CORKER AND SHELBY OUT TO BUST THE UNIONS - UAW HAS MY SUPPORT

HOW MUCH MONEY HAS COME TO CORKER FROM ANY FOREIGN AUTO COMPANY?

WHAT DOES HE MAKE AN HOUR?

WHAT IS HIS "PACKAGE" AS A U.S. SENATOR - INCLUDING HEALTH INSURANCE FROM HIS JOB?

BOB CORKER JUST MAY BE SLIME WALKING

I just tried to find out the character of Corker and came up with some blog posts, comments and then I found the OPINION at the bottom of this post. Corker was a previous Mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The article is well-worth a read. As most things on the internet - you have to decide if it rings true with your intuition. It does with me.

The thing about the Senators and Representatives that we get from the fifty states in the U.S. Congress - is that they are not vetted publicly like the Presidential candidates. And they can be huge mistakes. Bob Corker, I believe, is one of those. I hope Saturday Night Live will do a parody on him. His voice will be easy to imitate.

Alabama's Republican U.S. Senator Richard Shelby is working together with Bob Corker.

I found this blog post dated July 27, 2006

The King of Lies Bob Corker Strikes Again

BRENTWOOD, TN – Democrat primary voter Bob Corker, who has repackaged his attack ad of lies about Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bryant's record, has resorted to his 1994 campaign tactics, in which he was labeled "pond scum" by Bill Frist's campaign manager for insinuating Frist was a Vietnam War protestor and draft dodger. In an attack on Ed Bryant's latest ad that truthfully highlights Corker's record of being busted for having illegal immigrants on his job site, Corker is lying again about his own record of getting busted for having illegal immigrants on his job site in Memphis. Corker's latest attack ad, built on another $420,000 he has personally dumped into his own campaign, has been called "a lie", "unfair", and "not true" by the press and independent watchdog groups for its lies about Ed Bryant's record of consistently voting against pay raises, and has prompted The Tennessean to call on him to take down his ad, stating that the Corker campaign has turned "a one-day story into a character issue by sticking with the flawed assertion even after it was exposed."

"The King of Lies – Bob Corker – has struck again," stated Bryant spokesman Andrew Shulman. "Bob Corker is running the same deceitful, negative campaign he ran in 1994 when he outrageously attacked Sen. Frist's character for being a draft-dodging Vietnam War protestor. Now in this campaign, he is lying about Ed Bryant and he is lying about what he has done – again.

"Bob Corker's response to our latest ad shows that he is continuing to lie about his own record. In 1988, Bob Corker's company, Bencor, was busted for having illegal immigrants on his job site in Memphis. This year, Corker has sworn up and down that illegal immigration was not a problem back when he was in the construction business, knowing full well of the INS' raid on his job site in 1988. And to top it off, Corker's company denied that there were illegal aliens on the job site in 1988, prompting one Memphis official to say Bencor 'told me a lie'.

"Now, he not only has aired an attack ad with bald-faced lies about Ed Bryant's record but now he's repackaged the ad and continued the lie with yet another version of the same lie about Ed Bryant's honorable career of public service -- repeating the same lie that he voted to raise his pay in Congress, which independent experts and the media have called 'a lie'. Just today, Corker's actions have prompted The Tennessean to call on Corker to take down his ads, saying it was a 'character issue'. Bob Corker's negative attacks are short on facts, but long on hypocrisy.

"Mr. Corker has dumped nearly $2.2 million of his own money into this campaign not only because he knows Ed Bryant is breathing down his neck and has the momentum in this race, but because the media and independent experts are holding him accountable for his hypocrisy and lies. Bob Corker is reeling from his hypocritical record being exposed and his attempts to buy a Senate seat with his deceitful 1994 campaign tactics are clearly seen as just that."

What They Said About Bob Corker's Campaign In 1994:
For the list, go to this link: bloggingforbryant.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and the following from www.tennessean.com

Bob Corker says bailout was needed

Senator says small banks deserve help

By Randy McClain • THE TENNESSEAN • October 30, 2008

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told a statewide bankers group on Wednesday that the country "is on the front end of an even worse economic cycle" and it will be a challenge to navigate the nation back to financial health.

"We face one of the toughest times in our country's modern history," Corker told a luncheon gathering of the Tennessee Bankers Association.

Corker said he voted for the $700 billion Wall Street rescue to prevent consumers and small businesses from being "washed over" by a lack of credit, despite an initial outpouring of constituents' phone calls that ran 40 to 1 against the plan.

Many voters saw it as "a Wall Street bailout bill for people who had done a lot of things wrong," he said.

The goal now, Corker added, is to inject more capital into the financial markets.

Corker said U.S. Treasury officials assured him earlier this week that they won't use more bailout money to prop up financially strapped automakers General Motors and Chrysler.

But he expects the Federal Reserve to use some of the money to invest in smaller, privately held banks and not just in Wall Street giants or the biggest regional banks....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron Gettelfinger listed today the amounts of money given to foreign auto companies in the states of the Republicans who are against the UAW. These particular Republicans have an agenda - they want to kill the auto unions.

To me, organized workers in a union have rights to represent themselves.

This is an ad run for Bob Corker's Senate race in 2006:

................................................................

................................................................
Corker Political Ad
The Youtube uploader boxcar250 says this about the political trashy ad:
"A funny video poking fun at Harold Ford Jr, made by Scott Howell."

I don't find it funny, poking fun or justified. I find it tells me a lot about who Bob Corker is. And that is that he is not a reputable (rep·u·ta·ble adj meaning: known to be honest, reliable, or respectable) man.

................................................................

................................................................
Corker Political Ad with edits
Uploaded by dsf3g

A Different Corker Ad

Corker Radio Ad

Corker's opponent's ad:
................................................................

................................................................
Harold Ford's ad in 2006
Uploaded by ewerickson

Check out - MSNBC boards - for the comments at this topic:

BOARD ANALYSIS; BOB CORKER (R-Tenn) Ex-MAYOR Chattanooga, TN.

VOLKSWAGEN IS BUILDING THERE;

WHAT IS VW GIVING CORKER? SHELBY of ALABAMA? SEVERAL FOREIGN AUTO MAKERS TOYOTA, HONDA. CONNECT THE DOTS!

6 messages - 5 authors - last updated 12/12/08 05:24 PM

More comments on Corker:
wsj

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know if the following is true. I copied it from www.democraticunderground.com

"...when Corker was mayor of that city he raised his pay at the same time he eliminated cost-of-living raises for city employees, and he continues to take a city pension, despite making $12 million while he was mayor."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OPINION

Source: www.chattanoogan.com

Bob Corker's Hollow Victory - And Response

So Bob Corker bought himself an election. When the American people across this country called for change, 51% of Tennesseans voted to "stay this dismal course." A great day for the American democracy, a truly sad day for Tennessee.

Bob Corker will take a seat in the United States senate with the stigma attached that Bob Corker and the Republican Party won in Tennessee by playing the race card.

After initially running a lackluster campaign doomed for failure, the Republican Party had to step in and assume control. This should have spoken volumes to Bob Corker's leadership abilities. As Congressman Ford pulled ahead, Bob Corker and the Republican Party "played the race card heard round the world," with Bob Corker saying he had no control over the continued airing of this despicable ad.

Again, Bob Corker's calls fell on deaf ears, in much the same way his calls in the senate will fall on deaf ears.

The one positive that will arise from this election is that Bob Corker will no longer be able to conceal his tax records.

Bob Corker purchased this seat with his infusion of $4.6 million of his own money, all the while declaring that he "more represented" Tennesseans. I know of only a very small number of Tennesseans with that wealth.

But, in light of, or maybe in spite of Bob Corker's hollow victory, Americans across the country voted for change in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Bob Corker will represent Tennessee as a minority member and with the stench of the nasty race he conducted. Logic says that he will not be welcomed with open arms by any democrat in the majority. Harold Ford Jr spent 10 years building relationships across the aisles and now the state of Tennessee goes back to square one with a junior senator with a "stinkbug" of a reputation.

The manipulation of Harold Ford Jr's record in the Congress, from the Lie about him voting for gay marriage to his LIE of Ford voting to give schoolgirls abortion pills, Bob Corker will carry these LIES with him to the Senate.

51% percent of Tennesseans were duped into believing that Bob Corker will solve problems. Now that he is in the minority, he will have to compromise on any and every issue in order to make anything happen. I predict that those compromises will be used against him in the future the same way he used them against Congressman Ford. The whole world will be watching every single vote he will cast as the newly elected lame duck senator. And, in about a year's time, look for Bob Corker to bend over backwards for Bill Frist when he makes a run for president, yet another embarrassment for Tennessee.

For the 49 percent of Tennesseans who voted for change along with the rest of the United States, I applaud you. With the Democratic victory heard across the county, say Bye-Bye to the Death Tax. Say Bye-Bye to tax cuts for the wealthy. Say Bye-Bye to the "Stay the Course" irresponsibility of the Bush Administration. Say Bye-Bye to the gross negligence of the Republican trillion dollar deficit, and Hello to fiscal responsibility. Say Hello to a government who will work for the majority of middle class Americans.

So, in the end, Bob Corker and the 51% of Tennesseans who voted to "Stay the Course" while the rest of the country voted for change have succeeded in voting for a place in the now minority party where Tennessee has no chance whatsoever of accomplishing anything for our progressive state. Thank the good Lord that we still have Phil Bredeson as our one shining jewel in this crown. Bob Corker and the Republican Party played the race card to ensure victory, and 51% of Tennesseans bought his despicable message... at-least that is the view from the rest of the world. A truly hollow victory for Tennessee to say the very least.

Betty Burchfield

* * * * * * *

I cannot begin to tell you the nausea feeling I had in my stomach when I found out that Bob Corker bought his seat in the Senate. I say bought because he looked at the Senate seat as nothing more than a piece of property for him to purchase and gain from.

I found myself saying "How could hundreds of thousands of people from Tennessee be so easily bought? How could we be so blind?"

I remembered that I once was easily bought and easily led to believe that Bob Corker would do good things for the city of Chattanooga and enhance the lives of Chattanooga Police and Firefighters. Bob made promises he didn't keep. He knew that winning the hearts and minds of police and firefighters he would easily take down the mayor race and he did. It wasn't long before everyone had a sour taste in their mouth for him and his practices.

When you have close to 50 officers quit in one year's time something is very wrong. I was one of those officers who was so tired of Bob Corker that I wanted nothing more than to get away from him. I love the Chattanooga Police department and I love this city. All my life I wanted nothing more than to be a police officer for this great city, but in the process I want to be able to live a comfortable life.

While Bob Corker was in office I never saw that in the future and many officers will tell you the same exact thing. Every time that Corker gave himself a raise he was taking food off the table of many emergency services workers in Chattanooga. Officers were bending over backwards to make ends meet and praying for the day Corker left office. I am certain that many others were affected by Bob Corker, but I cannot speak for them. I can only speak for the misery he put me though.

Bob Corker will never change. People like him will never change things. He is a businessman first and foremost, so who is he going to look after? the poor? Doubtfully. Bob Corker and those financially connected with him will be the only one that will benefit from this purchase. It's the biggest bluff in our history and it terribly sad that the people of Tennessee didn't step up and call his bluff. There is an old saying that goes hand in hand with people like Bob Corker and I guess somewhere down the line we all forgot about it. "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer"

I am certain that years from now people can look back at this posting and realize that nothing has changed for the people of Tennessee. I can only hope and pray that Bob Corker will keep the damage minimal. I also hope that he leaves the people of Chattanooga alone. We have suffered enough. Let us rebuild.

Officer Curtis Penney
Chattanooga Police Department
Patrol Division/Bravo Team

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Foreign Automakers Say Little in Aid Debate - www.nytimes.com

Click on the link to read the full article

"...Since the 1990s, Alabama has won three assembly plants, from Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, and an engine plant built by Toyota, as well as numerous investments by parts makers.

They have been worth $3.8 billion to Alabama, or one-tenth the amount spent in the United States by foreign companies, according to the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing foreign car companies.

Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee — which is home to Nissan’s North American headquarters, a Nissan plant and a promised Volkswagen factory — has been another Detroit critic.

His testy exchange last week with Chrysler’s chief executive, Robert L. Nardelli, and his opposition to an aid package, prompted several hundred active and retired members of the United Automobile Workers union to picket his office in Nashville on Monday.

“It’s unfair to cut Americans to death while you’re subsidizing the foreign automakers,” said Mike Herron, a local union leader, according an article in the Nashville Tennessean newspaper.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Salaries and Benefits of U.S. Congress Members

To see the entire article go to the link: usgovinfo.about.com

Congress: Rank-and-File Members' Salary
The current salary (2008) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $169,300 per year.

• Members are free to turn down pay increase and some choose to do so.
  
  
• In a complex system of calculations, administered by the Office of Personnel Management, congressional pay rates also affect the salaries for federal judges and other senior government executives.
  
  
• During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin considered proposing that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Other Founding Fathers, however, decided otherwise.
  
  
• From 1789 to 1815, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 while in session. Members began receiving an annual salary in 1815, when they were paid $1,500 per year.

Congress: Leadership Members' Salary (110th Congress)
Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members.

Senate Leadership
Majority Leader - $188,100
Minority Leader - $188,100

House Leadership
Speaker of the House - $217,400
Majority Leader - $188,100
Minority Leader - $188,100

A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it.

Members of Congress receive retirement and health benefits under the same plans available to other federal employees. They become vested after five years of full participation.

Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Those elected prior to 1984 were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In 1984 all members were given the option of remaining with CSRS or switching to FERS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.uaw.org

www.uaw.org/auto - latest news

To contact the UAW International:

UAW
Solidarity House
8000 East Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48214

(313) 926-5000

Why You Should Consider an American Versus Foreign Car

What we need is
more jobs that pay enough so that we can afford to buy a car, a home

health care,
and food.