate coffee. Will not drink the stuff.

Blasphemer!!

I didn't need to take the Reindeer to to know the outcome...but I did. I'm a Cupid.