As a Seattleite, my whole life I have been surronded by Boeing news. It seemed (probably incorrectly) that there was always a local news story about the latest Boeing layoff, or the latest union strike. Boeing is such an integral part of Seattle culture that it used to be a common joke to ask someone when you met them if they work at Microsoft or Boeing.
A week or so ago, Boeing was in the news - this time for a national issue. Boeing is attempting to build a factory in (open for business!) South Carolina. It has become controversial, and a partisan issue because the factory in South Carolina would not have union employees who have been "known to strike when contract negociations begin." There were two op-eds which focused on this issue and have caused quite a stir, "How Democrats Hurt Job Creation," by Joe Nocera and "Removing the Obstacles to Economic Growth," by Eric Cantor. These two articles attack the president, as well as the National Labor Relations Board for attempting to block the jobs which would be created by having the plants located in South Carolina. The suggestions of the National Labor Relations Board are to move the plant, and the jobs to Washington.
After feeling a little conflicted about the issue, because I love Boeing and view it is a solely Puget Sound company, Media Matters published a rebuttal on the whole issue that can be found at this link: http://mediamatters.org/research/201108240026 . Check it all out!
In other links for the day, here's a blog post (yet again from SLOG) which Paul Constant explains why he wishes that the President would encite class warfare : "God I Wish the President Declared Class War," by Paul Constant
Also, I am in Milwaukee this weekend visiting friends before I head off to Chicago.
xo
wowza. i read the SLOG article, and to be honest i think the most interesting part was the reader comments! ha
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