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Amid criticism from UAW, McCain to stop at GM plant
By Don Shilling
U.S. Sen. John McCain rolls into the General Motors Lordstown plant today after announcing his plan to move the country out of the control of foreign oil suppliers.
The Republican presidential candidate is stopping at the assembly plant for the Chevrolet Cobalt because the plant shows GM’s commitment to fuel-efficient vehicles, said Paul Lindsay, a McCain spokesman.
“The Lordstown facility is an investment in jobs for the Mahoning Valley, so it’s a great setting for Sen. McCain to discuss his plans to reduce prices at the pump and get our economy back on track,” Lindsay said.
GM is adding a third shift in August to increase production and intends to launch a new small car with higher fuel economy in 2010.
McCain will speak to plant workers, but the event is not open to the public. He also will attend a private fundraiser at a home in Howland Township before heading to Cleveland for another fundraiser.
The United Auto Workers, which typically supports Democratic candidates, launched a news release Thursday in advance of McCain’s visit to the car plant.
“McCain is out of touch with working people and their hardships,” said Dave Green, president of UAW Local 1714 in Lordstown.
The UAW criticized McCain for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement and voting against raising the minimum wage.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain’s top economic adviser, said in a telephone interview Thursday that McCain will talk about his energy plan during the stop at Lordstown. The intent of the plan is to move the country away from reliance on foreign oil, and GM’s upcoming electric car — the Chevrolet Volt — shows that the effort is achievable, Holtz-Eakin said.
GM is proposing to begin producing the Volt in 2010 at a plant in Michigan. It is designed to travel 40 miles at a time without using gas, but a gasoline-powered generator would allow additional travel at high fuel efficiency.
Holtz-Eakin said plants such as Lordstown should have a future as the nation moves to forms of transportation that are less reliant on gasoline.
“People are going to have to have transportation. It may be fueled by something else, but there is no reason why these vehicles can’t be built by the people of this nation and Ohio in particular,” he said.
On Wednesday in Las Vegas, McCain gave a name to his energy proposal — the Lexington Project. The name was chosen because of its ties to the American Revolution. McCain said he wants the nation to achieve “strategic independence” from foreign oil by 2025.
His campaign defined strategic independence as when oil is no longer the primary fuel for transportation and when an oil cartel no longer has the power to undermine the nation’s economy.
The plan includes allowing more offshore oil exploration, building 45 new nuclear plants by 2030, cracking down on speculation in the oil market, putting $2 billion a year into clean coal research, funding a $300 million prize for the first company to create a zero-emissions automobile battery, and a $5,000 tax credit for consumers who buy zero-emissions vehicles.
Holtz-Eakin said another issue that’s important to manufacturers is the rising cost of natural gas. Unlike oil, the vast majority of natural gas consumed in the nation is produced domestically. Holtz-Eakin said costs can be brought down by opening up more areas for drilling and decreasing the time needed to secure governmental permits. Businesses also are developing new technologies that allow gas to be extracted from shale deposits, he noted.
shilling@vindy.com
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Comments
Yeah, because McCain policies really line up with Bush policies. I have been looking at articles on here lately and unfortunately have read your posts grump. Do you ever have anything positive to say regarding anything? How sad that life and everything in it is so negative to you. McCain, who I am not that big a fan of by the way, is a war hero. Like him or not he deserves respect.
Dropping bombs on a country that did nothing to us does not make you a war hero.
If Clinton were running again the almight UAW would vote for him in a second, yet their criticism of McCain lies in his support for NAFTA.
You wonder why things are falling apart?
yes thats all we need is husein!!! obama our next president. that will make the terrorists very happy!
I won't get into too many policy issues when comparing President Bush and Sen. McCain, but nobody messed with us here or anywhere else for 7 years. Punks and terrorists mess with the weak, not the mighty. For 7 years most of the country had better than average employment, low inflation and an economy that grew every quarter. We've never been in a recession, it's that the media about a year ago planted the word into the gullible, knowing that they had to get consumer confidence low for it to be an election year topic, since there were no real issues domestically the democrats could rely on, and the war on terror was going better than they had hoped.
Now some things to think about. Can any of you remember all the words you can't say concerning Afro- Americans (when was the last time you even heard negro?), even though the freedom of speech is our most sacred right? How much worse will it be if Hussien Obama is president? How do you think all these babies born out of wedlock (black and white)are brought into this world? Who pays for the prenatal,the delivery, the after care and the food needed for the baby and the mother? Does the baby have a good a chance to be successful as a baby born under better conditions? If not it becomes a drain on society again. The democrats want these families taken care of by the government now and hopefully forever so that they have a voting bloc that will continually vote for the democrats in order to keep the small but consistent aid coming to them. The last thing they want is to really help, they must keep the masses dependent and uneducated. The media(Vindicator) really helps the liberals (democrats) keep the masses mis informed to help their own agendas.
I quit contributing to these posts a few months ago because too many people are ignorant of the facts and resort to name calling. Let's see if things have improved.
That was one of the most logical well thought out posts on this website. You are in the minority borylie. I, like you, get real frustrated by the vindy and some of the mindless who post here. They really are ignorant brainwashed needy citizens of our degenerative society.
When I write though I like to think about how worked up they get when they read certain things and then they want to yell, and scream and fight about something they know nothing about. It gives me pleasure to know they are getting headaches and high blood pressure over menial things because they are ignorant. My tax money has to pay for all of them so I may as well derive some enjoyment from their stupidity. You dig?
to borylie:I could not have said it better myself. thank you. and you are right. Are you from the mahoning valley? If so, there are so few of us here that think this way, we have to stick together. thanks for the honest post. Im with you.