Even though I now live in Texas, I'm a proud product of Michigan. My dad was a 30+ year blue-collar-turned-white-collar employee of GM -- Flint Truck & Bus, Pontiac East, Warren Central Office, back to Flint -- before they presented him with an "early (forced) retirement option" after The Bailout. Growing up, other kids talked of their dads and/or moms working at Fisher Body, AC Spark Plug, and Buick City, while other family and friends worked at Saginaw Steering Gear, Flint Metal Fab, Flint V-8 Engine Plant, "Lake-O", Hamtramck, Delphi, and so many others. Summers were spent with family on the Arbutus Beach shore of Otsego Lake, just south of Gaylord.
As if 'MI-cred' needed more bolstering, my family bled "Maize & Blue" before you had to pay Nike for doing so. My wife grew up in the shadows of the Ford Wixom plant. We went to college in G.R. (GO EAGLES!), while working and playing in Holland, Grand Haven, Portage, Kalamazoo, Jenison, Muskegon, Ada, and Kentwood. And for the Buckeyes out there, my wife's brother and sister-in-law call Columbus home and root for the "Scarlet and Gray." For too short of a time, I even couldn't get enough of Autoworld (may she rest in peace).
So believe me, I know the strong and proud union heritage of the "Rust Belt." Many of the luxuries we enjoyed growing up, such as long paid vacations over holidays, good health insurance (remember when prescriptions and doctor visits were 'free'?), and steady work were due in large part to the UAW and the overall success of GM and other members of the "Big 3."
As I grew up though, I started to learn about politics and how dirty they could be, including on the local union level. My dad told me of keyed car doors (and worse) of those who would oppose union voter intimidation tactics, the millions of dollars of union dues that flowed directly to Democratic candidates, and the machine that all but blackmailed GM leaders into giving them more and more. While the rest of the working world was learning to be more efficient, UAW (and other union) contracts were getting more and more unrealistically bloated.
My mom was not exempt. Besides wanting to spend more time at home with my brother and I, one of the biggest reasons she (a Registered Nurse) stepped back from regular full/part-time employment to 'casual' status at work was to avoid having to pay union dues to the Teamsters, who were arguably worse than the UAW (anybody hear of Jimmy Hoffa?).
What's my point? Unions are supposed to represent and protect their members from workplace injustice. I would argue they actually did this for most of the 20th Century, but firmly believe they (all unions) are part of a larger machine that have done the exact opposite over the past 25 years. Instead of making life better for their workers, they've actually hurt business, reduced job-specific and larger economic growth, and helped to foster class warfare (remember the 99% vs. the 1%?). If unions are really so great, why is it that union membership as a whole is at an all-time low?
Specifically regarding the UAW, it's clear that for years GM was mismanaged at many levels. But what if GM leadership would have actually stood up to the UAW and rejected contract demands instead of the continual caving to ballooning benefit packages that arguably led to its bankruptcy? Is there any wonder why the jobs that used to be in the I-75 corridor have been 'outsourced' to China, Mexico, and Korea over the past 25 years? Can you explain why the non-unionized Honda, Toyota, BMW, and other foreign-maker plants here in the US have done so well and continue to outpace the "Big 3" in sales and quality (and drive the UAW nuts)?
President Obama boasts that he "saved the auto industry," one of the key reasons the Rust Belt should vote for him. News flash: he didn't. He (actually we, the US taxpayers) bought up the majority of what was left of GM's stock, managed its bankruptcy (YES, GM still went bankrupt under Obama!), and appointed new executive leadership, all the while arranging for Chrysler to be sold to Fiat.
In reality, President Obama didn't save jobs or save the auto industry. He saved the UAW. Nothing makes this more clear than the story of retired non-union Delphi employees that saw their pensions wiped out when those of their fellow UAW colleagues were saved. When industry and financial analysts are concerned about GM going back into bankruptcy while $16 million of the $49 million to GM alone has been lost to taxpayers forever, it seems clear who has earned salvation by this president and who has not.
If you're still not sure, allow the numbers tell the story:
- 7.9% national unemployment (9.3% in MI, 7% in OH), not including the under-employed and those dropped from the rolls.
- 8.2% drop in national median household income since 2009, a drop of $3,040 per household.
- Employment in the auto industry is still 12% below what it was before the recession.
- Some 100,000 jobs (mostly blue-collar) from 2,000 GM and Chrysler dealerships were lost by liquidation.
Some people voted for President Obama because he was black. Some because he wasn't George W. Bush (or John McCain for that matter). Some because he promised to be post-racial and post-partisan (how's that turned out?). Some because he was charismatic, inspiring, and because we really wanted the kind of hope and change he was promising. Maybe some people would select "all of the above."
I don't hate President Obama. I really don't. I do, however, disagree with almost every policy decision he's made in office (short of taking out Osama bin Laden, which I believe any man worth his salt would have done given the circumstances). I firmly believe that instead of making things better, despite his words and good intentions, he's made things much, much worse.
Most of the people I know 'back home' in Michigan are blue-collar, hard-working, middle-class, faith-based, common-sense, reserved, not overly political, Reagan-Democrat types -- really good people that just want to do the best they can for their families.
To those of you and the children of those that the above describes: by pulling the lever for Obama/Biden on Tuesday, are you really choosing the best man for the job? What is the right decision for you and your family: to choose an personally-inspiring figure that we want to believe in but who lacks the real-world experience to turn his lofty rhetoric into positive results, or a man with proven ability to create jobs, care for the needy, and lead organizations most of us couldn't possibly understand?
I agree with President Obama that the economic policies of GWB (and Republican-led Congress) helped to create the recession in the first place -- between 2 wars and out-of-control government spending (plus bad government policies regarding banks and mortgages implemented during the Clinton years), it's no wonder we landed in a bad recession. But it's not 2005 and I don't think Mitt Romney is President Bush, Part II.
At the first debate in early October, most of the country saw that Mitt Romney wasn't the devil that the Obama campaign and the mainstream media had told us he was. Sure, the president was off his game that night, but that night wasn't so much about Obama not showing up as it was about seeing who Gov. Romney really was and what he would bring to the presidency.
Many of us, perhaps for the first time, saw Romney as a practical and determined leader with tons of both private and public sector success. We knew he was rich (and deservedly so, given his business success), but came to learn of his sincere compassion by way of service to needy people through his church and his enormous personal generosity. His rise in the national and state polls and his personal favorability since then proves this was the case.
Regardless of how you voted in 2008 (or any other election for that matter) I implore you -- my friends 'back home' in Michigan, Ohio, and elsewhere -- which of these men do you truly believe will lead the way to setting right what has gone so wrong in this country over the past 4-6 years? Do you believe the liberal academic is the right choice to lead us back to economic growth and prosperity, or is the successful businessman with a track-record of bipartisanship and like-minded values more equipped to turn the Midwest and the entire US economy back around?
I know whom I will be choosing on Tuesday. I humbly ask that, for the good of your families and the country, you also will vote for Mitt Romney.
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