Obama: Caterpillar will rehire if stimulus passes

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Glad to hear that your position is ok at least Gary. 2009 is shaping up to be a hard year.

[Peikko 1,575]

Obama is no more or less trustworthy than anyone else who might have got elected to the presidency last year. At least he has a brain, whether he'll use it for the 'good of the people' or his own gain, well...

[SMOKE 1,426]

Obama is no more or less trustworthy than anyone else who might have got elected to the presidency last year. At least he has a brain, whether he'll use it for the 'good of the people' or his own gain, well...

well you can HOPE he will keep some of his promises. he has put some CHANGE in his buddies pockets now. i BELEIVE he is full of it & America bought a lemon from a used car salesman......yah i'm going to enjoy doing this the next 4 years.

[Peikko 1,575]

Obama is no more or less trustworthy than anyone else who might have got elected to the presidency last year. At least he has a brain, whether he'll use it for the 'good of the people' or his own gain, well...

well you can HOPE he will keep some of his promises. he has put some CHANGE in his buddies pockets now. i BELEIVE he is full of it & America bought a lemon from a used car salesman......yah i'm going to enjoy doing this the next 4 years.

Enjoy it? Why? Unless of course he is successful, then the whole country will have reason to be happy.

Would McCain Palin have been less of a 'lemon'? I somewhat doubt it myself.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Obama is no more or less trustworthy than anyone else who might have got elected to the presidency last year. At least he has a brain, whether he'll use it for the 'good of the people' or his own gain, well...

well you can HOPE he will keep some of his promises. he has put some CHANGE in his buddies pockets now. i BELEIVE he is full of it & America bought a lemon from a used car salesman......yah i'm going to enjoy doing this the next 4 years.

Enjoy it? Why? Unless of course he is successful, then the whole country will have reason to be happy.

Would McCain Palin have been less of a 'lemon'? I somewhat doubt it myself.

first, i shouldn't have quoted you. i'm sorry. you weren't one of them doing it. (the 24/7 praising lord master obama & screw anyone that opposes our messiah BS we've been reading for months here)

enjoy it- coz the ones that have been doing it, can count on being on the recieving end of it the next 4 years. after all he has already flipped on quite a few of his campaign promises. my fav. this far is the 'change, new politics, new faces' garbage he has 180'd on.

but, i'm quite sure the hits will keep coming. like this pork feast we're being force fed now. YES WE CAN all see what a BSer obama is now.

mccain/palin wouldn't have been 'peachy', but they were honest about where we are as a nation & weren't lying to us to get votes.

[Peikko 1,575]

Obama is no more or less trustworthy than anyone else who might have got elected to the presidency last year. At least he has a brain, whether he'll use it for the 'good of the people' or his own gain, well...

well you can HOPE he will keep some of his promises. he has put some CHANGE in his buddies pockets now. i BELEIVE he is full of it & America bought a lemon from a used car salesman......yah i'm going to enjoy doing this the next 4 years.

Enjoy it? Why? Unless of course he is successful, then the whole country will have reason to be happy.

Would McCain Palin have been less of a 'lemon'? I somewhat doubt it myself.

first, i shouldn't have quoted you. i'm sorry. you weren't one of them doing it. (the 24/7 praising lord master obama & screw anyone that opposes our messiah BS we've been reading for months here)

enjoy it- coz the ones that have been doing it, can count on being on the recieving end of it the next 4 years. after all he has already flipped on quite a few of his campaign promises. my fav. this far is the 'change, new politics, new faces' garbage he has 180'd on.

but, i'm quite sure the hits will keep coming. like this pork feast we're being force fed now. YES WE CAN all see what a BSer obama is now.

mccain/palin wouldn't have been 'peachy', but they were honest about where we are as a nation & weren't lying to us to get votes.

So, in your opinion only Democrats lie to get elected? Or was it just this particular pairing that were the 'honest' candidates?

I don't think Obama is particularly special in terms of political honesty, but I don't really see how one can be blinded to the failings and short comings of the GOP but be somehow a visionary about the Dems. It's such a spurious method of comparison. My guy (who you don't know from Adam) is the honest guy, your guy is the liar. Really, this is pathetic.

[SMOKE 1,426]

So, in your opinion only Democrats lie to get elected? Or was it just this particular pairing that were the 'honest' candidates?

I don't think Obama is particularly special in terms of political honesty, but I don't really see how one can be blinded to the failings and short comings of the GOP but be somehow a visionary about the Dems. It's such a spurious method of comparison. My guy (who you don't know from Adam) is the honest guy, your guy is the liar. Really, this is pathetic.

no they all lie. BUT, obama won, so i'm talking about HIS lies. obama was the one preaching 'the end of politics as usual' & 'change' which both were complete BS.

btw- you asked if mccain/palin would be less of a lemon. i pointed out they were truthful on the state of the nation & ecomony.

pathetic- yep, like most of your post. when you try to spin what others have said to fit what somehow you've read into it.

Edited February 12, 2009 by SMOKE

[Peikko 1,575]

So, in your opinion only Democrats lie to get elected? Or was it just this particular pairing that were the 'honest' candidates?

I don't think Obama is particularly special in terms of political honesty, but I don't really see how one can be blinded to the failings and short comings of the GOP but be somehow a visionary about the Dems. It's such a spurious method of comparison. My guy (who you don't know from Adam) is the honest guy, your guy is the liar. Really, this is pathetic.

no they all lie. BUT, obama won, so i'm talking about HIS lies. obama was the one preaching 'the end of politics as usual' & 'change' which both were complete BS.

btw- you asked if mccain/palin would be less of a lemon. i pointed out they were truthful on the state of the nation & ecomony.

pathetic- yep, like most of your post. when you try to spin what others have said to fit what somehow you've read into it.

Who was lying about the state of the nation and the economy? I don't remember Obama saying the economy was peachy. Perhaps I missed that part. Seriously dude, McCain had no remedy for the economy either. Maybe he would have done less than the proposed stimulus package but I somewhat doubt it. I expect that it would have been heavy tax cuts for corporations. So less spending, but less income too = same equivalent position and no stimulus either. Not a great solution either.

I am no fan of Obama, never have been, but I still think he was the better choice of the two options available.

[SMOKE 1,426]

I still think he was the better choice of the two options available.

as much as i don't like to. i have to agree w/ that.....but, i'm still gonna enjoy poking the obama supporters every chance i get. i'm just like that you know.

[Peikko 1,575]

Hahaha, fair enough.

I don't have much confidence in governmental intervention in 'the economy' in this sense at all. I don't think anyone really has a clue what to do. Personally, I would like to see certain things happen, for me a really important thing to achieve is to restructure the health care business. Specifically make it work for the users not simply the insurers. I am not quite sure what the best approach is, although it does seem to me that one can't get away from the idea that if one has a large 'pool' of people then one has the best chance of creating a fair system. Small pools make difficult, particularly if one has selected out the most healthy people, who are needed to offset those who are not. For the most part, being healthy is a matter of chance, not choice, although of course there are decisions that one can make that do have an effect.

Anyway, I digress off topic...

[MrsCat 6]

Sorry to hear that Gary. It must have been a tough day. It would be a strange sense of emotion. Happy that your job is safe, yet sad, perhaps guilty that your fellow coworkers are gone.

BUT, nice to see you again sir!

[HAL 9000 96]

So will Gary get to meet President Obama? I hear he will visit the East Peoria plant TODAY along with the CAT CEO.

[Donna A 4]

i know how u must be feeling as we went from 3 shifts in june to 2 in january and 1 will be in april. there is already 2000 of us laid off and another 800 coming up soon. u have to have about 25 years senority in there to be still working. it sucks for sure.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

My company is buying a brand new D9.

[GaryC 7]

I knew it was to good to be true. Now Owens is saying that there may be more lay-offs. Why can't we just get the truth from ANYONE????

And no, I didn't go to see Obama. The security around the plant was nuts. He was here while I have my sleep time anyway. This is going to get worse before it gets better. I may yet get laid off.

Owens announces possibility of more layoffs

By STEVE TARTER

of the Journal Star

Posted Feb 12, 2009 @ 05:21 PM

Last update Feb 12, 2009 @ 09:59 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EAST PEORIA — Layoffs at Caterpillar Inc. may not be over despite the recent statement by Chairman and CEO Jim Owens that the company might recall employees with the passage of a stimulus package.

"We'll probably have more layoffs before we start hiring again," said Owens at an impromptu news conference after President Barack Obama's appearance Thursday at Caterpillar's Building HH.

Owens said the slowdown that hit Caterpillar in November has put plans on hold.

"We don't want false expectations. If we sign a stimulus bill, that doesn't mean we'll start hiring right away," he said.

Caterpillar Inc. has laid off 22,000 people worldwide in recent months but if the recession worsens, "there may have to be more (layoffs)," said Owens.

Despite racking up record profits in 2008, "(Caterpillar) went from booming demand to order cancellations in November," said Owens, who pledged support for Obama's stimulus bill despite calling the bill "a little light on infrastructure investment."

Recharging the global economy also will require stimulus packages from other nations, he said.

"China's (stimulus package) could have a more immediate impact," said Owens. "A coordinated global strategy is necessary to get back to recent employment levels."

But returning lost jobs isn't likely to happen anytime soon, Owens said.

"If the stimulus package is approved, we could see the potential benefit in the United States later in 2009," he said.

"It all depends on demand. (Caterpillar) went from 70,000 to 112,000 employees in five years before we hit a brick wall in late 2008.

"Unfortunately, we've had to make adjustments. If things get worse, we'll always adjust production."

U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, said news of more possible layoffs at Caterpillar highlights the importance of passing a "responsible" economic stimulus bill even more.

"That's concerning and all the more reason why we have to get this right and more reason why we have to have a responsible stimulus bill and not wasteful spending," Schock said.

Schock flew from Washington, D.C., to Peoria with Obama, Owens and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. The quartet had some discussion about the proposal.

Schock empathized with Owens about how long it will take for the stimulus bill to take effect.

"It's an enormous amount of money. A spending bill the history of our country has never seen and we have to get it right," Schock said.

Owens' backpedaling over rehiring laid-off workers took some of the wind out of the president's sails, said Billy Halstead, chairman of the Peoria County Democratic Party.

"Obama's appearance in Peoria was specifically designed to promote the impact of the stimulus package," he said.

"It probably should have been addressed earlier that we haven't reached bottom in this economic downturn yet."

Rick Doty, president of United Auto Workers Local 974 in East Peoria, already had gone on record as being skeptical of Owens' pledge (to rehire workers if the stimulus bill passed).

"He didn't say Peoria area (workers), did he? If that's what he meant, he would have said so, in my opinion," Doty said.

"It's going to take awhile. People will be recalled when orders come back in," he said.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1848780421/Owe...of-more-layoffs