/

20090121
Auto - Manufacturing - Business - History - Michigan - US - Japan - Global
"GM loses global sales crown after 77 years." ... "[United States] General Motors Corp reported an 11 percent drop in global sales in 2008, allowing rival [Japan] Toyota Motor Corp to surpass it as the world's largest automaker for the first time." ... "GM [General Motors], now struggling to restructure under a $13.4 billion U.S. [United States] government bailout, had held the title as the global auto industry leader for 77 years and used the line in marketing." ... "But for 2008, Detroit[ Michigan]-based GM said sales tumbled to 8.35 million vehicles, pressured by tightening credit and a slowdown that began in the United States and spread to emerging markets where GM has been stronger." ... "GM, which faces an end-March deadline to demonstrate to U.S. officials that it can be made viable, has a market capitalization of just under $2 billion." ... "Toyota has a market value of about $117 billion." (1, 2) -By Kevin Krolicki with contributions by Poornima Gupta, Soyoung Kim, Maureen Bavdek and Matthew Lewis -Reuters

---

20081216
Jim DeMint - Bob Corker - Richard Shelby - Mitch McConnell - Foreign - Money - Politics - Construction - Auto - Makers - Government - Emergency - Legislation - Labor - Michigan - California - South Carolina - Alabama - Tennessee - Kentucky - German - Japanese - South Korean
"Foreign Auto Makers Won Billions in Government Subsidies: Southern States Gave [Foreign] Auto Companies Tax-breaks and Cash for Training." ... "To hear Southern Republicans tell the story, the financial burdens facing Detroit’s automakers are self-made troubles to be settled by the laws of Adam-Smith capitalism." ... "“We don’t think it is the role of government to intervene,” [South Carolina Republican Senator] Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]) told the Fox Business Network last week. “We need to let the market and the laws work the way they are already in place.”" ... "Yet this argument — that the government has no business interfering in free markets — ignores an increasingly frequent tradition among Southern states, which have fronted billions in local taxpayer dollars in the past two decades to attract foreign auto plants. Those incentives, arriving in the form of tax breaks, training for new employees and even land, have enticed [German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke] BMW to South Carolina, [German automaker] Mercedes to Alabama and [Japanese automaker] Nissan to Tennessee. The result of the government subsidies has been the steady emergence of the South as an auto-manufacturing powerhouse. Some are dubbing it the “New Detroit” –  a region where real estate is cheap and the labor’s not unionized." ... "Not coincidentally, these Southern states are represented by the same coalition of GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] senators who led the fight against the recent Detroit [Michigan] bailout proposal. That legislation would have provided $14 billion in emergency bridge loans to General Motors and Chrysler, both of which say they lack the finances to survive the month. Rallying behind the animated opposition of GOP [Republican Senators] Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.[Tennessee]), Richard Shelby (Ala.[Alabama]), Mitch McConnell (Ky.[Kentucky) and South Carolina’s DeMint, Senate Republicans killed the legislation." ... "On Friday, the day following the Senate vote, Shelby told CNBC that if the Big Three had only managed their business operations as well as the foreign companies, known as transplants, they wouldn’t be scrambling now for a taxpayer-funded bailout." ... "“You look at the South,” Shelby said. “You take — not just Mercedes in my hometown — but BMW, Honda and all of them. These companies are flourishing with American workers made in America.”" ... "But the flourishing of the transplants didn’t come without significant taxpayer help. Shelby’s Alabama, for example, secured construction of a [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz plant in 1993 by offering $253 million in state and local tax breaks, worker training and land improvement. For [Japanese automaker] Honda, the state’s sweetener surrounding a 1999 deal to build a mini-van plant was $158 million in similar perks, adding $90 million in enticements when the company expanded the plant three years later. A 2001 deal with [Japanese automaker] Toyota left the company with $29 million in taxpayer gifts." ... "Alabama is hardly alone. Corker’s Tennessee recently lured [German automaker] Volkswagen to build a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga [Tennessee], offering the German automaker tax breaks, training and land preparation that could total $577 million. In 2005, the state inspired Nissan to relocate its headquarters from southern California by offering $197 million in incentives, including $20 million in utility savings." ... "In 1992, South Carolina snagged a BMW plant for $150 million in giveaways. In Mississippi in 2003, Nissan was lured with $363 million. In Georgia, a still-under-construction [South Korean automaker] Kia plant received breaks estimated to be $415 million. The list goes on." -By Mike Lillis -WashingtonIndependent.com

---

20081213
Bob Corker - Richard Shelby - Jim DeMint - Mitch McConnell - Foreign - Money - Politicians - Auto - Makers - Michigan - US - Workers - Emergency - Law - Tennessee - Alabama - Kentucky - South Carolina - Georgia - Japanese - German - South Korean
"Meet the GOP's [Republican's] wrecking crew: Why did a small group of Southern Republicans turn the auto bailout into a demolition derby? Introducing the senators who hate unions and love foreign cars." ... "On July 15, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker was a happy man." ... ""I cannot think of a more exciting day, even more so than Election Night, for me," the Republican senator from Tennessee said in a conference call that day. The reason for his elation was the announcement that [German automaker] Volkswagen, lured by up to $500 million worth of incentives from the state government, had agreed to build a $1 billion plant near Chattanooga, Tenn. [Tennessee.] That is, not just in his home state, but in the suburbs of the city he once served as mayor." ... "Add VW [Volkwagen] to [Japan automaker] Nissan, which already has two plants and its North American headquarters in Tennessee, and you begin to see why Corker was so aggressive this month about trying to block -- or at least dramatically rewrite -- a proposal to float billions of dollars in emergency loans to domestic automakers. Most of the focus during this debate has been on lawmakers who represent Michigan, the home of the Big Three -- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But Corker represents the other side of the coin: Tennessee and other Southern states have recently come to depend on foreign automakers and their non-union factories. If you're from those parts, what's good for American car companies may no longer be what's good for the country -- because your economy now depends on their foreign competitors instead." ... "Expect to hear more not just from the very vocal Bob Corker, but from the rest of a core group of Southern senators whose bread is buttered by the Japanese, Germans and Koreans. Here's a guide to the major players."

"[Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby, R-Ala. [Republican-Alabama]"
"Foreign auto plants: [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz, [South Korean automaker] Hyundai, [Japanese automaker] Honda"

"[South Carolina Republican Senator] Jim DeMint, R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]"
"Foreign auto plants: [German automaker] BMW [Bayerische Motoren Werke]"

"[Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. [Republican-Kentucky]"
"Foreign auto plants: [Japanese automaker] Toyota"

"[Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker, R-Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]"
"Foreign auto plants: Two [Japanese automaker] Nissan plants, as well as the company's U.S. [United States] headquarters; [German automaker] Volkswagen will open near Chattanooga [Tennessee] in 2011"

"As mayor of Chattanooga, he [Corker] reportedly conceived the idea for the site that will soon become home to the [German automaker] Volkswagen plant, and was instrumental in its development. He organized efforts to lure [Japanese automaker] Toyota to the area, and when that failed, he had VW execs [executives] and other top state politicians over to his house for dinner." ... "Georgia's two Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isaakson, both voted against the plan as well. Their state has a big [South Korean automaker] Kia factory coming in soon." (1, 2) -By Alex Koppelman and Mike Madden with contributions by Vincent Rossmeier and Gabriel Winant -Salon

---


Bob Corker - Richard Shelby - Foreign - Money - Auto - Makers - Michigan - Workers - US - Japan - Germany - Alabama - Tennessee
"Anger Grips Auto Workers: Critic of a Rescue, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Corker Faces Backlash at Home." ... "As the workers and residents of this small town [Spring Hill, Tennessee] that launched the Saturn automobile see it, there are several villains in the collapse of the automakers' rescue plan." ... "But what stuns many in this place defined by the General Motors auto plant and its 4,200 workers is that no person played a larger role in the demise of autoworker hopes than their own Sen. Bob Corker (R[Republican]), who is now regarded by some here with the kind of disdain reserved for traitors." ... "Corker emerged as one of the leading critics of the rescue plan passed by the House. He lashed into the carmaker chief executives when they came to Washington looking for help. And it was Corker's alternative proposal, which was a plan that would have been tougher on union workers, that ultimately failed." ... "In a dozen interviews with workers here, many suspected that he only feigned interest in rescuing Detroit's Big Three. Instead, they say, he wants to crush GM [General Motors] and its union to benefit foreign automakers, such [Japan's] Nissan and [Germany's] Volkswagen, who have opened or are opening nonunionized plants in the state." ... ""We're deeply disappointed in Senator Corker -- that's the official statement," said Mike Herron, union chief at the GM plant here. "But actually my members want to choke him."" ... "The anger of the workers and the harshness of their words reflect the larger tension between the old [Michigan] Detroit-based domestic auto industry, with its unionized workforce, and the new [foreign] transplant industry in the nonunion South. Emotions were stoked by the fact that GM, citing the economic downturn, had just announced that it will halt production at the plant for January and the first week of February." ... "Corker "has somehow ignored the fact that there's a major GM plant in his own state," said Ben McFarlane, who retired from the plant this summer and opened a local bar where many workers go. "And if this plant goes, then my business goes, this whole town goes, and the effects cascade across the country."" ... "At a news conference and in interviews yesterday, Corker, a millionaire real estate developer, took pains to depict himself as sympathetic to workers and responsive to his state's interests." ... "But Herron, like many here, pressed the idea that the foreign automakers had been involved in stalling the plan." ... ""It's in their best interest to see us not succeed," Herron said. "Who were the two biggest critics of the rescue? [Republican] Senator Shelby from Alabama and Corker -- and both preside over states that have given hundreds of millions to have foreign automakers to open shop here."" (1, 2) -By Peter Whoriskey with contributions by Julie Tate and Lucy Shackelford -WashingtonPost

---

20081212
Bob Corker - David Vitter - Richard Shelby - Foreign - Money - Auto - Makers -Michigan - Working - People - US - Military - Japan - Tenn - La - Germany - Korea - Ala
"Anger grows in Michigan over Southern opposition to auto loans." ... "Mark Dobias, a small-town lawyer from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, hasn't always been the domestic auto industry's biggest fan. But when it became clear that a few senators from places like Alabama and Louisiana were determined to do anything to block any aid to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford, it got to him." ... ""This is regional economic warfare. Pure and simple. The wounded Rustbelt being bayoneted in the throat by economic interests in the East and Sunbelt with aid from their political toadies," he wrote me. He's normally a laid-back guy with a puckish sense of humor, but the hypocrisy was, he said, a bit much." ... ""Michigan is a great state. It has good people - hard-working people who make things. The nation has gained from its natural resources and industrial capacity. And now … we will remember this in the same way that Georgia remembers William Tecumseh Sherman," the union general whose armies laid the Southern state waste." ... "What was highly unusual, in Michigan's quarrelling political culture, was the unanimity with which the state's various factions united in support of trying to help the automakers - and disdain for the senators who would prevent that effort." ... "The thoroughly Republican Detroit News normally denounces any government aid program. But not this time. In a highly rare front-page editorial, it pleaded "we urge the Senate, please give Detroit a chance to make things right … we appeal to Senate Republicans to act not in support of the domestic auto makers, but in the interest of the national economy and national security - we still need an arsenal of democracy."" ... "True, the News did publish a piece by freshman [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]) that called on Congress to impose much harsher conditions on the companies and their workers as a precondition for any aid. He also called for more involvement by Congress in actually running these companies. But the newspaper shot back, that "like most of Washington, Corker is ill-informed of the forces roiling the domestic auto industry."" ... "There was bitterness, too, in Detroit [Michigan] at the men blocking the bailout. Some cattily noted that when [Louisiana Republican Senator] Sen. David Vitter (R., La. [Republican-Louisiana]) vowed a filibuster, it was the first time he had gotten national press attention since being linked to a Washington prostitution scandal." ... "Sens. [Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby (R., Ala. [Republican-Alabama]) and Corker both represent states where foreign, nonunion automakers have significant operations. Mr. Corker, a freshman who won a narrow victory in 2006, is insisting that the United Auto Workers accept wage cuts so that workers make no more than nonunion workers in the South, such as the [Japan's] Nissan employees in his state." ... "Alabama, a right-to-work state, has granted vast concessions to win [auot manufacturing] plants operated by [Japan's] Toyota, [Germany's] Mercedes-Benz, [Japan's] Honda, and [South Korea's] Hyundai." -By Jack Lessenberry -ToledoBlade.com

---

20081211
David Vitter - Mitch McConnell - Bob Corker - Foreign - Money - Politicians - Auto - Manufacturing - Work - Louisiana - Kentucky - Tennessee - Pennsylvania - US - Japan - Germany
"My Foreign Investor, Right Or Wrong." ... "A bunch of Southern-state Republicans (including, amazingly, ... [Louisiana Republican Senator] David Vitter), from right-to-work states, want to push GM [General Motors] and Chrysler into bankruptcy to bolster the foreign auto presence in their home states. Kentucky has a Ford factory but they also have a [Japanese] Toyota plant in Georgetown [Kentucky], so [Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch] McConnell's on board." ... "Last week, Jane Hamsher explained the conflict of interest for [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker in Tennessee:"

"He hasn't mentioned the subsidies his own state of Tennessee has given to
, making it harder for the Big 2 1/2 to compete:"

"Tennessee offered its richest incentive package — and perhaps the most government assistance and tax breaks ever for an American automobile plant — to lure [German auto manufacturer] Volkswagen to Chattanooga [Tennessee]."

"But the state’s chief business recruiter said Wednesday that the benefits from VW’s $1 billion assembly plant far will exceed what could top $500 million in government assistance and tax breaks for the project."

"“The Volkswagen investment in this community is going to have a tremendous economic gain for the entire region,” said Matt Kisber, Tennessee’s commissioner for economic and community development. “I’m confident we’re going to have a very reasonable incentive package when you look at the initial costs of what is being offered compared with a much bigger long-term return.”"

"Yes, that's the logic -- these incentives will bring more money to the region than they cost. But it doesn't always work out that way. As David Cay Johnston noted in Free Lunch, these kinds of subsidies frequently wind up costing communities much more than they ever make back:"

"Johnson writes: "The tribute Cabela's demanded from Hamburg [Pennsylvania] amounted to roughly $8,000 for each man, woman, and child in town." Johnson points out that between 2004 and 2006, Cabela's earned $223.4 million. During those years, it collected at least $293.7 million in subsidies, more than its reported profits. Meanwhile a family business selling fishing and hunting gear was driven out of business in Hamburg."

"Funny nobody is mentioning this."

The GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] does a lot of chest-thumping about "Country First" and patriotism. It's fun to watch them destroy American manufacturing so they can keep Japanese and German corporate executives happy. OK, maybe not so fun." -By D-Day via Hullabaloo

---

20081207
Barack Obama - Medical - Politics - History - Hawaii - US - Japan - Vietnam - Iraq
"Obama Selects Shinseki for Veterans Affairs Secretary." ... "On the 67th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, [Democratic] President-elect Barack Obama Sunday nominated [Retired Army General] Gen. Eric Shinseki (Ret.), a Japanese-American born in Obama's home state of Hawaii, to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs." ... "“We owe it to all our veterans to honor them as we honored our greatest generation, not just with words, but with deeds,” said Obama, tasking him with a modernization of the Department so troops get the medical care “far too few” are receiving right now." ... "Obama said Shinseki, the first Asian-American named to his cabinet, was the right person to cut red tape, boost funding, and bring benefits to veterans." ... "“There is no one more distinguished, more determined, or more qualified to build this V.A. [Veterans Affairs] than the leader I’m announcing as our next Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Gen. Eric Shinseki,” Obama said." ... "“No one will ever doubt that this former Army chief of staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans. No one will ever question whether he will fight hard enough to make sure they have the support that they need.”" ... "The former Army Chief of Staff, criticized years ago by his Pentagon bosses for saying that “several hundred thousand soldiers” would be needed to wage the Iraq war successfully, today pledged to reform the Department to give troops a “smooth, error-free, no-fail, benefits-assured transition into our ranks as veterans.”" ... "“A word to my fellow veterans: if confirmed, I will work each and every day to ensure that we are serving you as well as you have served us. We will pursue a 21st-century V.A. that serves your needs,” promised Shinseki, who lost part of his foot in Vietnam." ... "“We will open doors, new doors of opportunity so you can find a good job, support your families when you return to civilian life. And we will always, we will always honor the sacrifices of those who have worn the uniform and their loved ones.”" -By Matt Jaffe -ABCNEWS.com

---

20081121
Jeff Sessions - Bob Corker - George Voinovich - Corporate - Government - Law - Auto - Workers - Thanksgiving - Manufacturer - Michigan - Tenn - Ala - Ohio - 2010 Election - US - Japan - South Korea
"'Card check' best hope for auto workers union? Congress to vote on Employee Free Choice Act to make unionization easier." ... "Congress returns after Thanksgiving to decide whether to approve a $25 billion loan to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. The future of United Auto Workers members in Michigan and other states is at stake." ... "“It appears to me we possibly have one too many auto makers,” said [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.[ Republican-Tennessee], who opposes the loan [and recommends Chapter 11 bankruptcy]." ... "But it will be an industry in which fewer workers are represented by the United Auto Workers. And that doesn’t cause Republicans like [Alabama Republican Senator] Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.[ Republican-Alabama], any regret." ... "One advantage the [Japanese and South Korean auto manufacturers] Honda and Hyundai plants in Alabama have over the General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford plants in Michigan is lower labor costs. That's because, in part, auto workers in Michigan are represented by the UAW and workers in Alabama aren’t." ... "But what if the UAW [United Auto Workers] could more easily organize workers at Honda and Hyundai? UAW-represented workers at Honda and Hyundai could then bargain for higher wages." ... "The Employee Free Choice Act, passed by the House of Representatives last year, but stymied in the Senate, aims to make unionization easier by allowing workers to join a union by signing a card rather than by going through a secret-ballot election. The bill is called “card check” for short." ... "A UAW ally, [Ohio Democratic Representative] Rep. Tim Ryan, D[Democratic]- Ohio, said enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act “would level the playing field. Each facility would be competing on the same playing field.”" ... "In the vote next year, Republicans up for re-election in 2010, such as [Ohio Republican Senator] Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio will be under pressure to vote for it." (1, 2) -By Tom Curry -MSNBC

---

20081119
Jeff Sessions - Auto - Makers - Workers - Health Care - Pension - Politics - Federal - Economy - 2010 Election - Michigan - Ohio - US - Foreign - Alabama - Georgia - Kentucky - Japan - South Korea
"It's North vs. South in Big Three bailout fight." ... "Should taxpayers in Alabama be required to bail out [American] automakers whose plants are concentrated in Northern states like Michigan and Ohio?" ... "Alabama is home to three Honda [Japan automaker] and Hyundai [South Korea automaker] plants. And just across the state line in Georgia, a new Kia [Hyundai] plant is set to open and will likely employ many Alabamans." ... "[Alabama Republican Senator] Sen. Jeff Sessions, R- Ala. [Republican-Alabama], told reporters Wednesday, “I can not imagine a real justification for a worker in Alabama who does not have any health insurance at his company to be taxed to maintain a Cadillac health care plan for somebody in Detroit [Michigan].”" ... "The struggle over whether Congress should make the loan is a classic regional battle: North vs. South, unionized states like Michigan vs. mostly non-union ones like Alabama." ... "“There are some states that might think there’s a competitive advantage for them if the Big Three don’t make it,” [Michigan Democratic Senator] Sen. Carl Levin, D- Mich. [Democratic-Michigan], a Big Three ally, told reporters Tuesday." ... "[Kentucky Republican Senator] Sen. Jim Bunning, R- Ky. [Republican-Kentucky], who is up for re-election in 2010, said Wednesday, “It’s not a balancing act. It’s whether the federal government should intervene in the private-sector economy. And I believe it should not. I am very concerned that people as hard-headed as the three people who spoke to us yesterday would not have a plan in place and not have any concession to make, but they would just want the money so they can burn through it. That’s unacceptable.”" ... "And if Chrysler and General Motors go into bankruptcy or liquidation?" ... "“I think that’s probably the best thing that can happen,” [Kentucky Republican Senator] Bunning replied. “Then there will be a reorganization and they’ll be able to jettison things they couldn’t ordinarily jettison, like health care benefits, like pension benefits and there will be someone to pick those up like the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. And then they will be able to restructure their salaries to get more in line with foreign producers and they may come out of bankruptcy a heck of a lot better off than they go into it.”" (1, 2) -By Tom Curry -MSNBC

---

20081010
Japan - History - US - Real Estate
"Nikkei tumbles 9.6 percent on crisis fears." ... "Japan's key stock index plunged a stunning 9.6 percent Friday to close out its worst week in history as frantic investors worried about a global recession dumped stocks after huge losses on Wall Street." ... "The benchmark Nikkei 225 index tumbled 881.06 points to 8,276.43, its lowest since May 2003. It was its biggest one-day percentage loss since the stock market crash of October 1987." ... "The index dropped by more than 11 percent at one point but recovered modestly in the afternoon." ... "Since last Friday, the Nikkei has lost nearly a quarter of its value." ... "Mid-sized insurer Yamato Life Insurance Co. [Company] went bankrupt Friday, becoming the first major Japanese financial company to collapse on the fallout from the U.S. [United States] credit crisis. On Thursday, New City Investment Corp.'s [Corporation's] bankruptcy filing made it Japan's first real-estate investment trust to fail." -By Shino Yuasa -AP via -Google

---

20081008
Japan - Hong Kong - Indonesia - Taiwan
"Asian markets crumble, Nikkei 225 dives 9.4%: Hang Seng loses 8.2%, S&P/ASX 200 off 5%, Indonesia index slumps 10.4%." ... "Asian markets crumbled Wednesday, as investors alarmed by a deteriorating financial markets situation dumped blue-chip stocks to raise cash, sending several indexes tumbling down to multi-year lows." ... ""It's not just the hedge-funds, everybody is selling ... And there are no buyers," said Dale Tsang, managing director at Imperial Dragon Asset Management Co. in Hong Kong. "There is a state of panic, for cash. Everybody needs cash."" ... ""No, I haven't seen anything like this, and I don't think anybody has seen anything like this before, except those who are over 75 years old and have seen the Great Depression," Tsang added." ... "Japan's Nikkei 225 Average tumbled the most to close 952.5 points, or 9.4%, lower at 9,203.32 for its worst single-day percentage drop in years. The broader Topix index lost 8% to 899.01. Both benchmarks declined for a fifth straight session." ... "In Taipei [Taiwan's capital], the Taiex tumbled 5.8% to 5,206.40, its lowest level since July 2003. " -By V. Phani Kumar -MarketWatch

---

20080914
John McCain - William E. Timmons, Sr. - Corporate - Government - Politics - Oil - Drug - Housing - Consumer - Investigation - Law - Foreign - Japan - US - 2008 Election
"Obama Memo on a [Republican McCain] "Lobbyist-Run White House"." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's Team of Lobbyists Grows, As They Plan for a Lobbyist-Run White House" ... "Joining the ranks of the seven lobbyists running McCain's campaign, William Timmons, a top Washington lobbyist, has been named to plan McCain's transition effort. With at least 177 lobbyists helping advise, raise money and run his campaign, there was little doubt who would be influencing McCain's White House, should he win, but this appointment just confirms: a John McCain White House will be organized, managed and influenced by lobbyists and the same old Washington politics John McCain has decried. Campaigning on reform while surrounding himself with lobbyists for the oil industry, big drug companies and foreign interests doesn't seem much like change, and nothing shows that more than naming a top Washington lobbyist to plan his transition." ... "SEPTEMBER 2008: TIMMONS JOINS MCCAIN TEAM" ... "One Of DC's “Most Senior Inside Players,” A Special Interest Lobbyist To Help McCain Transition Planning Effort. William E Timmons, Sr., the McCain campaign's new senior advisor of a hypothetical transition, is a “prominent Washington lobbyist who has worked for every Republican president since Richard Nixon” pointed out Time magazine. This year alone, he is registered as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac, Anheuser-Busch, an insurance industry trade group, an oil industry group, and a pharmaceutical company. Time called him one “of Washington's steadiest and most senior inside players.” [Time, 9/12/08; Senate Office of Public Records]" ... "Timmons, A Former Nixon Aide, Founded Lobbying Shop In The Aftermath Of Watergate. “Aftershocks of the Watergate scandal were still rumbling in 1975 when William Timmons and three other former Nixon aides decided to launch their own lobbying shop. ‘We figured if we got 10 clients to pay us $100,000 a year, we'd be in the clover,' recalls the 76-year-old Timmons.” [Politico, 3/7/07]" ... "WHILE MCCAIN CRITICIZED FREDDIE MAC'S LOBBYISTS, TIMMONS EARNED MILLIONS LOBBYING FOR FREDDIE MAC." ... " ... Timmons Earned More Than $2.7 Million for His Firm Lobbying for Freddie Mac from 2000-2008. William Timmons earned $2,795,000 in lobbying fees for his firm lobbying from 2000 through the 2nd Quarter of 2008. His firm lobbied for Freddie Mac on housing issues. [Timmons and Company Lobbying Disclosures, 2000-2008]" ... "TIMMONS ALSO EARNED MILLIONS FOR HIS FIRM LOBBYING FOR OIL COMPANIES" ... "Timmons Earned $2.1 Million for His Firm Lobbying for Unocal and Also Lobbied for Chevron. William Timmons lobbied for Unocal from 1999-2005 and then briefly lobbied for Chevron in 2005 after the firm purchased Unocal. [Timmons and Company Senate Lobbying Disclosures, 1999-2005]" ... "Timmons Lobbied on Two Price Gouging Prevention Bills For Oil Industry. According to lobbying disclosure forms, William Timmons – on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute – lobbied on S. 94 and S. 1263 in 2007, two bills which dealt with prohibiting price gouging by merchants. Timmons continued his registration, which began in 1999, into the summer of 2008. [Timmons and Company Senate Lobbying Disclosures]" ... "HITACHI: Timmons Contract Came As US Government Opened Investigation" ... "8/2/85: Justice Dept. Opens Investigation Of Hitachi For Antitrust Violations. In early August 1985, the US Dept. of “investigation of Hitachi Ltd. for alleged unfair pricing practices.” The probe “accused the Japanese of closing their doors to U.S.-produced goods while using unfair tactics to make gains in the domestic U.S. marketplace.”. [San Diego Union Tribune, 8/7/85]" ... "8/27/85: Hitachi Hires Timmons's Firm. The $75,000 contract (one year) was to “represent the interests of Hitachi before the legislative and executive branches.” [FARA, Exhibit AB, http://www.fara.gov/docs/3489-Exhibit-AB-19850901-D0V9DI01.pdf ]" ... "[FARA (Foreign Agent Registration Act) filings, US Dept. of Justice (fara.gov)]" -From the capaing of Barack Obama -TIME.com

---

McLobbyist.com

---

20080509
• Consumers - Food - Safety - Humans - Health - Law - Politics - Animals - Agriculture - Business - Kan - US - Japan - "Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority." ... "The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.[Kansas]-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere." ... "Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers." ... "Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. Three cases of mad cow disease have been discovered in the U.S. [United States] since 2003." -By Sam Hananel -AP via -SFGate.com

  ---

20080317
• World - US dollar - Japan yen - Swiss franc - EU Euro - Oil - History - "Stocks Tumble Around World, Dollar Declines After Fed Cuts Rate." ... "Stocks fell around the world and the dollar tumbled after the Federal Reserve cut its discount interest rate at an emergency meeting and JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy Bear Stearns Cos. for $2 a share. Bonds, gold and crude oil climbed." ... "Global stock markets lost $2.4 trillion in market value from a peak in October as of March 14. That partly reflects the slump in the U.S. dollar." ... "The dollar weakened to as low as 95.76 yen, a level not seen since August 1995, from 99.09 on March 14. It dropped to a record low of $1.5903 per euro and an all-time low of 0.9658 Swiss francs." ... "Gold for immediate delivery climbed as much as 3 percent to a record $1,032 an ounce as investors sought a haven against the weakening dollar. Crude oil gained as much as 1.4 percent to a high of $111.80 a barrel." ... "Bear Stearns plunged 90 percent to $2.88 after JPMorgan agreed to buy the bank." ... "Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, lost 27 percent to $28.60." -By Patrick Rial -Bloomberg 

  ---

20080122
• World - US - India - Japan - China - Hong Kong - South Korea - Singapore - Indonesia - "World markets continue to sink over U.S. woes: India exchange briefly suspended after 9% drop tied to investor pessimism." ... "Japan's Nikkei 225 index, the benchmark for Asia's biggest bourse, plummeted 5.7 percent to close at 12,573.05 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the lowest close since Sept. 8, 2005. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 7.2 percent to its lowest close since early August." ... "Trading was halted in India when the Sensex index plummeted 9.75 percent within minutes of opening. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 8 percent by midday after diving 5.5 percent the day before." ... "Asian markets have fallen sharply since the start of the year: Japan's benchmark index has sunk nearly 17 percent, while the Hang Seng is down a stunning 22 percent." ... "That slide continued Tuesday, with benchmark indices in China, South Korea and Singapore falling at least 4 percent. Australia's benchmark index slid 7.1 percent and Indonesia's market was down 9 percent." -AP via -MSNBC 

  ---

20080121
• US - India - Japan - Hong Kong - China - Australia - South Korea - Singapore - "Asian stocks tumble on US recession fears." ... "Asian stock markets fell sharply on Monday as a $140bn fiscal stimulus package outlined on Friday by [Republican] President George Bush did nothing to assuage investor fears of a recession for Asia’s most important trading partner." ... "India led the declines, with the benchmark Sensex Index plunging nearly 11 per cent at one point, before finishing down about 7 per cent." ... "In Tokyo [Japan's capital], the Nikkei 225 slumped 3.9 per cent to close near a 27-month low of 13,325.94. The index has lost a quarter of its value in the past six months." ... "Hong Kong stocks dropped 5.5 per cent while H shares, or Hong Kong-listed shares of mainland Chinese companies, skidded 7.1 per cent. Australian stocks extended their losing run to an 11th straight session, falling 2.9 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi shed 3 per cent to 1,683.56 as exporters LG Philips LCD dropped 1.1 per cent to Won40,400 and Hyundai Motor dropped 0.5 per cent to Won67,100. Singapore was down over 5 per cent in late afternoon trading." -By Lindsay Whipp and Joe Leahy -FT.com

  ---

20080120
• Israel - Electronic - Cars - Manufacturing - Transportation - Technology - Company - Environmental - Health - Politics - California - US - Japan - France - "Israel Looks to Electric Cars." ... "The Israeli government announced a major initiative to push the nation's drivers toward electric cars on Monday, a move meant to both lessen dependence on foreign oil and address the environmental and health hazards of gas-burning vehicles." ... "It aligns policy makers and a major car company with an outfit prepared to build hundreds of thousands of electric charging stations across the country. In an interview with TIME, Israeli President Shimon Peres called the project, "an experimental lab, a pilot project, before it's applied to other, bigger industrialized nations."" ... "Automaker Renault-Nissan will manufacture the cars and Better Place, a California start-up founded by former SAP executive Shai Agassi, will build the infrastructure, which may eventually consist of 500,000 charging points and up to 200 battery-exchange stations." ... "The [Renault-Nissan] Japanese-French auto alliance has separately said that it will manufacture a hybrid by 2010 and an all-electric car by 2012." ... "Agassi figures that if he adds electrical outlets to at least 500,000 of Israel's three to four million parking spots, people will feel like they can charge their cars whenever they need to." ... "For longer drives, customers will be able to pull into a battery-swap station and get a fresh battery." -By Barbara Kiviat with contributions by Tim McGirk -TIME.com

  ---

20071203
• United States - Debt - Government - Fiscal - Politics - People - Parents - Accounting - History - Homeowners - Japan - China - Britain - Saudi Arabia - Oil - Countries - "National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute." ... "Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It's expanding by about $1.4 billion a day -- or nearly $1 million a minute." ... "What's that mean to you?" ... "It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States." ... "Even if you've escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That's because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion." ... "And like homeowners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages, the government faces the prospect of seeing this debt -- now at relatively low interest rates -- rolling over to higher rates, multiplying the financial pain." ... "The national debt -- the total accumulation of annual budget deficits -- is up from $5.7 trillion when [Republican] President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion [$10,000,000,000,000.00] sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009." ... "Foreign governments and investors now hold some $2.23 trillion -- or about 44 percent -- of all publicly held U.S. debt. That's up 9.5 percent from a year earlier." ... "Japan is first with $586 billion, followed by China ($400 billion) and Britain ($244 billion). Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries account for $123 billion, according to the Treasury." ... "Democrats are blaming the runup in deficit spending on [Republican President] Bush and his Republican allies who controlled Congress for the first six years of his presidency." (1, 2, 3) -By Tom Raum -AP via -ChicagoTribune 

  ---

20070912
• US - Seniors - History - International - Japan - "U.S. deaths rise by 50,000 in 2005, a disappointing reversal." ... "he number of deaths in the United States rose in 2005 after a sharp decline the year earlier, a disappointing reversal that suggests the 2004 numbers were a fluke." ... "But, U.S. life expectancy inched up to 77.9 from the previous record, 77.8, recorded for 2004. The increase was more dramatic in contrast with 1995, when life expectancy was 75.8, and 1955, when it was 69.6." ... "The U.S. continues to lag behind at least 40 other nations. Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, has the longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau of 2004 international data. It was followed by Japan, Macau (which is part of China), San Marino and Singapore." -AP via -IHT.com 

  ---

20070827
• China - Environmental - Health - Politics - Air - Land - Water - Coal- Weather - Science - Industrial - History - International - South Korea - Japan - USA - California - Los Angeles - EU - Sports - Children - "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes." ... "No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo." ... "But just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut." ... "Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water." ... "Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union. Beijing [China's capital] is frantically searching for a magic formula, a meteorological deus ex machina, to clear its skies for the 2008 Olympics." ... "Environmental woes that might be considered catastrophic in some countries can seem commonplace in China: industrial cities where people rarely see the sun; children killed or sickened by lead poisoning or other types of local pollution; a coastline so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer sustain marine life." ... "China is choking on its own success. The economy is on a historic run, posting a succession of double-digit growth rates. But the growth derives, now more than at any time in the recent past, from a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available, and dirtiest, source." ... "China’s problem has become the world’s problem. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea [capital], and Tokyo [Japan's capital]. Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles [California, USA] originates in China, according to the Journal of Geophysical Research." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) -By Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley -NYTimes 

  ---

20070810
• Worldwide - United States - EU- France - Netherlands - Japan - Germany - Home - "Mortgage Losses Echo in Europe and on Wall Street." ... "Turmoil in the home loan market ricocheted from the United States to Europe and back again yesterday as stocks on Wall Street suffered their biggest one-day decline since February, reflecting growing concerns about tightening credit worldwide." ... "Big losses on packages of American home loan securities sold to investors turned up unexpectedly in French and Dutch [Netherlands] banks yesterday, adding to worries at hedge funds and financial institutions around the globe. With trillions of dollars of securities outstanding, those announcements raised expectations that more problems may soon emerge in other unlikely places as well." ... "The spreading fears forced the European Central Bank and, later, the Federal Reserve to inject billions of dollars into the financial system to help prevent borrowing and lending in credit markets from freezing up." ... "Japan’s central bank followed suit, injecting more than $8 billion into money markets as stocks there plummeted Friday morning." ... "Citing “tensions in the euro money market,” the European Central Bank in Frankfurt [Germany] lent more than $130 billion overnight at a rate of 4 percent to tamp down a surge in the rates banks charge each other for very short-term loans. The Federal Reserve injected $24 billion into the United States banking system to keep its benchmark overnight lending rate at 5.25 percent, after it opened this morning at 5.5 percent." (1, 2) -By Vikas Bajaj and Mark Landler with contributions by Julia Werdigier, James Kanter, and Julie Creswell -NYTimes 

  ---

20070803
• US - Saudi Arabia - Military - Terrorism - Oil - Politics - Japan - Italy - Germany - Georgia - History - "Gingrich says war on terror 'phony': Former speaker says energy independence is key." ... "Former House Speaker [Republican] Newt Gingrich said Thursday the [Republican President] Bush administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism, warning that the country is losing ground against the kind of Islamic radicals who attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001." ... "A more effective approach, said Gingrich, would begin with a national energy strategy aimed at weaning the country from its reliance on imported oil and some of the regimes that petro-dollars support." ... ""None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war," the ex-Georgian told a group of about 300 students attending a conference for collegiate conservatives." ... "He was unstinting in his criticism of his fellow Republicans, in the White House and on Capitol Hill." ... ""We were in charge for six years," he said, referring to the period between 2001 and early 2007, when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. "I don't think you can look and say that was a great success."" ... "He reserved his most pointed criticism for the administration's handling of the global campaign against terrorist groups." ... ""We've been engaged in a phony war," said Gingrich. "The only people who have been taking this seriously are the combat military."" ... ""We used to be a serious country. When we got attacked at Pearl Harbor, we took on Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany," he said, referring to World War II." ... ""We beat all three in less than four years. We're about to enter the seventh year of this phony war against ... [terrorist groups], and we're losing."" ... ""First of all, we have to have a national energy strategy, which basically says to the Saudis, 'We're not going to rely on you,' " he said." ... "The United States imports about 14 million barrels of oil a day, making up two-thirds of its total consumption." -By Bob Deans -AJC 

  ---

20070707
• Global - Climate - Earth - Music - Politics - Australia - United States - Japan - China - South Africa - Brazil - Germany - "Live Earth Series Starts in Sydney." ... "The Live Earth global [music] concert series kicked off Saturday with an aboriginal group dancing and singing a traditional welcome at the first venue in Sydney [Australia]." ... "Tribal leaders with white-painted bodies and shaking eucalyptus fronds were the first of more than 150 performers at the eight concert, 24-hour series to raise awareness about climate change." ... "The performance was immediately followed by a video greeting from former [Democratic] Vice President Al Gore, whose campaign to force global warming onto the international political agenda inspired the event." ... "The biggest names will appear at Live Earth concerts in London [UK] and the United States, with more modest lineups of mostly local and regional acts in Australia, Japan, China, South Africa, Brazil and Germany." -AP via -Guardian.co.uk 

  ---

• http://LiveEarth.org

---

20061222
• Noteworthy - Japan- US - World - Auto - Technology - Workers - Politics - History - Fuel - "Toyota’s Sales Projections Show It Surpassing G.M.." ... "Toyota Motor said today it plans to sell 9.34 million vehicles next year, a figure that analysts said would put it ahead of troubled General Motors as the world’s largest auto company." ... "Toyota reported global group sales this year of 8.8 million cars and trucks, below G.M.’s 2006 sales forecast of 9.2 million vehicles. But the figures released today showed the two rival car giants on starkly different trajectories, with Toyota expecting to add a half million vehicle sales next year, at a time when G.M. is shuttering plants and laying off workers." ... "Surpassing G.M. would be a crowning achievement for Toyota, a company that got its start in the 1930s by reverse-engineering G.M. and Ford cars, and that spent decades catching up with Detroit. It would also end G.M.’s 81-year reign over the global auto industry, and mark another step in the rise of Asian carmakers." ... "Analysts also said reaching the top would not exhaust Toyota’s opportunities for growth. They said Toyota will continue to gain in the American market, where higher gas prices have increased the popularity of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles." ... "Toyota’s rise would also prove a victory of sorts for its unique corporate culture, the so-called Toyota Way, which is rooted in an obsession with craftsmanship and constant improvement, or “kaizen.”" -By Martin Fackler -NYTimes 

  ---

20061107
• US - Iraq - Military - People - TV - Money - Oil - Politics - Japan - New York - "Rupert Murdoch -- who once predicted Iraq war could lead to $20/barrel oil --described war casualties as "minute"." ... "On November 6, News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch reportedly said at a conference in Tokyo [Japan] that U.S. casualties in Iraq, "by the terms of any previous war are quite minute," as the weblog Democratic Underground noted. He further stated: "I believe it was right to go in there. I believe that certainly the execution that has followed that has included many mistakes. But that's easy to say after the event." Murdoch, whose conservative media empire includes Fox News Channel, the New York Post, and The Weekly Standard, vocally supported the war in 2003, citing potential economic benefits. As of November 3, according to CNN, a total of 2,836 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003." -MediaMatters.org 

  ---