Sunday, March 22, 2009

Governor Granholm on CNN's "State of the Union"



I'm thinking we just go ahead and give the governor her own show. Sure is nice to see Michigan issues addressed on the national level - after eight years of being ignored, we are finally getting our two cents into the conversation, and that's sweet.

I wanted to highlight this video because the double standard between the way Wall Street is treated as compared to how the workin' people of the UAW have been treated just can't be stressed enough.

The governor of the state with a struggling manufacturing sector and the highest unemployment rate in the nation said “it is a huge unfairness” that AIG employees were allowed to keep their bonus contracts intact while auto workers in her state and others have been asked to renegotiate their contracts in an effort to help save Chrysler and General Motors.

“There is this impression of a complete disparity of the way people are being treated,” Granholm said. “When it comes to Wall Street . . . they can negotiate [a bailout] and they don’t have to give back. . . . The message that is received by the folks on the ground is that there is one standard for Wall Street and one standard for the average joe and that is not fair.”


Although I think too much emphasis has been put on the AIG bonuses (as compared to the overall problem with AIG), it’s the principle of the matter here. There is also a big difference between a "loan" and a "bailout", keep pointing that out, too. I'm pretty sure the Obama administration will come through for the automakers, and I hope the word "loan" is prominently used when they do, because I really don't want to hear any more about this from Richard Shelby. Thanks in advance.