First President-Elect Donald Trump appeared to have bullied Carrier air conditionining company to keep hundreds of jobs in Indiana that otherwise would have been moved to Mexico. Now he’s had similar success with Ford. Is it really possible that previous presidents could have stopped outsourcing of American jobs with a few phone calls?
Bully Phone Pulpit
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
31 Comments. Leave new
Words fail me, Ted. Deleting the bookmark to your site, won’t be back.
Russell,
You’re such a snowflake punk. Ted presents the circumstance as a QUESTION, not a declaration. Ted is showing it as it’s seen by us great unwashed masses. Go take a Midol, bitch.
Trump, the SCOTUS, and every fucking House and Senate member (as well as a vastly overpaid bureaucracy) has his/their own corporate sponsors, both apparent and covert. THEY ARE ALL ALREADY MILLIONAIRES. But T-rump has his own stash of cash, he doesn’t need an additional sugar-daddy.
So he can act the bully at corporations. And being the populist that he is, HE WILL also have the people behind him. No doubt, he’ll get slapped down in the long run. But still, it’s great theater.
DanD
Well said, Dan.
Hidee-Ho Danny Joe!
A man once said to me (and I quote) “Chill it, boy. Take your medication. If you talked that way to somebodyâs face, theyâd probably knock the holy fuck out of you. But thatâs how cowards like you usually display themselves in anonymous print. Go and wack off now so you an feel better.”
o’course, I doubt he’d have the cajones to say that to my face…
@ CrazyH –
This is not a put-down, but a hint about Spanish, brought to you from Mexico with the best of intent.
“Cajones” is “drawers” (as in dresser or kitchen).
“Cojones” is “balls.”
I learned it the hard way (no pun intended). đ
I thank you for the language lesson, Sir Teacher. It’s always important for mortal insults to be understood by the intended recipient.
Other essential foreign phrases include: “Where is the bathroom?” and “May I please have another beer?”
đ
@ CrazyH –
With no intent to hijack the thread, I have to confess that I’m still learning.
Just last night I asked a neighbor who is raising chickens: “ÂżHay huevos?” because I have learned that “ÂżTiene huevos?” means “Do you have balls?” instead of “Do you have eggs?”
I didn’t realize that the question inferred that I would like to have some eggs; but he promptly dispatched his wife to go into the house and get me three eggs, as a gift. I offered to pay, but they would have none of that. She informed me that there would be more at a later date.
You live and learn. đ
Yeah, I’ve got three huevos. Big ones, in fact.
đ
One makes them an offer they can’t refuse, Ted – simple ! One can’t but wonder, however, whom Mr Trump can call to make anthropogenic global warming disappear ?.. đ
Henri
I have to admire Trump’s non-reliance on the prestige of the office, but on the forcefulness of his personality to move pieces on his chessboard.
The House resolution to reduce to writing their abandonment of ethics was a forgone conclusion before Trump, as I anticipated he would, tweeted the GOP House leadership to knock it off.
Credit where credit is due.
And as usual no credit is due to Trump.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-tweets-office-of-congressional-ethics-media-played-252142ff445#.w2hbqgmdg
Public outcry , not Trump saved the ethics office. Trump was merely upset at the timing, not the action.
«Public outcry , not Trump saved the ethics office.» May we hope then, that «public outcry» will suffice to prevent the United States government from initiating a war with Russia or China, as the case may be ? Of course, the neocon establishment of both «major» political parties in the United States and their willing tool, the corporate media, are doing their level best to whip up a public outcry for a war with Russia, but I’m sure that our «Whimsical» is doing her/his level best to prevent one….
Henri
Then Trump, in his attempt to make America Great Again, is making Americans great again in their finding the voice they lost under a Democratic president.
Democratic Party voters don’t protest Democratic office holders, so even the most effete consumers may reclaim their vocal citizenship status under Trump.
Trump may become the irritating grain of sand that forms a pearl.
@ Glenn –
America’s laryngitis can be traced back to the years of Ronald Reagan (with a definitive diagnosis during George W. Bush’s tenure) đ
Ted, Ted, Ted-
I’ve known for a long time you don’t care about being fair and accurate in your work, but even for you, this is a new low.
A moment’s research- a moment’s- would’ve revealed that neither of those deals were what Trump claimed them to be:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-ford-motor-idUSKBN13D08J
Ford was never going to close the Kentucky plant, and had no plans of moving production out of there before 2019. Plans which remain in place, despite Trump.
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-carrier-deal-fraudulent-scam-528620
As for Carrier, it wasn’t bullying, at least not on Trumps part. Carrier extorted Trump and Pence for $7 billion to save less than 30% of the jobs they threatened to move to Mexico. Well over half the jobs are still moving right away, the rest will most likely be lost in 18-24 months as Carrier has already admitted they plan to use their blackmail money to automate the plant and eliminate the remaining jobs. As usual for Trump, this so called deal is nothing but a giveaway to the 1% and a giant “screw you” to the working class.
Aren’t you supposed to be against things like that? Oh, I forgot, rather than educate people about why voting for Trump was a sucky choice, your HDS wants them to suffer so they’ll buy into your sick little “revolution” fantasies. Even though you’re totally and completely wrong, I thought you had enough integrity to do that without sucking up to the enemy by taking him at his word and blindly parroting his lies.
Now I know better.
«As for Carrier, it wasnât bullying, at least not on Trumps part. Carrier extorted Trump and Pence for $7 billion to save less than 30% of the jobs they threatened to move to Mexico. Well over half the jobs are still moving right away, the rest will most likely be lost in 18-24 months as Carrier has already admitted they plan to use their blackmail money to automate the plant and eliminate the remaining jobs.»
Amazing to see our beloved gradualist Clintonite, dear «Whimsical», railing against Ted for publishing a cartoon in which Mr Trump’s trompe l’oeil with regard to a pair of his capitalist buddies is the theme. In the Newsweek article to which dear Whimsical kindly provides a link, a suggestion is made how the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs could be hindered more effectively than via a Trump telephone call or SMS :
«One simple way to accomplish this would be to ensure that workers are at the table when those decisions get made. German corporations, for example, cannot get a charter without having worker representation on their boards. Here, though, the union that represents many of the affected Carrier employees wasnât even consulted during the negotiations.»
Wow ! Had Ted dared to present such a proposal, «Whimsical» would no doubt have castigated it as part of his (Ted’s) «sick little ârevolutionâ fantasies». And, indeed, dear Ms Clinton has never, to my knowledge – correct me if I am wrong – said a word about union representation on the boards of large corporations, as in the German model. Or has Whimsical himself become «revolutionary» in his dotage, and now wants to see mandatory unions representation on corporate boards – that in a country in which, after the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama administrations, hardly has any unions left at all ?…
Permit me to doubt….
Henri
We can rest assured that Trump owns no stock in Ford or Carrier.
Now, if he’d do the same for the owner of Donald J Trump clothing line, or Trump Vodka, or the amenities in Trump hotels, THEN I’d be impressed. Or if he’d bully the original owner of the Trump Taj Mahal into paying off all the employees and contractors he stiffed, that would be something.
Watching politics is a little like watching a magician. As he flourishes the hand from which the ball has mysteriously vanished: watch the other hand. You’ll see him surreptitiously drop the ball into his pocket.
I’m pretty sure that a lot of things are going to wind up in The Donald’s pocket as his administration wears on.
It was said of Reagan’s voters that they voted for him for the same reason they want to watch a magic show: they want a fraud they can believe in.
A phone call? Of course. I may be misremembering, but didn’t FDR tell GM that he needed them to switch to a military footing and they said something like, “Sorry. That would cost us money.” And FDR’s response was, “If you don’t, I’ll have you all arrested for treason and I’ll nationalize the auto industry. Do I make myself clear?”
I’ll defer to others with more knowledge on what may be a complete canard.
Here’s how Obama could have gotten universal healthcare (just as an example).
“GOP, I need you to vote yes on universal single-payer healthcare.”
“No.”
“You didn’t let me finish. Or I’ll pardon everyone at Gitmo. And while I’m at it, I’ll pardon every nonviolent drug offender in prison. I’ll wear out every single damned pen in the White House. So let’s try this again. GOP, I need you to vote yes on universal single-payer healthcare.”
“We’ll get back to you.”
“No, you’ll say yes. And you’ll do it now. I’m done trying to play nice with you.” (Hangs up the phone.)
And, this is the crucial bit, he then carries through on his promise.
It really is that simple.
… and then I woke up. :: wink ::
Obamacare was one Democratic vote short of passing, that being the vote of Dennis Kucinich.
So Obama took Dennis for a ride on Air Force One and soon afterward Obama had the vote he needed for his big rip off.
I imagined the conversation Dennis had with Obama involved whether or not he wanted to be on the airplane when it landed.
Democrats were threatening Dennis with being primaried, although that wasn’t necessary because he was redistricted into a district that was majority for an incumbent he was sure to lose to.
I can’t help wondering, Glenn, if Mr Obama offered Mr Kucinich a parachute, in the event he decline to – pardon the pun ! – go along for the ride….
Henri
«The U.S. government gives nothing out of the goodness of itâs heart, if it can be said to have one buried under the mounds of cash it is bought with.» Ah, but Glenn, surely everything will be made right after Mr Trump’s coronation ?…
Henri
But then you’re assuming, Alex, that Mr Obama had an interest in creating a system of universal healthcare in the United States, which while it would have been more effective – more bang for a buck – than the current system, would not have allowed the insurance companies to make such a killing (of all OECD countries, the US system is the dearest at 16.9% of GDP, Japan next at 11.1%). There seems to be as little evidence for that notion as their is for the notion of Russia hacking the late US election….
Henri
See, these are the points I continually strain at.
1. I don’t think Obama was a very good president. But I don’t think he was a stupid man, either. And a smart person can reason it all out: the most rational health plan is a single-payer universal one. It simply doesn’t make sense to do it any other way.
2. It isn’t like healthcare is the only way the rich can screw the poor. There’s a million ways for the high and mighty to pick my pocket legally. Why fixate on healthcare? Give us healthcare and you can trick a whole batch of people into thinking that business really DOES care!!!1!
@ alex_the_tired –
I agree with your 1st point.
Regarding your 2nd point, should “business” (if synonymous with “the rich”) stop to think about keeping young men and women healthy into their late teens so as to send them off to fight their inevitable and perpetual wars, they would support single-payer universal health care and view it as a good investment.
«,,, (of all OECD countries, the US system is the dearest at 16.9% of GDP, Japan next at 11.1%).» Permit me to correct a typo here : the figure for Japan should be 11.2%. Sweden and Germany are tied for third place at 11.1%….
Henri
«Regarding your 2nd point, should âbusinessâ (if synonymous with âthe richâ) stop to think about keeping young men and women healthy into their late teens so as to send them off to fight their inevitable and perpetual wars, they would support single-payer universal health care and view it as a good investment.» One of the reasons, mein verehrter Lehrer, that Mr Nixon abolished conscription and that the US is so intent on automating the battlefield. Who then cares if a large majority of the youth are in poor physical condition and/or otherwise unsuitable for battlefield duties ? Talk about a universal soldier !…
Henri
«2. It isnât like healthcare is the only way the rich can screw the poor. Thereâs a million ways for the high and mighty to pick my pocket legally. Why fixate on healthcare?» I don’t think that it’s a question of «fixat[ing] on health care», Alex, after all, those other 999999 ways of picking your pocket legally continue to be employed. However, health care is not to be sneezed at ; at 16.9% of the US GDP, which in 2015 is recorded at slightly more than 18 TUSD (i e, 18 x 10ÂčÂČ USD), it amounts to more than 3 TUSD, a handy sum. Why should Mr Obama risk irritating extremely powerful people to implement a system in which he didn’t personally believe and which would not benefit him in any way (he and his family have, after all, medical expenses covered) ?…
Screwing the poor is the very basis of the capitalist system ; while there definitely are arguments for universal single-payer health care under capitalism, they have not hitherto appeared sufficiently strong to carry the day against entrenched interests in the US. We shall have to wait and see what happens post-Trump – if, indeed, there is a post-Trump….
Henri
PS : I agree with your assessment of Mr Obama’s intelligence ; he does indeed seem to be an intelligent man. But despite his intelligence, he’s done a poor job when it comes to that part of US politics which is of greatest interest to me, as a foreigner, i e, foreign policy. He leaves the world in a more parlous state now, in 2017, than it was in 2009, when he assumed office – and everything wasn’t precisely hunky-dory then, either !…
@mhenriday on January 8, 2017 at 3:37 AM
We have both come independently to the same conclusion about conscription.
If the young people will not be for the wealthy people[ ‘s wars] then the wealthy people would not be for the young people[‘s health and education].
Class war and generation gap converges here.
Both FDR and LBJ curried favor with the people only to get them into trumped up wars.
The U.S. government gives nothing out of the goodness of it’s heart, if it can be said to have one buried under the mounds of cash it is bought with.
Ha ha, this’ll piss people off. The thing is, the answer is yes, but thats not of course what Trump is doing here. He “saved” 1/2 of 1% of the number of jobs added in a bad month. But if someone had been paying attention, things could have been done back when.