Search Results for State of the Union

Tennessee Volkswagen plant vote could be another step forward for UAWViewThe United Auto Workers’ ambitious drive to expand its reach to nonunion factories across the South and elsewhere is facing a key test Friday night as workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, finish voting on whether to join the union.The UAW’s ranks in the auto industry have dwindled over the years as foreign-based companies with nonunion U.S. plants have sold increasingly more vehicles.Twice in recent years, workers at the Chattanooga plant have rejected union membership. Most recently, they handed the UAW a narrow defeat in 2019 as federal prosecutors were breaking up a bribery-and-embezzlement scandal at the union.But this time, the UAW is operating under new leadership, directly elected by its members for the first time and basking in a successful confrontation with Detroit’s major automakers. The union’s pugnacious new president, Shawn Fain, was elected on a platform…

Joe Biden’s Drug-Price ConundrumSuppose the president asked you to design the ideal piece of legislation—the perfect mix of good politics and good policy. You’d probably want to pick something that saves people a lot of money. You’d want it to fix a problem that people have been mad about for a long time, in an area that voters say they care about a lot—such as, say, health care. You’d want it to appeal to voters across the political spectrum. And you’d want it to be a policy that polls well.You would, in other words, want something like letting Medicare negotiate prescription-drug prices. This would make drugs much more affordable for senior citizens—who vote like crazy—and, depending on the poll, it draws support from 80 to 90 percent of voters. The idea has been championed by both Bernie Sanders and Joe Manchin. Turn it into reality, and surely you’d see parades…

The Manufactured Crisis of Migrant Terrorists at the BorderSince late 2020, Border Patrol along the United States–Mexico border has encountered over 6.9 million illegal crossers. A recent Pew Research survey reveals that 57 percent of respondents consider “dealing with immigration” a top policy priority this election year—just below “defending against terrorism” at 63 percent.  Amid this backdrop, politicians and pundits have been quick to conflate these issues, holding numerous congressional hearings on the purported threat of terrorists entering the U.S. to commit acts of terror. This has given rise to a flood of rhetoric about said terrorists exploiting border chaos to harm Americans.  Despite this fearmongering, the actual threat of foreign-born terrorism is relatively minor and manageable. New research from the Cato Institute indicates that since 1975, the annual likelihood of an American being murdered in a foreigner-committed terrorist attack is about one in 4.5 million. Nonetheless, the public remains…

Like It Or Not, Driverless Semi Trucks Are Rolling Despite Teamsters Cali Win  The International Brotherhood of Teamsters may be taking a victory lap after the California Assembly Transportation Committee pushed through a pair of the union’s bills. However, states such as Kentucky and Texas are backing driverless big rigs. Autonomous delivery vehicles are being tested on Texas highways and the U.S. Department of Transportation recently approved a $2 million grant, so Fort Worth could test weather sensors to support driverless commercial motor vehicle safety. The effort is part of a Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation initiative designed to support and grow the number of driverless semi-trucks operating on Lone Star State roads. “Weather phenomena like severe rainfall and dense fog can degrade the accuracy of critical vehicle sensors, potentially leading to inaccuracies affecting vehicle performance during hazardous road weather conditions,” a release by Fort Worth officials states. The sensors…

The SpeechwriterOne summer morning, seven months after he had turned 80, my husband, Dick Goodwin, came down the stairs, clumps of shaving cream on his earlobes, singing, “The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye,” from the musical Oklahoma!“Why so chipper?” I asked.“I had a flash,” he said, looking over the headlines of the three newspapers I had laid out for him on the breakfast table in our home in Concord, Massachusetts. Putting them aside, he started writing down numbers. “Three times eight is 24. Three times 80 is 240.”“Is that your revelation?” I asked.“Look, my 80-year life span occupies more than a third of our republic’s history. That means that our democracy is merely three ‘Goodwins’ long.”I tried to suppress a smile.“Doris, one Goodwin ago, when I was born, we were in the midst of the Great Depression. Pearl Harbor happened on December 7, 1941, my 10th birthday….

Beauty in Bluff Country: A Southern Minnesota Motorcycle RideThis Southern Minnesota motorcycle ride included an early morning stop at Church Hill Overlook on the Root River with a great view of the Lanesboro Stone Dam, constructed in 1868 with unmortared limestone blocks. (Photos by the author and Chad Cochran.) Motorcyclists living in Minnesota experience long winters with plenty of time to think about roads we want to ride. It’s a sweet feeling when spring arrives and the bikes come out of hibernation. My son, Chad, feels the same way. We kicked off the riding season with an overnight Minnesota motorcycle ride down the Great River Road (U.S. Route 61) on the western bank of the Mississippi River, through what is often referred to as Bluff Country. The area’s complex hilly terrain has been carved out over eons by the Mississippi and other waterways large and small. Scan QR code above…