Plant Shutdown

For a time in the mid-90s, I took a break from radio to work in the automotive industry.  More specifically, I found work at a Mazda/Ford subcontractor south of Detroit that processed freshly-assembled vehicles for storage or shipment to dealers and fleets.
Winter was our busiest time of year, with dealers replenishing their stock, often necessitating working in sub-zero temperatures seven days a week, 11 hours a day.  Summer, on the other hand, resulted in a decrease in work, with summer layoff options available to those with higher seniority who preferred to collect unemployment and not use any accrued vacation time...until the winter, of course.
July was especially fun.  The Flat Rock Assembly Plant shut down for two weeks to install new sheetmetal dies and other tooling for the coming model year.  Most of us who had stayed on were primarily kept busy with accessorizing or special projects.  Though the plant closed, the show still went on for us.
And we still got paid.
Imagine going 16 days without a paycheck, yet still being asked to report for work each day.  Sound crazy?
Yet the leadership in Washington asked just that of many of the workers who support the federal government in some capacity or another.  And they did it.
Not sure if I could do the same thing.
What was allowed to happen is nothing short of an absolute travesty.  Our founding fathers are spinning in their graves.  Other countries are laughing at us harder than ever...rolling on the floor this time.
Thankfully, it's finally over.  But the effects of it are still lingering and will for some time.
Our leaders on Capitol Hill have progressed to the level of their own incompetence, proving that the fiscal crisis of 2008 has taught them nothing.
I encourage those of you who do vote, to run your Congressional leaders out of town on a rail this year.  If you don't vote, then now's the time to register.  We need to prove now more than ever that the will of the people is strong, and our strength is in our numbers.  We have the first African-American President of the United States for this very reason.
Why vote them out?  Because I don't know of a single congressman or U.S. senator who offered to return his or her paycheck to the U.S. Treasury until the crisis was resolved, yet many federal departments were shut down and many seniors and disabled citizens worried sick over whether or not they would receive their Social Security checks.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, so I'll say this: Anyone who did give their check back, you can stay in office.  The rest of you, most of whom are already wealthy, can clean out your desks.
The answer is not a redistribution of wealth.  It's the realignment of priorities.  To put partisan bickering aside and be very cognizant of the fact that when the government shuts down, we are very vulnerable.  September 11th vulnerable.  Need I say more?
Or has Capitol Hill already forgotten that as well?
Not us.
And Tuesday, November 5th is the time to prove it.
See you at the polls.



NEXT WEEK:  Another kind of shutdown