JR Manning

It came a lot faster than I thought it would. Hizzoner, Wisconsin Governor Diamond Jim Doyle, issued a statement today that does exactly what we predicted - he places the blame squarely on General Motors and completely overlooks the downward turn in the market, sales of SUV’s that have plummeted and he wants GM to reconsider the closing, just as we predicted. Much of what he said is true, but some of it (see bold text) is just typical, political bloviating.

“After all the years of work and everything the people of Janesville have given, it is tough to stomach what GM is doing here today.

“Families here have dedicated their working lives to this General Motors plant. The city of Janesville, the state of Wisconsin – we have all been committed to making this plant work.

“So many people here have put their hearts into building trucks at the Janesville assembly plant, and now they are left with a cold decision that casts them aside. We all feel it in our guts.

“GM made it clear that this was a plant that they were invested in. They brought Barack Obama here just months ago. It was clear that this plant was the pride of GM.

“But, it should have been obvious long ago that the future was not where GM was headed. Bad corporate decisions kept these lines turning out gas guzzlers as fuel prices went from 2 dollars to 3 dollars and now to 4 dollars per gallon.

“Now we stand here, carrying the burden of those bad corporate decisions – failed leadership that culminated in a calculation that left out the very heart of this company, the workers who built it.

“I am inspired by the workers who in the face of all this – in these difficult times – are saying they will work to make the best of this. That’s the spirit that made this company worth something, and that’s the spirit that built Janesville.

“I want Wisconsin workers to know that the state will stand with you. We will work together to fight for Janesville and our future together.”

Of course, politicians blaming GM for building products people actually wanted to buy is nothing new.

Gov. Doyle: “…the future was not where GM was headed.”

Governor? Perhaps you’d like to share just where GM was headed? Did they figure out a way to head somewhere other than the future? That would be a pretty remarkable R&D Department.

In 1973, when OPEC deeply curtailed oil output, extreme shortages were the norm. People who had been comfortably driving their large, American land yachts like Buick Electras, Chevrolet Impalas, Ford Galaxies, Plymouth Furies, Dodge Coronets, even Cadillacs, Lincolns and Imperials, suddenly wanted to trade them in on Pintos and Vegas, even AMC Gremlins. The big cars were sale-proof, no one wanted them.

Public outcry was immediate, and loud. Why hadn’t GM, Ford and Chrysler built downsized automobiles? The answer is simple. Before the oil embargo, GM, Ford and Chrysler could hardly give away small cars, let alone sell them to Americans who wanted luxo-boats.

By federally mandated fuel economy standards, those cars were reduced in size. GM introduced downsized B and C body cars in 1977, lopping nearly 1,000 pounds off the signature Cadillac. The A body cars followed in 1978. While the cars were popular, many GM customers went to Ford and Chrysler in those years. Why? Ford and Chrysler were still building large cars, large cars that Americans wanted to buy - despite government intervention.

The 1977 Cadillac was 950 pounds lighter than its 1976 ancestor.

Well, here it is, 35 years later and history is repeating itself. Gasoline, now four bucks a gallon, is finally making people look at abandoning their large vehicles, which happen to look like Tonka toys compared to the their 1970 counterparts.

And just like 1973, the politicians are pointing fingers for the sake of trying to put the blame…somewhere, anywhere, trying to make themselves look good.

And just like 1973, they look foolish.

For many, many years, there has been a group of American do-gooders telling us that our cars are too big, gasoline isn’t expensive enough, and it should be against the law to build and sell SUV’s.

Today, General Motors has announced the closing of the assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin by the close of 2009, or sooner, if market downturns continue. The Janesville plant is one of the locations that GM builts medium duty trucks and SUV’s.

Just watch - the do-gooders will be ecstatic that the plant is closing. No more SUV’s, no more gas-guzzling GM vehicles.

Not long after the closing, those same do-gooders will be crying about the loss of 2,700 jobs in Janesville that will come in one fell swoop. They will decry GM for releasing all those workers and tell us there ought to be a law that says GM was supposed to keep the plant open, ignoring the fact that the plant no longer builds a product that customers want to buy.

Don’t scoff - it will happen. It always does.

June better go on a diet or buy bigger clothes.

This has always been my favorite month of the year. When I was a kid, it was always promoted with a spirited “June Is Dairy Month” in Wisconsin, with a farm breakfast in most counties, tours of dairy farms and the like. It was great that America’s Dairyland promoted it’s heritage product. Sadly, you don’t hear much about that anymore.

It’s also a busy time of the year, in fact, in our family, June always started in late May. We’ve always been overrun with The Old Man’s birthday, in late May and the previous day is the birthday of someone who was an important part of my life for a long time. It’s also the anniversary of…well, you don’t really want to know about that. But June is also full of anniversaries, graduations, car shows and other big events. If The Old Man were alive, he would have been 97 last week. How can such a young guy have a such an old Old Man?

Forty years ago this month, The Old Man, The Rocket Scientist, our uncle and a favorite cousin, and Your’s Truly, of course, made a pilgrimage to the ultimate shrine of fishermen - at least, a shrine for our family.

More about that in another post to follow.

For now, enjoy the month of June, my favorite month of the year.

Today is Memorial Day - I have such mixed emotions about traditional Memorial Day having been moved to the last Monday of May. On one hand, it’s nice to officially have the three day weekend, that many people took anyway, and it’s nice to have a “official” start of Summer. On the other hand, Memorial Day has been cheapened by the move, and it is no longer observed with the reverence and respect that it should be.

The day originally began as Decoration Day, proposed by the GAR - the Grand Army of the Republic - a veterans’ organization. Decoration Day was proposed on May 5, 1868, and was set for May 30 every year because flowers would be in bloom everywhere in the United States, as a time to remember those who had fallen during the Civil War. The first observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, where flowers were strewn by the GAR on graves of Union AND Confederate graves. As a part of the ceremony, small American flags were placed on each grave, a tradition that is carried on yet today.

My grandmother, who was born in 1898 and grew up in the early years of the 20th Century, knew the day as a time to memorialize fallen veterans of The Civil War but it was not until after the War to End All Wars that the day was expanded to honor all American war dead. Grandma continued to call it Decoration Day until she died in 1971.

For me, this will always be Memorial Day, and following tradition, I will observe a moment of silence at 3:00 PM today, to honor Americans who made the supreme sacrifice to protect my way of life.

AARP has discovered a way to take pop-up advertising to a new, and all time annoying, level.

One, they’ve figured out how to get around pop-up blockers.

Two, they’ve figured out how to embed a Flash animation into their annoying ad.

Three, they’ve figured out how to disable the right mouse button so you cannot dismiss the *#@ #*&%! box with your mouse.

The only way to get rid of this insideous thing is to refresh your browser window, then wait for it to pop up again.

Shame on you, AARP. Take your pop-up ad and pop it right up your membership channel.

“You’re making more money than ever. In effect, your industry has no problem in doubling your profits, in tripling your profits, even when prices at the pump go crazy, you have no problem in keeping up with your increasing profit. It doesn’t seem fair guys, it just doesn’t seem fair.”

So said Senator Herb Kohl, Owner of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA Team, as he was grilling oil company executives yesterday.

Gee, Senator, I just went and looked at tickets for your basketball team. Ticket prices keep going up but your industry seems to have no trouble increasing your profits. You’re making money and your team members are getting paid millions and millions of dollars. Still, you expect little old me to pay you well over $125 for a decent seat to see a game. Oh, sure, I can pay you $10 for a seat up in the rafters someplace, and go watch the game on the monitors at the snack bar for a better view.

And all at the same time, you’re making millions and millions of dollars.

It just doesn’t seem fair, Senator, it just doesn’t seem fair.

Americans woke up to a revolting development this morning - gasoline prices jumped up about 25¢ per gallon overnight. You can expect outrage and anger from your co-workers and neighbors today, looking for someone to blame for the overnight hikes. So just why did gasoline prices spike so high overnight?

The answer is really quite easy. I went to the local gas station about 11:00 last night to top off the tank and encountered a man with a large SUV. He was topping off his tank and filling about 4 gasoline cans.

What did we know that you didn’t? We were paying attention yesterday. Oil, on the world wide market yesterday, closed at a record price of over $130.00 per barrel. It didn’t take rocket science to figure out that prices would go up this morning as the world demand for oil skyrockets.

Demand? Comedian Don Novello, as his character Father Guido Sarducci, proposed opening a five minute university, His course in Economics consisted of, “Economics? ‘Supply and Demand.’ That’s it.” Many graduates of Father Sarducci’s Five Minute University seem to have forgotten everything they learned about economics.

For decades, the greatest demand for oil came from the United States, in fact, it still does. Starting in the early 1970’s, it became obvious that America’s thirst for oil was a problem. In 1973, the price of a gallon of gasoline doubled overnight. There were spot shortages and long lines of automobiles at gas stations, waiting to buy a rationed amount of gasoline. It was a harbinger of things to come, but the lessons were not learned.

OPEC increased the supply of oil and the price stabilized. Thank you to Father Sarducci, it was a perfect example of supply and demand.

Today, the world demand for oil is on the rise. Americans are discovering that China is a developing economy and is competing in the world market for oil. So is India, where automobile maker, Tata, is doing for India what Henry Ford did for America 100 years ago. India needs oil. Russia needs oil. The United States needs oil. China needs oil, and especially now as power plants are offline from the recent earthquake and much of China’s electricity is coming from emergency generators.

The result? Demand is higher. Supply is lower. Prices are higher. What did Father Sarducci teach in his five minute university? “Economics? ‘Supply and Demand.’ That’s it.” Thank you, Father Sarducci. The only way your gasoline prices will stabilize, or even go down, is to increase the supply.

Being an election year, of course, the bloviating about gasoline prices is shifting into high gear, but remember, the baloney coming out of Washington these days will have no effect on gasoline prices.

The oil companies are not to blame for high gasoline prices, nor are “excess profits.” While crude prices have gone up more than 25% in the last 60 days, gasoline prices have only gone up about 15% - so much for gouging.

“Excess profits” makes a handy scapegoat, but it just isn’t right. BP Petroleum was number 5 in total profits in 2006, well behind the most profitable company in the United States, Microsoft. BP made about 9% profit margin while Microsoft made 22% profit margin, so why isn’t Congress going after Microsoft? We’re all paying too much to a virtual monopoly for operating systems and word processing software.

Nationalizing the oil companies or stealing their profits, as Jimmy Carter unsuccessfully tried to do in 1980, won’t lower gasoline prices. It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.

Suing OPEC won’t stabilize prices, in fact, that is one of the dumbest ideas to come out of Congress since the Volstead Act.

Dropping the federal fuel tax will provide short term price relief and will demonstrate how deeply Uncle Sam has his hand in your pocket, but long term, it won’t help. It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a howitzer wound.

As Father Sarducci taught us, the only way to lower gasoline prices it to decrease demand, or increase the supply. Newsflash: Demand is not going to decrease any time soon. Electric cars aren’t going to do it - they merely shift the fuel supply from your tank to a power plant. Hybrid cars might help, but won’t lower prices anytime soon. We’ve proven that putting moonshine in our tanks won’t do it. We do need to continue exploring alternative energy sources, but let’s be realistic: demand for oil is not going to go down any time soon.

The only way to stabilize gasoline prices, or even lower gasoline prices, is to increase the supply. There are millions of barrels of oil in the United States that the oil companies are not allowed to go get. In 1994, people with vision foresaw today’s incredible demand for oil and proposed drilling in new locations in the United States - ANWR and offshore, to name two - but the President vetoed the bills. The oil remains underground where it is not doing anyone any good.

Even if we were to increase our own domestic oil production, much refining will have to be done offshore, because the same forces preventing drilling for oil have also prevented building any new refineries for the last thirty years.

We are told by the woe-is-us crowd that if we were to start drilling in ANWR today, it would take 8 years to see the results in the market. Had we started drilling there in 1994, we would be enjoying that supply today, thank you, so we should get started now, drilling for oil and building refineries to process that oil.

There is no magic bullet and no quick fix. High gasoline prices are here and they are here to stay. The best way to stabilize energy costs and minimize dependence on imported oil is to produce our own.

It’s time to stop talking and start drilling.

Have you ever heard of the college kids in La Crosse who left a bar, disappeared, and were later found floating in the Mississippi River? Their deaths have been attributed to drowning, either accidental or suicides. The families have never accepted that but all their protests have fallen on deaf ears.

On Halloween 2002, Chris Jenkins of Burlington, Wisconsin, while attending school in Minneapolis, left a party in a bar and disappeared. His body was found floating in the Mississippi River 4 months later. His death was dismissed lightly as a drunk kid who jumped off a bridge. His parents did not buy the story and hired a PI. His investigation was hampered by people covering their own asses and other roadblocks, but he was able to piece together that Chris was abducted, tortured and tossed in the river. Presented with new evidence, the police had little choice but to reclassify his death as a homicide.

This, in turn, attracted the attention of two retired homicide detectives from New York, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte. Since 1997, they have been investigating the case of Patrick McNeill, who left a bar in NYC, disappeared, and was found five months later, 11 miles downriver from where he had last been seen.

These detectives have investigated over FORTY of these mysterious “accidental drownings” including that of Matt Kruziki. Matt’s body was found floating in the Mississippi River, near East Dubuque, Illinois on March 18, 2006. The coroner’s report said there were no signs of foul play. There are three things about this case that are very interesting. One, the coroner’s report said no foul play. Two, Matt’s body was located near Sinsiniwa Avenue and at that location, a crude smiley face was also found. Matt’s father, Bill Kruziki, is a US Marshall and used to be the Waukesha County Sheriff. Bill Kruziki never accepted that his son accidentally drowned in the Mississippi River.

Well, he didn’t. All of these drowings are homicides, all performed by a serial killer or a syndicate of serial killers. All of the drownings are similar - college age men leave a bar, alone, in the wee hours. They disappear. Their bodies turn up floating days, weeks or months later. The coroner’s report always says accidental drowning, no signs of foul play. Almost all of the drownings have occurred in the corridors of I-90 and I-94.

At the scene of almost every drowning, a crude smiley face has been painted. In Michigan, the word “Sinsiniwa” was painted with the smiley face. The word is meaningless until you recall that Matt Kruziki went into the river at the foot of Sinsiniwa Avenue in East Dubuque.

This is not an urban legend. The story was broken last week by Kristi Piehl, an investigative reporter from Minneapolis on KSTP television. You can read more about the case in the blog area of Help Find The Missing which includes links to the KSTP website. That website has some fascinating reports and links to the police report of the Jenkins case, and to a map that has some of the drownings listed.

Keep an eye on this developing case. There are reports that the story is being developed for ABC News’ 20/20 and for People Magazine. If you have college age men in your family, be sure to tell them about this developing story and to be aware at all times.

I met him many years ago, when I was a just a teenager. Joe was a large man, tall, muscular and handsome with a pale complexion and jet black, curly hair. Now, I was actually rather intimidated and you can bet that I wasn’t introduced to him as Joe, nor did I have the audacity to call him that. His presence commanded the respect to call him Mister.

Out of respect for certain members of his family, I’m not using his last name here. Trust me, it was one of those names that instantly said, “I’m Irish” and not one of those Irish names that could also be English - like mine.

Joe was almost a stereotype. He was a rugged individual and reserved in such a way that could be incorrectly interpreted as shyness, but he was actually far from shy. He was a proud Irish Catholic with a large family. He was a proud, but not arrogant, man. The American flag flew on a flagpole in his yard, except on St. Patrick’s Day and special occasions, when the Irish tricolor flew in it’s place.

Now, if you haven’t figured it out, Joe was more than just an Irishman that I happened to meet. He was also the father of the young woman who had stolen my heart. Because of that fact alone, we had to learn to more about one another. Joe was opinionated but would listen tolerantly to an opposing viewpoint, before he told me all the reasons I was wrong. (Many years later, much of what he told me turned out to be correct, or at least, matching my own beliefs. Joe and I had far more things in common than we realized, and we were far more alike than we realized.)

He did have the gift of the Blarney, and he was a wonderful storyteller. I felt fortunate to be in his presence when he started to regale his family with stories of his boyhood in Baltimore, his years in Uncle Sam’s service or what happened at work this week. Some of the best stories were how he met a beautiful girl from Milwaukee. The charmer made him drop everything out East so he could move to Wisconsin to be with her.

He also had a Leprechaun’s sense of humor. He wasn’t a joke teller as much as a story teller, his audience doubled over in laughter while he’d just smile softly with a twinkle in his sparkling eyes. Oh, he had a hearty laugh, too, because he relished life, loved his family, and had a keen eye for the humor in any bad situation.

He also was a man of surprises - his teenage son was struggling with a yo-yo one day, and Joe watched with quiet amusement until his frustration got the best of him. “Gimme that!” he said as he took the yo-yo away and instantly began to do some of the most impressive yo-yo tricks I had ever seen! None of his children had any idea that their father had been a youthful yo-yo champion. He received an engraved, silver yo-yo for Christmas that year.

Joe made me feel like one of the family, and it was pretty well understood that there was likely to be a wedding in my future. I looked forward to having Joe as a father in law, but it was not to be. My darling Irish love found that her destiny lay elsewhere. One of the most sympathetic supporters that I had, while I recovered from my heartbreak, was Joe. Oh, he was reserved about the situation, he had to be after all. There was more than enough heartbreak and disappointment to go around.

I last spoke to Joe on St. Patrick’s Day about fifteen years later. It had been a day of celebration and I probably had one more glass of beer than I should have. On a whim, I easily dialed the phone number that had been burned into my teenage memory. He seemed politely embarrassed at first, but we chatted pleasantly and my heart was filled with warmth, just to hear his voice again. I have no idea what he really thought of my phone call out of the blue, or out of the green as it were, but the tone in his voice sounded like he was genuinely pleased to hear from an old friend.

Joe passed away not long after that, too young for a man as vibrant and alive as he was. As many years have passed since then, I’m sure his family misses him deeply but I know the world misses him, too. Not a single St. Patrick’s Day passes without a warm memory of Joe, my favorite Irishman. He had far more of an impact on the young man who took his daughter to prom, more than I think his family ever realized. I’m pretty sure Joe knew, though. God rest ye, Merry Gentleman.