JPMorgan Chase Adds 1150 Jobs in Columbus. Blogosphere: Crickets.

You wouldn't know it by reading any of Ohio's progressive blogs last week, but JPMorgan Chase, the largest private employer in metro Columbus, announced it is consolidating its customer service operations in facilities in Columbus and Westerville, creating 1,200 jobs. From the presser:

Leaders from the Ohio Governor Ted Strickland's Office and Departments of Development from Ohio and the cities of Columbus and Westerville worked with Chase to provide generous incentives to attract the new jobs to central Ohio.

"We could not be happier to announce that this important project with JPMorgan Chase will bring 1,150 jobs to Columbus as well as retain positions that are already here," Gov. Strickland said. "The company's decision to stay in Columbus and strengthen an already world-renowned presence here is a tremendous boost to our economy and very welcome news for Ohio."

Lt. Governor Lee Fisher and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman were among a delegation of public officials that began discussing this opportunity with Chase leaders more than six months ago.

"This project was a dedicated public-private partnership among the State of Ohio, the City of Columbus, and the company at a very pivotal time for our economy," Lt. Gov. Fisher added. "We know that companies have more choices now than ever before, and JP Morgan Chase's commitment to Ohio reinforces their celebrated reputation as being one of our very best success stories."

Columbus Mayor Coleman said, "We are gratified that Chase wants to continue to make Columbus its home and grow its operations here. We will keep fighting for every job as we continue to make Columbus an economically competitive city."

Why didn't Ohio's progressive blogs trumpet this latest accomplishment by Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov Lee Fisher? I honestly have no idea. Modern of course didn't mention Chase's job creation when taking a swipe at Fisher because of NCR's move to Atlanta, but as for the rest of the 'sphere? Who knows.

UPDATE: Corrected Title to cite proper number of jobs created.

Stop the Presses: Columbus Dispatch Criticizes Bill Todd?

I almost used the blinking light icon on this story, because it's not often that the Dispatch (R-Columbus) criticizes a fellow GOPer. But criticize they did in an editorial in today's issue discussing the proposal to increase Columbus' income tax to 2.5%:

But such opposition should be honest, fact-based and well-intentioned. In the long run, no one benefits from misinformation and demagoguery.

That's why it's disappointing that Bill Todd, the 2007 Republican candidate for mayor, has chosen to criticize as scare tactics the city's plans to lay off hundreds of police officers and firefighters if the tax issue fails.

If the proposal fails, the city would have no choice but to lay off police and fire personnel. The math is simple. Nearly three-fourths of the city's general-fund budget goes for police and fire services.

Now, if the Dispatch has the stones to go after John Kasich's "misinformation and demagoguery" for not providing a plan for the spending cuts necessary to eliminate Ohio's income tax, then I'll be ready to drop the (R-Columbus) monkier that David and I bestowed upon the Dispatch in the wake of their endorsement of John McCain last year.

However, I'm not holding my breath for the Dispatch to have that much integrity.

Good Riddance, GM. Long Live the "new" GM.

Today, in an event that has been 50 years in the making, General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection. 

There is one feeling that is overwhelming me right now: Good Riddance. 

Good Riddance to the GM that invented the idea of planned obselecence. This was the absurd notion that a great way to make money on building cars, was to make crappy cars that fell apart in 3 years, thus forcing your customers to buy new ones. This decision haunts the Detroit Three to this day, because even as they have now caught up to Asian automakers in the quality of their cars, their perceived quality is still lower.

Good Riddance to the GM that conspired, along with the oil companies and the tire makers, to buy up and eliminate America's rail-based street car lines, in favor of busses which would sit in traffic with cars and thus drive people into their own cars. These street car lines - essentially light rail lines of the day -- existed in every major Ohio city before 1950, and would be worth hundreds of billions of dollars if they still existed today. 

Good Riddance to the GM that decided to pay its workers less now in exchange for hugely expensive pension and health care benefits in the future simply because those future obligations did not need to be listed on its balance sheet until an accounting rule change in the early 1990s. This short term gain for long term pain has put GM in the difficult position it is in now because those benefits now amount to as much as $1500 per car in expenses, expenses that its competitors need not pay and instead plow into R&D which allows them to build superior cars.

Here's hoping the new GM will be a much better car company. Here's hoping the new GM finally abandons the 1960s-era pushrod technology of its engines for the smaller more fuel-efficent engines its competitors adopted long ago. Here's hoping the new GM can build excellent small cars that not only can compete with the Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas out there, but also be profitable, too. Here's hoping the new GM will build plug in hybrids that will reduce our oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

But for right now, to the old GM, I can only say, "Good riddance."

Mood Music For Cavs Collapse Tonight

OH-Sen: Rob Portman Admits GOP Has No Ideas on Health Care

Honestly, I give him credit for coming right out and saying what we all knew. But only a little bit. ( H/T David @ BSB )

From National Journal:

Republicans have also taken some heat nationally for not focusing on health care in their campaigns in recent years, but Portman already has been speaking on the issue frequently.

“We have to have an alternative. … I will tell you, I don’t think there is a Republican alternative at this point,” he said. He said he reached that conclusion after talking to Senate leaders and lawmakers about the GOP’s position. “There isn’t one,” he said. “There’s a task force, and I applaud them for that.”

Actually, I take that back. A task force? That's a code word for keeping the status quo in place. And the status quo isn't acceptable anymore. 

Ohio's Worst Kept Secret Now Official: Mandel in for Treasurer

Yawn. This has been public knowledge for months:

It's a very exciting time right now. I'm happy to be kicking off my State Treasurer campaign.

I am running for State Treasurer in 2010 for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to bring new energy, fresh ideas, and the next generation of leadership to state government.

To prepare for this decision, I put more than 30,000 miles on my car over the past few months, driving to every corner of our state to speak with people from all walks of life.  I heard their frustration that while our economy is hurting and families are tightening their belts, government is spending like there is no tomorrow.  They said that to change the direction of our state, we need new leaders who believe in good old-fashioned values like honesty, hard work and fiscal responsibility.

Will Bondholder Deal Keep GM From Bankruptcy?

I'm not sure that it will, but even if GM does enter bankruptcy, having this agreement in place with the bond holders would make that bankruptcy shorter and less risky:

General Motors said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it has proposed a new deal to a committee representing many of its largest bondholders, offering an equity stake of as much as 25 percent in the restructured automaker if bondholders don’t oppose G.M.’s reorganization plan.
The filing also fills out many of the details of that plan, crafted under the eye of the Treasury Department, which would be G.M.’s majority owner once it emerged from bankruptcy protection with a 72.5 percent stake.
...

A committee representing about 20 percent of G.M.’s bonds said in a statement that they are supporting the new proposal.

“The ad hoc committee of G.M. bondholders supports the revised offer from GM and believes that when contrasted with the alternative – uncertain and costly bankruptcy court litigation – that it represents the best alternative for bondholders in the current difficult and dire situation,” the group said in a statement.

GOPers In Such A Hurry To Attack Obama's SCOTUS Nominee That They Can't Be Bothered To Learn Her Name

Well, that didn't take long.

Former Arkansas Gov. and presumed 2012 GOP Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee already has a statement out criticizing President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. There's just one problem.

President Obama's nominee is 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Huckabee's statement criticizes someone named Maria Sotomayor .

So, Huck-meister, is it that you can't be bothered to learn the name of our next Supreme Court justice before cutting her off at the knees? Or, are you playing to stereotypes that all Latino women are named "Maria"?

Thoughts on "Decoration Day"

If you have ever driven west from downtown Cleveland along the shore of Lake Erie, you might have taken the West Shoreway to Clifton Boulevard to Lake Road out to Bay Village. If you did that, you would have followed a portion of U.S. Route 6. 

U.S. Route 6 is known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway for its entire length from Massachusetts to California, obviously including the portion I described above. The Grand Army of the Republic, in turn, was a now-defunct fraternal organization for Union veterans of the Civil War. And it was this organization that began the tradition of setting aside one day in late May to remember our nation's war dead.

As it was originally conceived, "Decoration Day" was supposed to be always on May 30th, not on the last Monday in May. The full text of the GAR Order that was issued calling for the establishment of Decoration Day is available here. It calls for GAR members to decorate "with the choicest flowers of spring-time" the graves of Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. 

It was not until after World War II that the holiday became more commonly known as Memorial Day. And it was not until Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act (Public Law 90-363) that Memorial Day was moved from May 30th to the current last Monday in May. In fact, there is a movement underway by veterans' groups to return Memorial Day to its traditional May 30th observance. That link will take you to an online petition calling for passage of a bill restoring Memorial Day to May 30th, which if you click it you'll see lots of signatures from today. Which proves, I guess, that politics never takes a rest. 

On whatever day it is observed, Memorial Day is a day reserved for honoring our veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this country and the freedom we all enjoy. Thanks for your service, vets. And I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Tomorrow, it's back to work. 

United #615 Makes Emergency Landing In Pittsburgh; Plane Was Carrying Sen. Roland Burris

United Airlines Flight 615, an Airbus A319 flying from Washington National (DCA) to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) made an emergency landing this afternoon at Pittsburgh Int'l (PIT) after the plane experienced a problem with its hydraulic system. According to ThePittsburghChannel.com , the plane was carrying Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL).

United remains the only major airline in the United States that does not have any new airplanes on order with any major airplane manufacturers.