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Representative Thadeus McCotter represents Livonia, an area west of Detroit, that has suffered shuttered auto and auto supplier plants and high unemployment. He gets a lot of questions these days about his vote against the Stmulus Plan. Says the Speaker of the Michigan State House, State Representative Andy Dillon, whose district overlaps McCotter's, "they are betting the farm, if this works, I think people will remember they were not on board. Democrats are targeting McCotter and 11 other Republicans in competitive districts in harder-hit states, saying they opposed the stimulus package's tax cuts, and generation of new jobs or preservation of jobs at the local government level, as well as extended unemployment benefits. Independent polls are reporting wide public support for the stimulus package.

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The UAW added 7000 workers to the 18000 already on strike at Ford, GM, Stellantis.The UAW is making progress in its talks on Stellantis on cost of living adjustments and outsourcing, and says it will spare Stellantis from more walkouts. Stellantis also has the least hourly workers of the three US auto companies. Stellantis has operations in Europe and gets half of its profit outside the US. The UAW is also not stopping work at the largest SUV and pickup truck plants that make the most money for the auto companies. The idea is to do only what is needed to achieve its goals of fair pay and benefits for the auto workers.

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Harris will visit United Autoworkers Union Local 652 in Lansing to remind autoworkers of the support of president Joe Biden for the labor movement in the US. And for the efforts for restoring jobs and wages after decades of neglect by both previous Democratic and Republican administrations. Biden was the first US president to stand on a picket line inthe history of the US. Harris-Walz now look to unions and labor support, support of workers and families in the industrial midwestern states. For the first time old rust belt factories are being revived with new infrastructure renewal and new technologies products in a new concept that is tried for the first time at a scale of investments of billions of dollars that was never done before. This is the breakthrough that Biden and now Harris  are putting through as The Way Forward for a new generation and the Renewal of America.

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US National Archives 737 Freedom Plane with first stop in Kansas City, March 6, carrying founding documents of US for 250th Anniversary. Founding documents include The Treaty of Paris, George Washington's oath of allegiance, 1774 Articles of Association. Look for it in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, Denver, Miami, Dearborn (Michigan), and Seattle. Six eighteen wheeler Freedom trucks will also take exhibits to schools, libraries and community gatherings across the 51 states.

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A $300 million retooling investment at Michigan Truck plant three years ago will make it possible for Ford to convert the plant to production of as many as 8 new models some from from Europe with a relatively small investment of $75 million. Michigan Truck Plant is in the midst of a 11 week shutdown because of unsold inventory of SUV's and trucks. Next spring Ford will move production of the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator to its Kentucky Truck Plant and then begin retooling the Michigan Truck Plant, with all of the plant's 1000 employees transferred next door to make Focus cars at the Wayne Assembly Plant where its adding a third shift in January. Truck and SUV plants in Kentucky and Mexico will probably undergo similiar makeovers at a cost of about $250 million each to rettol according to company estimates.

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Over the next 20 years China will need 6500 737 Max single aisle planes and 1500 Dreamliners, Boeing says. China will make up 20% of world demand. The US visit of Xi Jinping and the major efforts for good relations of president Biden through vigorous diplomacy by Blinken, Yellen and others gives Boeing an opportunity to meet this demand.

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Michigan's Governor Snyder says "thats not our path," for the way Wisconsin Governor Walker decided to change the laws for public workers collective bargaining rights.

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Michigan is the only state in the US with a population decline. The population went down by 0.6% in the 2010 census. Michigan suffered during the decline of the auto industry in the last decade.

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Independent Bank has used the $72 million in TARP funds to shore up its tattered finances. But it has done little of the lending that was the intent of the TARP program. It has a large number of delinquent loans. Lenders are cautious lenders and borrowers are also cautious.