You've got to be kidding me. A press conference for a 'minor league' football coach? Somebody please call the press and let them know that Joey Acne is wiling to talk about his promising new job at McDonalds.
We really need to get our priorities straight. Perhaps a fascination with men running full-speed at one another and bashing their heads together is not exactly how a nation thrives (rhetorical, I know)?
We would like to be the types who engineer, program, or even operate the robotics. Unfortunately, after decades of trickle-down, voodoo economics with no regard for education, we find ourselves with a Mexican-class workforce in an European/Japanese-class workplace.
Thanks, politician. We hope whatever they gave you was worth it...not really.
Wow, 2%. Dang, maybe we should all fly out-in from there. It only costs, like, double the amount of going to Nashville or Atlanta by car first (and doesn't save much time, since you wind up in one of those places, or one like them, before finaly getting headed to your destination).
I digress, though. I especially liked this line: “They can fly directly from Germany and Mexico right to Chattanooga”
LOL...Mexico. Illegal-alien puns aside, I seriously doubt VW needs anyone from Mexico. When they moved all their North American prodcution to Mexico a few years ago (except Passat, made in Germany), their quality fell like a Madoff mutual fund.
Of course, we can't be too smug, since they only chose the South since we are now the uneducated, cheap-labor alternative to Mexico. We've still got our flags, bibles, and guns, though, by Golly!
But seriously, just exactly who are they going to welcome on those flights from their failed Mexican operation? Are we to take pride in our part in these unremarkable, undependable machines when the drivetrains still come from Mexicans who would rather come here and plant petunias in McDonalds' amazing landscapes?
This is a disaster, no doubt -- environmental, of course, and very personal for the people of the area. It's also a disaster for TVA, which has done and continues to do, so much for the Valley.
The financial ramnifications for TVA (read: their ratepayers) are likely to be substantial. Just look at the lawyers descending on this like flies on a steamy ash turd. (Compensation is in order, please don't misunderstand.)
One could easily guess that with the current economic meltdown and now this burden, that TVA will possibly delay or cancel their massive Watts Bar project which Chattanooga and the state are counting on for a boost.
Couple that with the ever-increasing likelihood that GM will close Saturn and that VW will cancel or delay their Chattanooga plans, and TN could be in for an economic perfect-storm that will make CA, FL and others feel downright fortunate in comparison.
Didn't they have an emergency cost-cutting meeting in Germany just weeks ago? And now the plant--that was already on a very agressive schedule--is to have its groundbreaking "delayed" by two months just so some geezers can attend?
You heard it here first: This project is DOA. There will not be a VW plant in Chattanooga any time soon. VW is a minor player in the US market, plauged by quality problems (think Big 3). In the current economic environment, it is self-evident that there is no way they will go forward if they have any business knowledge at all.
Yes, they awarded a contract to build the paint facility, which represents only 3% of the project, hasn't and now won't start anytime soon, and probably has a cancellation clause. So what, a company of VW's size can easily risk that amount (30M) to keep their options open (and our tax dollars flowing into this boondoggle). It's not risked until it's spent, though, and they haven't done that.
No, we are the only real "investors" right now, hanging ourselves out on a limb for low-paying jobs at a company making a product not many of us buy.
Not convinced? If Toyota has suspended their MS operation indefinitely, what makes anyone think lowly VW will go ahead with this? Seriously.
They've already got a scapegoat, too. When they hang their heads and apologize about it being cancelled and our huge investment loss, they will carefully note that it was our so-called bailout of OUR OWN automotive industry that forced them to do it. They simply couldn't compete.
Chattanooga: Mocs get to meet the coach
You've got to be kidding me. A press conference for a 'minor league' football coach? Somebody please call the press and let them know that Joey Acne is wiling to talk about his promising new job at McDonalds.
We really need to get our priorities straight. Perhaps a fascination with men running full-speed at one another and bashing their heads together is not exactly how a nation thrives (rhetorical, I know)?
Blog: A message from Berlin to the eighth grade.
That's very inspirational, Governor.
We would like to be the types who engineer, program, or even operate the robotics. Unfortunately, after decades of trickle-down, voodoo economics with no regard for education, we find ourselves with a Mexican-class workforce in an European/Japanese-class workplace.
Thanks, politician. We hope whatever they gave you was worth it...not really.
Chattanooga: VW plant expected to raise airport traffic 2%
Wow, 2%. Dang, maybe we should all fly out-in from there. It only costs, like, double the amount of going to Nashville or Atlanta by car first (and doesn't save much time, since you wind up in one of those places, or one like them, before finaly getting headed to your destination).
I digress, though. I especially liked this line: “They can fly directly from Germany and Mexico right to Chattanooga”
LOL...Mexico. Illegal-alien puns aside, I seriously doubt VW needs anyone from Mexico. When they moved all their North American prodcution to Mexico a few years ago (except Passat, made in Germany), their quality fell like a Madoff mutual fund.
Of course, we can't be too smug, since they only chose the South since we are now the uneducated, cheap-labor alternative to Mexico. We've still got our flags, bibles, and guns, though, by Golly!
But seriously, just exactly who are they going to welcome on those flights from their failed Mexican operation? Are we to take pride in our part in these unremarkable, undependable machines when the drivetrains still come from Mexicans who would rather come here and plant petunias in McDonalds' amazing landscapes?
Corker says ash spill should be 'wake-up call' for state and federal agencies
Deregulation Republican -- $10
Deregulation Republican recanting -- Priceless!
Quack, Quack, I'm Bob Corker.
Tennessee: Frist out; GOP eyes 2010 race
I guess it's good to be a Republican in a region where Trickle Down is still not only taken seriously, but religiously believed.
Tennessee: Early warnings on ash pond leaks
This is a disaster, no doubt -- environmental, of course, and very personal for the people of the area. It's also a disaster for TVA, which has done and continues to do, so much for the Valley.
The financial ramnifications for TVA (read: their ratepayers) are likely to be substantial. Just look at the lawyers descending on this like flies on a steamy ash turd. (Compensation is in order, please don't misunderstand.)
One could easily guess that with the current economic meltdown and now this burden, that TVA will possibly delay or cancel their massive Watts Bar project which Chattanooga and the state are counting on for a boost.
Couple that with the ever-increasing likelihood that GM will close Saturn and that VW will cancel or delay their Chattanooga plans, and TN could be in for an economic perfect-storm that will make CA, FL and others feel downright fortunate in comparison.
Chattanooga: VW shifts initial work to March
Didn't they have an emergency cost-cutting meeting in Germany just weeks ago? And now the plant--that was already on a very agressive schedule--is to have its groundbreaking "delayed" by two months just so some geezers can attend?
You heard it here first: This project is DOA. There will not be a VW plant in Chattanooga any time soon. VW is a minor player in the US market, plauged by quality problems (think Big 3). In the current economic environment, it is self-evident that there is no way they will go forward if they have any business knowledge at all.
Yes, they awarded a contract to build the paint facility, which represents only 3% of the project, hasn't and now won't start anytime soon, and probably has a cancellation clause. So what, a company of VW's size can easily risk that amount (30M) to keep their options open (and our tax dollars flowing into this boondoggle). It's not risked until it's spent, though, and they haven't done that.
No, we are the only real "investors" right now, hanging ourselves out on a limb for low-paying jobs at a company making a product not many of us buy.
Not convinced? If Toyota has suspended their MS operation indefinitely, what makes anyone think lowly VW will go ahead with this? Seriously.
They've already got a scapegoat, too. When they hang their heads and apologize about it being cancelled and our huge investment loss, they will carefully note that it was our so-called bailout of OUR OWN automotive industry that forced them to do it. They simply couldn't compete.