OldFordJim

If Applebees is giving free meals to Toyota workers only, then that's ashame. They should be supporting the American auto industry instead or as well. I will say this for them, I'm a veteran and on Veterans Day, they do offer a list of free meals to all veterans who come in and show their DD214 or other proof of service. I went this past Veterans Day to the one near Westland Mall and the place was packed with vets of all ages and I thought that was a great gesture.

I just bought a new 2010 last week. Automatic and mostly city driving and so far, I'm averaging 21 mpg. I'm sure it'll get better as more miles get added.

I just bought a new 2010 Friday and man do I like this car. I would like to have had another Fusion but, my wife wanted to go smaller and she liked the looks of the Focus. So, Focus it was and so far, no regrets. I got the SEL model with alot of good things on it but, I can't get over the ride and handling of it. It's nice and quiet and takes the rough roads very well. Can't wait to see what my mileage is going to be. I got Blue Storm for the color with black leather interior.

When are some people going to get it. It doesn't matter which party it is, Repuklicans or Democraps. They are ALL the same. They are ALL for one thing, themselves. They could care less for us. To them it's all about the power. Being in the House or Senate is for one reason and one reason only. To get rich. They are two sides of the same coin and every two years they flip themselves into the air and when it lands, whatever side is up gets to run the country for awhile. And forget about any third party springing up. It'll never happen. Becuase the media is right in bed with the two parties and will totally ignore any third party or third party candidate, unless they cover it to amuse themselves and have a good laugh with the Reps and Dems.

Most of you guys have been working for the company for awhile. Don't any of you know by now that in the companys eyes and the publics eyes, that when something goes wrong in the industry, it's our fault, UAW members. When things go right and there's huge success, it's because of the brilliant mgt decisions at the top.We had nothing to do with it. It's always been like that, always will.

Let me tell you about a little incident that happened a couple of days before this all went into effect. My wife had to get a refill on some pills and it was for a 90 day refill. Since it was a generic, under the old plan, it would $10 for a 90 day supply, $20 under the new plan. When I went to pick it up, the pharmacy said we could only get a 30 day supply for $10. I asked why, since the previous refill was for 90 days. She said Blue Care told them to do that. I couldn't figure out why till a short while later. They didn't want to lose the $10 extra we would pay under the new plan. So, they told the pharmacy to give us 30 days so that on the next refill, we can probably get 90 days under the new pricing. Slick, real slick.

I retired in 2000. Just before I left, I was told Ibetter be sure because once you're gone, there's no going back. No changing your mind, you're done. Now salaried is different. In the late 90's, Livonia Trans called back some supervisors that had retired a few months earlier. They were back for like a 6 month run and were paid pretty good.

Fusion named Motor Trend Car Of The Year, Dodge Ram named Truck Of The Year.

I love it. Nail their asses to the wall. Hondas next. Time to bring down their haughty asses, too. Another thing I'd like to see is Consumer Reports say that they've been giving false praise to the foreign carmakers and purposely trying to bring down American cars. I've been saying for the last few years that CR is in the back pockets of the foreign companies. Can't tell me that just about every American car has been substandard compared to the foreigners. Just like last year, they said how Ford quality was now on par with the best the Japanese offered, then a couple of months later in their annual car issue, Ford is way down the list with the quote, "Ford still has a long ways to go". Of course, now they're saying how great some of the Ford products are. They have to, because it's true.

We had our retirees Christmas party today at Local 182 in Livonia and our local president spoke to all of us and said that three weeks ago he received the info on the Veba plan for retirees. He said he was shocked that there were changes because up to that point, he was told that there would be NO changes to the retirees health care. He said he was not happy about this.

Remember when the Cash For Clunkers program was first proposed? At first it was only going to be for American cars. Right away, the Asians and Europeans began wailing and gnashing their teeth saying,"that's not fair trade, that's not fair trade". In other words, to them, it's only fair if we let their cars in for free and they tax the crap out of ours going into their countries. If our government had any balls, and that's both Repukes and Democraps, they'd tell all them foreign car makers to shove their cars up their ass and keep them away.

Anybody on the board ever had both health care plans? I've got BCN right now but, my wife and I were thinking about switching to HAP. From what I've read, coverage from both is nearly identical but, it appears that HAP might be rated a little higher than BCN. So, anybody had both and, if so, which did you think was better. Appreciate any comments you can give. Thanks.

The $600 was what the active employees got. The retirees, originally, were given $800 that was called a Lump Sum Payment. It was never called Christmas Bonus. Because it came in December, though, everybody referred to it as an Xmas Bonus. And in the 07 contract, it was lowered from $800 to $700 plus, no taxes were taken out either. But we do have to claim it as income at tax time. And to any active worker who asks why we retirees get this? I say, WHY NOT!

That is a great shade of blue. Looks like the same color they put on the F-150 and Focus. I've seen a couple of Adrenalins in a real bright red and it looks just fabulous.

Spring, what's with that Kaiser health thing? I've never heard of them before and when I looked them up, they're not even in Michigan. Do you anything about them and where do you see that that's what the retirees are going to have to take.

I'm already retired, 9 yrs. I don't think losing the vision and dental is in this but, we'll probably lose it anyway in January when VEBA takes effect.

Hey, you guys have to pass it. Don't you want your $1,000 Quality Bonus in March?

Yup, I heard it, too. The thing with sending skilled trades to the assy line is, that they will still get their pay as skilled trades.

Hmmm, The Warthog and Fordworker. All they need is a third village idiot and they could be The New 3 Stooges. Better yet, reading what they have to say is like watching a puppet show with Obama having his hand up their asses doing a ventriloquist act.

What are you complaining about, you've got healthcare. Probably the same one as I do. I do NOT back any party. Far as I'm concerned, none of them have our best interests at heart, only their own. And I am for healthcare reform as much as anyone but, not the way they want to do it. Shove it through without anybody knowing what's in it. Don't you think that's pretty stupid? What's wrong with coming up with a plan everybody can understand and ironing out all the details and then voting on it. You wouldn't buy an house or car without reading the contract to make sure everything is in order? Why can't the same thing be done with healthcare? That's what alot of those people at the townhall meetings are griping about. They don't want something shoved down their throats before they know details. Plus, alot of them are older people, like myself and they're afraid that with the government behind this, they'll be left in the dust. That only younger people will be considered worthy enough for healthcare and that they would be told, "hey, you're 70 yrs old, you don't really need this or that. Let a younger person have it". And by the way, I've been a UAW member for nearly 45 yrs and thank the union and God Almighty for every benefit we have. And my son has 15 yrs with the company and union and appreciates every thing he has earned.

I don't know. I guess it's because I get tired of twits like you who hang on every word that a politician tells as gospel truth. Because you actually think they care about you, me, everybody. Guess what, Warthog, they don't. They only care about what they're going to get out of it. They are there only to push their own agenda. Doesn't matter if they're Repukes or Democraps, they only care about us every four years when they want to keep their jobs. Why don't you get your head out of Obamas ass long enough to have an original thought instead of coming on here and sounding like his paid little echo.

What, that the recession is over or the stats in link to thenewamerican.com. The recession is far from being over. I don't care what clown says were coming out of it. Even Geithner and Obama don't believe were out of it yet. But the article, yes, I do believe the poverty level has gone up and the median income has most certainly gone down. With unemployment at record highs, of course median incomes are down. Those people that have lost their jobs have no income, except for jobless benefits. And most are dipping into savings or even 401k's to pay their bills.

Yup! Recessions over!

COMING OUT OF A RECESSION? Somebody needs to get the facts right. We are not coming out of a recession. We're still in one. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was on GMA and he said, we are not out of any recession and that Pres. Obama says the same exact thing. He said there's no sense in tooting any horns yet, still a long way to go and when we emerge, the president himself will say so.

I drove by Jack Demmer Ford yesterday and didn't see one Focus on the front of his lot or his holding lot next door. In fact, Demmer looked like they only had about half the cars they had two weeks ago.