Blame for Boeing leaving? This state's politcal leadership.

.
When your political leadership has but two over-arching duties; that is, to get re-elected and to placate unions, there is a tendency to lose sight of reality.

Washington State legislative leadership is a deep, dark, blue. Political leadership, particularly in the areas where Boeing is located (Primarily in the Puget Sound region) is not unlike the paint job on my Mazda pick up: a blue so dark it approaches black.

The fact of the matter is this: Governor Gregoire does not hesitate to take the credit when someone writes a piece of fiction about how great the business climate of this state actually is. Those of us actually paying attention would frequently wonder: exactly what state was Forbes talking about?

We live in a state with unbelievable taxes. My business is off over 50%, in losses directly attributable to the Obama economy. Yet, that won't reduce my requirement on me of having to carry a several hundred dollar business and occupation tax check down to the Department of Revenue Office later this afternoon (Unlike the paper, which got a 40% cut to THEIR tax this year) with no deductions of any kind because I'm not yet small enough to earn any, though Gregoire and Obama seem to be working on reducing our business income even more.

Boeing tried to tell us when they moved corporate to Chicago. Our deep, dark, blue political and union leadership didn't listen. And Boeing is a microcosm of the entire business climate of Washington State.

Boeing has begun to emulate the same kind of business evacuation that's taking place in Kalleyforrrnia. And Governor, I submit to you that your call for tax increases in the midst of this horrific Obama recession is not causing business leadership to look at each others and say "Tax increases? That's a DAMNED fine reason to stay here."

Add that to increasingly emboldened, legislatively-backed union extortion, and you have a recipe for a business evacuation plan.

So, Governor, when it comes to blame, you might want to stand in front of a mirror, and look into ever-shrinking concentric circles. There's room for Lisa and Frank in front of that same mirror as well.

You know... just like you do whenever we have good business or economic news? Like that?
.

Boeing Bails Out of Washington State: 787 line to be set up in..... South Carolina!

.
So, Boeing pulled the rip cord after bailing out on the Soviet Socialist Republic of Washington, with our democrat and union-controlled government, putting the second 787 line in ol' South Carolina.

And who can blame them?

Given the choice between setting up a huge business expansion here in the land of regulation, permits, unions, taxes and fees and South Carolina, is their ANY possibility that anyone would stay here?

With the move of corporate HQ into the hell-hole scum pit known as Chicago, Boeing sent the governmet of this state a message... a message our leftist leaders, who've been taking the Lazy B for granted for decades, chose to ignore.

Well, democrats and unions... have you heard THIS message?

Aerospace News

boeingairplanemanufacturingairbusEADSSeattle

« Boeing holds emergency meeting for 787 employees | Main | Boeing says why it picked South Carolina »

Boeing picks South Carolina for 787 line

A worker walks past one of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners at the production facility in Everett. A second production line for the airplane will be going to South Carolina. Washington State hoped to land the second line. (Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com)

Boeing has decided to put its second line for building the 787 in North Charleston, S.C., not Everett.

"The decision has been reached," Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon told reporters in front of the Everett Machinists Hall.

Joshua Trujillo / P-I

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon talks with Boeing Machinist Charlie Grieser outside the union hall in Everett after announcing that Boeing's second 787 production line will be going to South Carolina.

Seattlepi.com photographer Josh Trujillo reported that Reardon said: "We have to move forward ... there are still thousands of men and women who work for the company in this community."

Reardon said the the aerospace giant and the machinists have to continue talks to ensure that jobs stay in the region.

"We have to make a conscious decision in the state of Washington," he said. "Are we going to throw are hands up and say, 'We did the best we could?' ... the relationship between Boeing and Machinists have to be improved. We have to resolve those differences."

Boeing made the official announcement moments later. "Boeing evaluated criteria that were designed to find the final assembly location within the company that would best support the 787 business plan as the program increases production rates. In addition to serving as a location for final assembly of 787 Dreamliners, the facility also will have the capability to support the testing and delivery of the airplanes," the company said in a statement.

It said it remains committed to the Puget Sound region and that it will continue to build 787s in Everett.

The announcement ends weeks of speculation, debate and negotiation. Boeing and the Machinists union were reportedly deadlocked over a deal in which the labor group would promise not to strike should the second line be in Everett.

Boeing employees in Everett were disappointed by the decision and insisted Everett was the right place for the second line.

"We have the skill and manpower here in Everett to produce the second line, but we haven't been given that chance," said Zen Jenne, a union member who has been with Boeing for three years.

"I'm angry, I hurt for the workers, I think the company made the wrong decision," Gov. Chris Gregoire said at a news conference in Olympia.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who was rebuffed by the company after she asked them to continue talks with union workers, said "I really believed that the two sides could've come together and had a good deal for both Boeing and the Pacific Northwest, and unfortunately we can't reach that now," she told KING5 news.

"Very clearly, they were a stone's throw apart in providing some real job stability, which Boeing has been telling us a long time that's what they wanted. I thought there was time...to make that agreement and unfortunately Boeing saw it differently."

Workers at the South Carolina plant recently voted to remove the union from the North Charleston plant.

Boeing's engineering union blasted the decision, saying it "will hurt a program already stretched to its limit."

"We are astounded that Boeing has chosen to compound the problems of the 787 program by further fragmenting the supply chain," said Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001. "There is no credible business case for this decision."

A number of SPEEA-represented engineers and technical workers are already in South Carolina. Goforth said the union will follow members and the work as Boeing expands operations in Charleston for the new 787 line.

State lawmakers just completed an incentive package to bring the line to South Carolina.

Meanwhile, Washington state officials, including U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Chris Gregoire, urged Boeing and the Machinists to keep talking.

South Carolina officials reacted with glee at the announcement.

Gov. Mark Sanford called it the largest infusion of jobs and capital investment in that state's history.

He said it "represents not only enormously good news for our state's economy, but also a telling dividend from our state's continued efforts to better our business climate. For us, that means lowering taxes, easing regulatory burdens in our state's tort and workers' compensation systems, and keeping South Carolina a right-to-work state." Sanford said.

In Everett, Charlie Grieser, a 767 quality team leader and a member of the Aerospace Machinists union, said he felt betrayed by Boeing.

He noted that the company was given about $3 billion in tax breaks in 2003 to build the 787 in Washington state.

"They were given that money to build the 787 here. Not half the 787 here," Grieser said, a 32-year company veteran. "I think this is going to poison all of the state on Boeing."

.

Fascinating question by the Seattle Times: Where is Frank Chopp and why won't he talk to us?

.
Frank Chopp is the Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives.

Although he is from what may arguably be THE most liberal district in the country (Where else would anyone have a statute celebrating the virtues of V.I. Lenin?) he frequently disappoints the more fringe-leftist of the democrat mob.

Well, apparently, absense makes the heart grow fonder... and Speaker Chopp seems to be absenting himself for days at a time from the clutches of the Olympia press corps.

Meanwhile, his Senate counterpasrt and the Governor are not nearly so constrained with the media.

One wonders: why?

Well, the Seattle Times is pondering those issues, questions and more.

FASSSSSSScinating.

March 20, 2009 12:50 PM

Where is Frank Chopp and why won't he talk to us?

Posted by Andrew Garber

That's a good question, especially if you're a reporter covering the state Legislature. Because he almost never talks to us.

Chopp is the speaker of the House of Representatives and one of the most powerful politicians in the state, second perhaps only to the governor. He has the power to kill legislation and, in many cases, revive it from the dead.

And for some reason he avoids reporters like the plague. The Legislature has been in session 67 days now and Chopp has allowed the Olympia press corps into his office three times. Phone interviews are equally rare.

There were rumors he'd meet with reporters this week. But as usual it was canceled. He's too busy, his staff said.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, and Gov. Chris Gregoire usually make time to talk publicly about what they're doing.

Brown has had 10 news conferences this session. She also returns phone calls, does one-on-one interviews and frequently will stop to talk in the hallway.

Gregoire has had more than two dozen news conferences and telephone conference calls with reporters in Olympia and Seattle and even out of state. She'll stop and talk if you see her, and is often available for telephone interviews.

There are a lot of questions reporters would like to ask Chopp as the session nears the final stretch:

More:
.

Is the Speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives delusional?

.
Chopp: Washington State's deficit "not that bad?"

How much worse does it need to get before it hits the "bad" level? Isn't upwards of $6 Billion bad enough? The $6 billion figure represents roughly an 18% or so percentage of the budget...

Preliminary figures from Victor Moore, the Guv's budget director, tell us of cuts to public education of around a billion dollars in state funding.

And I, for one, would like to see a little more information on cuts. We've known about this outcome for months. Staff should have already made their recommendations, and we already should have seen them.

What's the hold up?

Originally published Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Comments (2) E-mail article Print view

Chopp: Washington's deficit not that bad
House Speaker Frank Chopp said Washington's projected deficit may not be as bad as it looks.

By Michelle Dupler

Tri-City Herald

KENNEWICK — House Speaker Frank Chopp said Washington's projected deficit may not be as bad as it looks.

Chopp, a Seattle Democrat, was in the Tri-Cities Friday for a forum with the Columbia Basin Badger Club, a local group that grills politicians and newsmakers on political issues without taking sides.

Several club members from the audience of about 75 asked Chopp about the state budget, which officials estimated in November would face a $5.1 billion shortfall in the upcoming biennium.

But Chopp said the doom-and-gloom prophecies include estimates for $1 billion in spending on new programs, which seems unlikely given the current revenue picture.

"In fact, we won't do that now," he said.

Some programs — such as all-day kindergarten — will have to wait until the economy turns around, he said.

Chopp identified several ways he expects the Legislature will look at slashing spending so it doesn't have to borrow money to balance the budget.

Among those were cutting programs added to the budget in recent years that aren't working, such as a job-search program through the Employment Security Department that has only a 5 percent success rate.

"We're going to wipe that out," Chopp said.

He also suggested that about $1 billion the Legislature agreed to put into the state pension system when it had a surplus a year ago could be put on hold.

Areas that Chopp said wouldn't be cut because of constitutional requirements are basic education and funding for people with disabilities, but he added that everything else is on the table.
.