DeVos Takes On Bush. Kind Of.

Echoing calls made by Gov. Granholm, Republican gubnatorial candidiate Dick DeVos has called on President Bush to meet with auto makers. Why the sudden change of heart from a man who said automakers should "stop crabbing" about foreign competition? Could it be that DeVos is trailing in the polls?
The number one reason the automakers are hurting is a direct result of outsourcing, something that candidate DeVos has supported through donations to The Mackinac Center,the Acton Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Istitute, all major foundations advocating outsourcing of American jobs.
Look at it this way: If a large corporation lays off 1500 American workers and outsources their jobs, the ripple effect across the economy is detrimental. 1500 people on lay-off aren't going to buy 1500 new cars, houses, furniture, or appliances. That means less orders for those, which means the manufacturers have to lay off people. Not only that, but the community suffers as well. Grocery stores don't sell as many groceries, bar and restaurant business slows, people forgo seeing the doctor because they can no longer afford it, so cuts have to be made in these fields as well. Now, the original company that outsourced the jobs finds it orders down, so it has to lay-off more workers, beginning the whole downward spiral again. Even though we're being told by the idiot President that the economy is booming, the stark reality is the economy is on a downturn, and the outsourcing of jobs is one of the main culprits.
DeVos likes to talk about leadership, and how our state needs a leader, neglecting to mention that he cut 1400 jobs as President of Amway, a company that has invested over $100 million in China over the past five years. So much for some one investing in Michigan's future. The only future DeVos cares about is his own.

DeVos's criticism of Bush is a distancing tool as well. His family contributed more than any other family to the Bush campaign and the Republican party. DeVos says Bush has ignored Michigan too long, but perhaps he's annoyed with DeVos. In 2000, DeVos promised to deliver Michigan to Bush. DeVos also placed his voucher proposal on the same ballot, which brought out more voters than usual to strike it down, causing Bush to lose the state in 2000.
In his ads, DeVos doesn't even say he's a Republican, but he and his family have been closely associated with the Michigan Republican for years. His wife, Betsy, was even National Chairperson of the party. he tries to paint himself as an hoest down to earth guy, a guy who just happens to fly back and forth over the city in his own private helicopter. Since leaving Amway, the only jobs DeVos have created, besides the time Betsy paid some people to protest outside Fountain Street Church while Michael Moore was inside giving a free speech, have been in the field of PAC's.
DeVos's pet project is getting public funding for private schools, either through vouchers or tax cuts. If he was really concerned about Michigan's future, he would put an effort into making our public schools better by putting tax money into, not taking it away from them.
Face it, if DeVos were really honest, he'd mention his connections to Bush and Tom Delay (who held a conference on DeVos's yacht), but he doesn't want voters to know the real Dick. Dick is a Republican, the same people who have been running the legislature for years. Granholm is not a unitary executive, she can only sign bills passed by the legislature. She inherited a budget deficit from John "Fat Boy" Engler, who in turn inherited a budget surplus from his predecessor Jim Blanchard. But the problem is not the politicians, it's the greedy bastards like Dick DeVos who have sacrificed Michigan's labor force so they can attain more wealth, which in turn they would like to use to tell those displaced workers
For Kathy, here's my own Amway story. In 2002 I was working at Amway for the company i am presently employed by. Throughout the facilities, at every break area and cafeteria, there are television monitors giving Amway approved news headlines for the employees. On September 11, 2002, everyone was given plastic American flags that were made in China to attach to their cars. At the time of the first plane impact, everybody was herded to a television set to observe a moment of silence. The monitor focused on the flags in front of world headquarters, flying at half mast. Amway World Headquarters is located on M-21, a busy thouroughfare, and the camera was stationed across the road. But whoever was running the camera forgot to turn off the sound, so at the time we were supposed to be observing a moment of silence, we were instead treated to the sound of traffic rumbling down the highway in front of Amway.