Biden administration approves $7.5B loan for EV battery plants in Indiana
A week after the Biden administration preliminarily approved a $6.6 billion loan to electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian Automotive, the White House is again giving billions in financial aid to the EV sector. This week, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $7.5 billion loan commitment to support the construction of two EV battery manufacturing facilities in Kokomo, Indiana.
“DOE estimates the EVs produced using StarPlus batteries will displace the usage of 260.3 million gallons of petroleum per year –– helping to slash harmful pollutants that jeopardize public health and pollute local ecosystems,” the Energy Department said in a statement. “The project will greatly expand EV battery manufacturing capacity in North America and reduce America’s reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China, as well as other foreign sourcing of EV batteries.”
StarPlus Energy, a joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung, is the company behind the project and the recipient of this funding, which marks the third-largest loan ever approved by the Department of Energy.
The Kokomo facilities are projected to produce enough batteries to power approximately 670,000 electric vehicles annually once both are fully operational.
The first plant is expected to begin production this month, with the second slated to open in 2028. The project is anticipated to create over 6,000 new jobs, including construction and operational roles –– a development praised by the United Auto Workers Union (UAW).
“We are excited to announce that Stellantis has finalized their employee leasing agreement at their joint venture battery plant with Samsung,” the UAW said in a statement. “This means over 1,000 new jobs for UAW members in Kokomo, at a time when Stellantis is trying to cut its way out of its own mismanagement.”
To close this loan, StarPlus Energy must meet various technical, legal, environmental and financial benchmarks. In total, the Department of Energy has now announced 32 deals worth over $54 billion in project investments under the Biden-Harris administration.
Union accuses Boeing of trying to ‘drive a wedge’ between striking workers
Machinists are still marching Tuesday, Sept. 24, after rejecting Boeing’s latest “best and final” offer to end the strike. But is the offer itself the problem or how the company went about it?
The company increased the 401(k) company match to 100% for the first 8% of pay.
Boeing said the offer is contingent on a vote by the end of the week, which would bring the strike to an end after two weeks.
But here’s where the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said Boeing went wrong. To start, the union has been asking for 40% raises over 4 years, in line with what United Auto Workers achieved in 2023.
But mostly, the negotiating team said Boeing disrespected them and the bargaining process by sending the offer to all members and the media while the negotiating team was still reviewing the details.
“Boeing has missed the mark with this proposal,” IAM Union District 751 said on X. “They are trying to drive a wedge between our members and weaken our solidarity with this divisive strategy.”
The union said it would not be voting on Friday, Sept. 27, despite Boeing’s demands, and will be sending a survey to striking members to get their input on the offer.
More than 30,000 machinists walked off the job more than a week ago. It’s Boeing’s first work stoppage in 16 years. Bank of America estimates the strike is costing the company $50 million a day. In the meantime, Boeing introduced rolling furloughs for employees not on strike to save money.
The last strike the company faced in 2008 lasted eight weeks. But aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia previously told Straight Arrow News this time should be different.
“The CEO at the time, Jim McNerney, his ambition was to break the back of labor,” Aboulafia explained. “He never saw the value of cooperation. He was interviewed, I believe, or heard on a live mic saying, ‘The workers will still be cowering’ or something vaguely amateurish and childish like that. Kelly Ortberg is the exact opposite. So I think this is going to be handled a lot faster.”
If not, newly-minted CEO Kelly Ortberg risks a credit downgrade on his watch. Moody’s put all of Boeing’s ratings on review for a downgrade when machinists voted to strike, while Fitch said that a strike that lasts more than a couple of weeks does increase the risk of a downgrade on its end.
UAW president’s tough words against Stellantis at DNC may be a warning
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain went after Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Ram, at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday, Aug. 19. He claimed that the company is dragging its feet on a promise to restart an assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Fain warned that reneging on the deal could lead to a strike by UAW employees.
“Let me be clear,” Fain said. “Stellantis must keep the promises they made to America in our Union contract, and the UAW will take whatever action necessary at Stellantis or any other corporation to stand up and hold corporate America accountable.”
Stellantis responded on Tuesday, saying that it told the UAW it plans to delay the opening of the plant that sits just an hour northwest of Chicago. However, the company said it is standing by its commitment and that the union’s claims that it violated the contract are wrong. A spokesperson for the company said the current contract allows them to “modify product investments and employment levels.”
Fain argued that Stellantis is delaying the process of reopening the Illinois plant, so it never has to actually do so.
The union chief previously criticized Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares over threatening job cuts because of falling U.S. sales. Stellantis’ net profits reportedly fell by 48% during the first six months of 2024.
Stellantis current contract with the UAW runs until 2028. Fain credited Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden with helping to secure the agreement to reopen the plant in Belvedere on Monday at the DNC. The UAW won the reopening in contract talks last year after a six-week strike at multiple factories.
Walz defends his military record at first solo campaign event
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) defends his military record in his first solo campaign event since being named Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. And an emergency declaration is approved for Puerto Rico as Tropical Storm Ernesto churns through the Caribbean. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Wednesday, August 14, 2024.
Walz defends his military record at first solo campaign event
With just 83 days left until the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held his first solo campaign event on Tuesday, Aug. 13, speaking at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention in Los Angeles. During his speech, he addressed his 24-year military record, which has become one of the top controversies for the Democratic ticket.
Republican vice presidential pick Ohio Sen. JD Vance has accused Walz of “stolen valor,” criticizing Walz over remarks he made in 2018 saying he carried weapons in war, even though he never saw combat. The Harris campaign has clarified Walz “misspoke” when he said that.
“I just want to say I’m proud to have served my country and I always will be,” Walz said. “I firmly believe you should never denigrate a person’s service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
Walz served in the United States National Guard. Vance is a former Marine.
Walz will be taking part in a five-state fundraising blitz over the next several days, while Vance will be in Michigan on Wednesday, Aug. 14, and Pennsylvania on Thursday, Aug. 15.
According to the UAW, Trump and Musk advocated for firing workers who strike. Striking is a protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act and workers cannot legally be fired for it.
Recently, the UAW has been trying to organize Tesla employees and it has endorsed Vice President Harris in the 2024 presidential race.
The newly approved arms sale to Israel will include 50 fighter jets, air-to-air missiles, tank ammunition and tactical vehicles. The sale, however, isn’t expected to make an immediate difference in the current conflict. It’s unlikely these weapons will be delivered until 2026 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Hamas’ new leader says it won’t be attending a planned meeting in Qatar for ongoing cease-fire talks on Thursday, Aug. 15.
President Biden and European leaders have been pushing both sides to return to the negotiating table as Iran has doubled down on threats to attack Israel. President Biden told reporters Tuesday a cease-fire deal could prevent a broader war from breaking out in the Middle East.
Hamas’ refusal to take part in negotiations signals any compromise is still far off.
Japanese prime minister won’t seek reelection amid political scandals
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will not run for a second term to lead the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Instead, he will step down next month after scandal, public dissatisfaction, and rising living costs have riddled his three-year term.
In recent months, the LDP has been in the middle of one of Japan’s biggest political scandals in decades. Two of the most influential factions in the LDP are accused of failing to properly declare their income and expenditures and rerouting political funds to lawmakers as kickbacks.
Puerto Rico under state of emergency ahead of Ernesto
Puerto Rico is under a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Ernesto churns its way. It’s expected to become a hurricane at some point Wednesday morning, unleashing flooding rainfall and heavy winds that could be a massive blow to the island’s struggling power infrastructure.
The National Hurricane Center said the storm could become a major hurricane “in a couple of days.”
This comes only days after Debby finished its deadly and destructive trek along the United States’ east coast. Ernesto is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Google unveils new lineup of AI-powered phones
The next generation of the phone wars is here and it’s all about artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, Aug. 13, Google unveiled its latest lineup of pixel phones at its annual showcase.
The yearly event was held a bit earlier than usual this year as Google looks to be one step ahead of Apple when it comes to AI. While we wait for Apple to reveal its next-gen iPhones in September, Google showcased its Pixel 9 lineup — four new phones complete with AI capabilities using its Gemini technology.
New AI functions include a voice conversation feature and a magic editor that can add a person to a photo who wasn’t in the original.
Google’s new phones are available now to preorder. Two are being released on August 22 and the other two on September 4, with the least expensive pixel costing $800 and the most expensive selling for $1,800.
Alleged 9/11 mastermind agrees to plea deal to avoid death penalty
The alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attack and two accomplices reached a plea deal with prosecutors. And former President Donald Trump sparks controversy with comments made about Vice President Kamala Harris at a conference of Black journalists. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024.
Alleged 9/11 mastermind agrees to plea deal in exchange for life in prison
The alleged mastermind terrorist behind plotting the 9/11 attacks against the U.S. has pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. The Department of Defense said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his two accomplices accused of planning the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil have agreed to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison.
The pre-trial agreement allows them all to escape being sentenced to death, something that is upsetting some families of 9/11 victims. Prosecutors first notified impacted families of the plea deal reached before it went public.
BREAKING: Pentagon announces that Guantanamo that three of the five 9/11 defendants, including mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, have reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Harris is running unopposed and has already been endorsed by most of the Democratic delegates. She also picked up the endorsement of the United Auto Workers on Wednesday, July 31, giving her the support of one of the country’s largest unions.
I am honored to receive the endorsement of the United Auto Workers. From walking picket lines to taking on big banks, I have spent my entire career fighting for unions and working families—and, as President, I will continue to deliver for organized labor. https://t.co/CQc4K0YOBW
Voting on the virtual roll call ends on Monday, Aug. 5. It’s the same day Harris is expected to announce her running mate. They will then start a series of side-by-side campaigning in battleground states, with their first official event together scheduled in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
On Thursday, Trump’s vice presidential pick Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, will be touring the southern border, and Harris will speak at the funeral of Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.
Trump sparks controversy after questioning Kamala Harris’ racial identity
Former President Donald Trump attended a conference for Black journalists in Chicago on Wednesday, July 31, that’s creating the most buzz on the campaign trail Thursday, Aug. 1 morning. Trump made controversial remarks after being asked if he agrees with Republicans on Capitol Hill who have said the vice president was a “DEI hire.”
“Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a Black woman?” ABC News’ Rachel Scott asked him.
“Well, I can say no,” Trump said. “I think it’s maybe a little bit different. So, I’ve known her a long time indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
“She has always identified as a Black woman,” Scott interjected. “She went to a historically Black college.”
“You know what, I respect either one,” Trump said “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t. Because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went, she became a Black person.”
“We all here remember what those four years were like,” Harris said. “And today we were given yet another reminder. This afternoon, Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, and it was the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better. The American people deserve better. The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength.”
During her daily press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to Trump’s comment, saying “it’s insulting.”
The former president defended his comments on his Truth Social platform, saying the questions he was being asked were “rude and nasty” and “often in the form of a statement” rather than question.
The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!@realDonaldTrump Donald Trump Truth Social 03:31 PM EST 07/31/24 pic.twitter.com/wetj11CoG0
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 31, 2024
Some Black Republican lawmakers have also jumped in to defend him — like Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt. Hunt posted a statement on his own Truth Social account reading in part, “He stood strong in the face of vicious attacks and gotcha questions, because that’s what leaders do.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., also commented on the former president’s remarks in a post on X.
“Fostering tough conversations and debate is how we make America great again for all Americans,” Donalds said. “Unlike Kamala Harris, President Trump is not afraid of going into any venue, any time, anywhere.”
Unlike Kamala Harris, President Trump is not afraid of going into any venue, any time, anywhere.
Today at the NABJ Convention, President Trump took the incoming fire from hostile reporters, held firm, and articulated his plan to Make America Great Again for ALL AMERICANS. pic.twitter.com/KNEw5yaLmi
Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother. She attended the historically Black Howard University and is a member of the nation’s oldest Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Meanwhile, a debate between the two remains up in the air. Trump has voiced wanting a venue change and said he “probably will” debate Harris, but could also “make a case for not.”
Report: Iran’s supreme leader issues order for Iran to strike Israel
Tensions are rising in the Middle East following the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Iran. Hamas claims an Israeli missile hit the house of political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
The New York Times reported that with the hit happening on Iranian soil, the country’s supreme leader has reportedly issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly, citing three Iranian officials briefed on the order.
Haniyeh was the Hamas negotiator for a possible hostage deal with Israel. Many fear that deal is now dead.
The strike on Haniyeh came just hours after an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.
Breaking this morning: The Israeli military announced it had killed top Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif during a strike in Gaza earlier in July. Deif is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel.
‘Weapons and Warfare’ goes inside Lockheed Martin’s F-35 assembly facility
In 2001, the Department of Defense awarded Lockheed Martin the contract to develop the F-35 fighter jet to replace aging aircraft. The jet is manufactured in three different variants: one for the Marine Corps, one for the Air Force and one for the Navy.
In a special edition of “Weapons and Warfare,” Straight Arrow News’ Ryan Robertson recently got to take a tour inside the Fort Worth, Texas facility that makes these fighter jets.
You can find this special edition of “Weapons and Warfare” right here.
Katie Ledecky ties record for most gold medals by female swimmer
Team USA now has won five Olympic gold medals in Paris, adding one more to its count after Wednesday’s events — and it was a historic one. Swimmer Katie Ledecky won the women’s 1,500 meter freestyle. She finished more than 10 seconds ahead of her competition to win her eighth Olympic gold medal.
With the victory, Ledecky tied the record for most gold medals by a female swimmer. It was also her 12th Olympic medal of any kind, which tied yet another record.
Ledecky is not done yet. She has a chance to break those records. She’ll be competing in the 4×200 meter relay Thursday, Aug. 1, and the 800 meter freestyle later this week.
Trump open to Chinese EV factories in the US, but with some conditions
Keeping Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) out of the U.S. has been a major goal of President Joe Biden’s administration. However, during a speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, July 18, former President Donald Trump said he would take a different approach, indicating his willingness to allow Chinese EV makers to establish operations in the U.S., provided that the production plants are constructed and staffed by American workers.
“They’re building some of the largest auto plants anywhere in the world,” Trump said. “We’re going to bring it back. We’re going to make them. We don’t mind that happening. But those plants are going to be built in the United States, and our people are going to man those plants.”
Trump’s proposal is aimed at preventing Chinese companies from building plants in Mexico to avoid the tariffs recently increased by the Biden administration and to capitalize on the federal government’s EV tax credit offerings.
“Large factories just started are being built across the border in Mexico,” Trump said. “So with all the other things happening at our border, and they’re being built by China to make cars and to sell them into our country.”
The former president said that if elected again, he plans to put forth policies to deter Beijing-backed companies from building out their facilities in Mexico. Trump claimed he would consider imposing substantial tariffs on these Chinese EVs manufactured in south of the U.S. border.
“If they don’t agree with us, we’ll put a tariff of approximately 100 to 200% on each car, and they will be unsellable in the United States,” Trump said.
In his speech, Trump also criticized the United Auto Workers (UAW), a union representing over 400,000 automotive industry employees, which endorsed Biden earlier this year, over China’s use of Mexico as a potential way to get its EVs into the United States. He said the UAW should be “ashamed for allowing this to happen,” and suggested that the union’s president, Shawn Fain, should be “fired immediately.”
Attacks on postal workers are on the rise, so lawmakers want new protections
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a bill to address the rising number of attacks against letter carriers. According to the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), there have been more than 2,000 such crimes committed since 2020.
“Throughout our history, letter carriers in uniform have been able to walk down even the meanest streets in this country without incident,” NALC President Brian Renfroe said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. “No one messed with their letter carrier. That has changed.”
Many of the attacks involve weapons — including guns. Some are caught on security cameras in local neighborhoods, such as one in which a letter carrier was assaulted on a front lawn by two masked men and another in which a carrier was punched in a driveway and subsequently tumbled into the street.
“It was two young, young men wearing ski masks and holding an AK-47,” letter carrier Matt McBee from Detroit said of his attack. “They stuck it to my head and all they wanted was the key.”
The letter box keys are a big target, so lawmakers included funds in the bill to address that. The Protect Our Letter Carriers Act would provide $1.4 billion to replace the universal key with an electronic key and replace the old blue mail boxes with high security boxes. The bill would also change sentencing guidelines for anyone who assaults or robs a postal carrier, treating them the same as someone who assaults a law enforcement officer.
To build support for the bill, the sponsors brought in some heavy hitters of their own, including United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
“The fact that any worker is subjected to any act of violence, while doing a job on behalf of the American people is not something that we should ever tolerate,” Jeffries said.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., a sponsor of the bill, hopes to get it passed using what’s known in the House as the 290 rule. If leadership won’t bring a bill up for a vote, rank-and-file members can get it put on the consensus calendar if they get 290 co-sponsors.
“I think we will get 290 co-sponsors on this bill,” Fitzpatrick said. “This is a no brainer, I can’t imagine anybody being opposed to it. Which means that I fully expect this to come on the floor this year and pass with overwhelming support.”
The bill has 14 co-sponsors and has been referred to both the Judiciary and Oversight committees. It has not been introduced in the Senate.
EPA mulls EV transition delay amid pushback from lawmakers, automakers
A bipartisan rally in Ohio on Thursday, Feb. 22, highlighted growing opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed emissions standards. These regulations aim to mandate that two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. be electric by 2032. However, the rules have drawn criticism from lawmakers and autoworkers who argue that the timeline is overly ambitious.
“It’ll be devastating for working class people because it’s going to cost them their jobs, it’s going to mandate that they buy electric vehicles, which are much more expensive and a lot less reliable for the things that they need to do to live and work every day,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said. “You see that this is a bipartisan group of people who are saying no to the Biden administration’s EPA mandates that would mandate 67% of cars be electric by 2032, which means that industry has to start immediately changing.”
In addition to the demonstration in Ohio, over 130 members of Congress have penned a letter to President Joe Biden and EPA Director Michael Reagan, expressing concerns from both sides of the aisle about the feasibility of the emissions plan.
“We write to highlight the failures of this Administration’s hasty and costly transition to electric vehicles,” the group of lawmakers wrote. “This rule is contradictory to all conventional predictions about where the automobile industry is headed in the coming years, including this administration’s own Department of Energy.”
The congressional members contend that the proposed regulations are “unrealistic” and “absurd.” The letter argues this rule could have adverse effects on American families and businesses, while potentially increasing reliance on foreign markets, particularly China. The lawmakers also pointed to federal energy reports which predict that only one out of five new vehicles will be EVs by 2050.
Amid this pushback, reports indicate that the EPA is considering delaying the implementation of the emissions plan until after 2030 to allow automakers more time to comply. Under this revised timeline, regulations would ramp up sharply to achieve the goal of EVs comprising 67% of U.S. new car sales by 2032 and create roughly the same greenhouse gas reductions as the original proposal by 2055.
The initial plan, which would have begun impacting vehicles manufactured in 2027, prompted major automakers like Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors, along with the United Auto Workers union, to request a deadline extension.
However, environmental advocates argue that delaying the implementation of this intuitive comes with risks of its own.
Dan Becker, the director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Washington Post that waiting until 2030 will result in “more pollution, more sick kids, more global warming, [and] more oil use.”
Organizations like the Sierra Club have urged the EPA to move forward with its original plan, emphasizing the detrimental effects of air pollution on public health.
These groups say that over 137 million Americans, more than one-third of the nation’s population, are currently exposed to harmful levels of air pollution, which stricter emissions standards could help alleviate in the short term.
“We need strong clean car standards to deliver vital relief that the most highly impacted communities demand and deserve,” the Sierra Club wrote. “The United States is the world’s second largest country emitter, and transportation is the largest portion (29%) of total US greenhouse gas emissions.”
A decision on what these regulations will ultimately look like has not been made yet. The EPA’s final ruling on emissions regulations is expected by March at the earliest.
Alabama set to conduct first nitrogen gas execution in U.S.: The Morning Rundown, Jan. 25, 2024
Alabama is set to conduct the first execution of a death row inmate by nitrogen gas in U.S. history. And the FAA halts Boeing from expanding its production on certain planes following the Alaska Airlines midair scare. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Thursday, Jan 25, 2024.
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Alabama to proceed with first nitrogen gas execution in the U.S.
The first execution of a death row inmate by nitrogen gas is expected to take place within hours in Alabama after the Supreme Court declined to halt the inmate’s request to pause the execution. The court did not explain its ruling on Wednesday, Jan. 24, as the justices did not side with Kenneth Smith and his attorneys.
Smith’s legal team was looking for more time to argue that the state trying to execute him for a second time would be unconstitutional, falling under the category of cruel and unusual punishment. An appeals court also declined to halt the execution.
Execution by nitrogen gas is only approved in three states: Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. But Alabama is the only state to outline its protocol so far, saying it will use a mask to deliver the nitrogen.
Critics of the new method include the United Nations, whose Human Rights Office said it “could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international human rights law.” The Alabama Attorney’s General office claimed the use of nitrogen gas is the “most painless and humane method of execution known to man.”
Ohio bans gender-affirming care for minors
Despite a veto from Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Republican-dominated senate voted to ban gender-affirming care for minors and bar transgender women and girls from competing on sports teams. In a senate vote to override DeWine’s veto, the law passed and bans gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapies and restricts mental health care for transgender patients under 18. The law also bars transgender girls and women from joining girls’ and women’s sports teams from K through 12 and collegiate sports.
The law is expected to go into effect in 90 days, after it was pushed through in a 24-8 vote in the state senate. One Republican voted against the measure. While Gov. DeWine vetoed the measure, citing government overreach, he did sign an executive order in early January banning gender-affirming surgeries for minors, even though medical professionals have insisted those surgeries aren’t happening in the state.
“This choice is clear. Joe Biden bet on the American worker while Donald Trump blamed the American worker,” UAW President Shawn Fain said.
In 2023, the UAW orchestrated a massive walk-out during negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three automakers for better wages. The months-long strike ended with historic deals signed by the union, and President Biden became the first modern-day president to hit a picket line in a show of support for the American worker.
This is why Fain said the choice is clear, calling former President Donald Trump a “scab,” and added that he is a billionaire who does not represent the American worker; he is the type of “company man trying to squeeze the American worker.”
UAW’s endorsement is a big win for Biden as he looks to garner more support from working-class Americans. The UAW also endorsed Biden during the 2020 election.
U.N.’s top court to make initial ruling in Israel genocide case
Should the 17-judge panel grant South Africa’s requests, it’s unclear if Israel will comply with the court’s order. While rulings by the court are legally binding, there is no way to enforce them.
Israel has called the genocide allegations “grossly distorted,” saying the country has a right to defend itself and it is fighting Hamas, not Palestinian civilians. The United States has called South Africa’s case meritless.
FAA approves path for grounded Boeing jets to return after panel incident
Boeing said it will work with the airlines to complete these inspections. Alaska and United Airlines, which have been forced to cancel hundreds of flights consistently, said they expect to have some of the planes back in service by this weekend. At the same time, the FAA is not allowing Boeing to expand production of the 737 Max jets.
The FAA said that the halt is needed to ensure accountability by Boeing, adding that it will not agree to any requests for expansion until Boeing resolves quality control issues.
Jon Stewart returning to host ‘The Daily Show’ on Mondays
This time around, Stewart will only be on Monday nights and only throughout the 2024 presidential election cycle. Stewart most recently hosted a show on Apple TV+, but it was canceled after two seasons following reports of conflict between Stewart and Apple over its coverage of China and artificial intelligence.
Along with part-time hosting duties, Stewart will also serve as executive producer for every episode of “The Daily Show” through 2025.
America’s 4 largest automakers forego Super Bowl ads for first time in decades
For the first time in 23 years, America’s four largest automakers are all skipping out on Super Bowl ads. There will be no promos featuring Ford, Toyota, General Motors or Chrysler during commercial breaks of the big game.
The move is a sharp turn from just a few years ago when a large chunk of commercials were bought up by automakers to promote electric vehicles (EVs). There are several reasons why people will be seeing fewer commercials like those this year.
Super Bowl commercial spots don’t come cheap. A 30-second slot is said to run about $7 million dollars, according to AdAge’s archive.
Super Bowl LVIII comes on the heels of the Big Three automakers suffering billions of dollars in losses from the United Autoworkers Union’s six-week strike last year for higher wages.
Auto companies are scrambling to cut costs, figuring out the future of their industry and whether an investment in EVs will eventually pay off. Right now, the transition is coming at a cost.
There have been high interest rates paired with slow consumer demand. Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, Chrysler’s parent company, said the current challenges the market faces are the reason why the company won’t be creating clever ads for this year’s Super Bowl.
On Friday, Jan. 19, Tavares warned of an EV bloodbath if automakers are forced to slash prices because of the stagnant market.
“If you go and cut pricing disregarding the reality of your costs, you will have a bloodbath,” Tavares said at an Amsterdam event. “I am trying to avoid a race to the bottom.”
Looking at the auto industry, Tesla’s profitability took a 40% hit year-over-year after lowering prices to increase demand. Ford is slowing EV production and boosting gas vehicle output after admitting its EV line is losing billions of dollars.
GM had to stop selling its latest EV model due to software issues, laid off 1,300 workers in Michigan and is cutting EV production. Stellantis has also taken the route of layoffs to save costs and is closing factories.
While Ford, Toyota, GM and Chrysler decided to save and skip out on Super Bowl ad spending, there will still be other competing car companies featured in this year’s commercials. Foreign-owned companies like Kia and Volkswagen are set to display their latest EV models during Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11.