Newspaper Page Text
4D Sunday, November 18, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
VIEWPOINT
Sinema will fit right in at the US Senate
Republicans recently
chose Mitch McConnell
to continue on as Senate
Majority Leader.
Meanwhile, Arizona
voters elected Democrat
Kyrsten Sinema to the U.S.
Senate.
No word yet on whether
Sinema plans to break
from her party and support
McConnell in all legislative
matters because she sees
him as her “boss.”
It’s worth mentioning
given that not so long ago,
Sinema pulled a stunt like
that back home.
If such extreme bipar
tisan cooperation sounds
crazy, then you’ve never
covered Arizona politics.
I was in the sandbox in
the 1990s, when I wrote
for the Arizona Repub
lic. There, I covered the
infancy of the modern
immigration debate. And I
still check in periodically —
through friends, family, and
sources — on the bizarre
happenings in the Grand
Canyon State.
One of the stranger things
happened nearly seven
years ago when a group
called Citizens for a Better
Arizona launched an effort
to recall Republican law
maker Russell Pearce. He
RUBEN NAVARRETTE
ruben@rubennavarrette.com
was the author of SB 1070,
the state’s racist immigra
tion law, and he was also the
powerful president of the
Arizona state senate.
Pearce lost his recall
election in November 2011.
Soon thereafter, accord
ing to the Phoenix New
Times, at a meeting of the
local chapter of Progres
sive Democrats of America,
Sinema — who was then
an Arizona state senator —
was asked by Latina activ
ist Lilia Alvarez why she
hadn’t supported the effort
to recall Pearce.
According to Alvarez, and
several others in the room,
Sinema gave what has to be
one of the most ridiculous
answers in the history of
Arizona politics.
Something like: “Rus
sell Pearce is my boss, and
that’s why I couldn’t get
involved.”
According to the Huff ing-
ton Post at the time, Sinema
spokesman Rodd McLeod
insisted that the Democrat
did support the recall —
just privately. He also
claimed that her “boss”
comment was taken out of
context, and that she was
merely trying to explain to
the activists how the Senate
worked.
Sinema said much the
same thing, doubling down
on the claim that Pearce
was the “boss” of the senate.
Thus, Sinema wasn’t
really being complicit in
Pearce’s racist agenda. She
was just being condescend
ing as she tried to explain
the workings of govern
ment to the great unwashed
because — according to
multiple sources — she
always considers herself
the smartest person in
the room. Oh, that’s much
better.
As Senate president,
Pearce did indeed set the
agenda, and he did decide
the fate of bills. But the idea
that a Republican senate
president is the “boss” of
a Democratic senator is
absurd.
In fact, it’s just as outra
geous as when Sinema told
the NBC affiliate in Phoenix
FORD
■ Continued from 1D
“Ford is shrinking, based
on sheer sales,” said Jon
Gabrielsen, an indepen
dent market economist who
advises automakers and
suppliers. “Over the last 10
years, all of Ford’s business
outside the U.S. and Canada
has steadily declined to
the point that all that will
ever be sufficiently profit
able is in the U.S.-Canada.
Indeed, many regions are
hemorrhaging.
“And in these two coun
tries, Ford profits are driven
entirely by pickup trucks,
SUVs and vans. Its exiting
cars could result in the loss
of sales of 10 to 20 percent.”
That may help explain
why Ford is having wide-
ranging talks with Volkswa
gen. Executives from each
have indicated that collabo
ration could save the com
panies billions of dollars in
research and development
costs and help each in the
development of driverless
and electric vehicles.
VW and Ford are work
ing with BMW and Daimler
to develop a rapid electric-
vehicle charging network
across Europe. Emissions
standards continue to
increase worldwide, with
the major markets of China
and California driving sig
nificant growth.
“In Europe, Ford has lost
$973 million in the last five
years — indicating that, no
matter what they have tried,
they failed to turn it around
despite being at the peak of
the cycle. Things will get far
worse in the next downturn,”
said Gabrielsen, who gets his
data from Ford’s SEC filings.
“In South America, Ford has
lost $3.9 billion in the last
five years.”
Bob Shanks, Ford chief
financial officer, reported
big losses in Europe, Asia
and South America. He told
financial analysts after quar
terly meetings this year:
“Clearly our European
business requires a major
redesign. “Moving forward,
we’re focused on getting
our China business back on
track.
“We’re only going to allo
cate capital to new invest
ment opportunities going
forward that generate the
appropriate returns on capi
tal. In the process, we will
either move the low-per
forming parts of the business
through fitness... or we will
dispose of them.”
But industry
analysts have
asked why
change is taking
so long.
In the past
decade, Ford has
lagged in Mexico
while Europe
is “unsalvage-
able” and South
America is a
“dumpster fire,”
Gabrielsen said.
As for China, he
said, “it’s ‘do or
die time’; that
must be fixed
because it’s a
horrible tragedy
to forfeit that
market.”
In October,
Shanks and
Hackett told
investors that
Ford must be
fundamentally
redesigned. They promised
to announce details as things
unfold.
“Around the globe, the
company is moving with a
sense of urgency to rede
sign and restructure the
business to capitalize on
our strengths, while selec
tively and smartly ‘disposi
tion’ where we cannot make
appropriate returns,” Ford
spokesman Brad Carroll
said. “To do this well, with
a grounding in the future,
takes time, but we are com
mitted to making the right
decisions for the long-term
health of the company.”
From 2013 to 2017, vehicle
sales in North America gen
erated $42.6 billion in profits
with the help of pickup sales
led by the Ford F-Series,
while its Ford Financial arm
earned $9.6 billion.
“The risk to Ford of its
total reliance on just North
America for all its past and
future profits, is that the
North American market
is highly mature and satu
rated with vehicles, while
the regions in which Ford
is unsuccessful,
and losing both
market share
and money,
are the growth
markets of the
future,” said
Gabrielsen, a
40-year industry
consultant.
“In the U.S.,
there are already
1.19 cars or light
trucks for every
licensed driver
in the country,
and 1.9 vehicles
per household.
That means
that if every
licensed driver
in the country
were driving a
vehicle at this
moment, 19 per
cent of the total
vehicles in the
country would
still be parked
doing nothing. What are
the odds that U.S. consum
ers are going to want more
than that per driver and per
household? Indeed, vehicles
per household have actually
dropped from a peak of 2.1
in 2009, back to 1.9 in 2017.
A further indication that the
prospects for further growth
are maxed out.”
Meanwhile, China would
have to increase the number
of vehicles in the country by
nearly a billion just to reach
the level of maturity and sat
uration of the United States.
‘Around the
globe, the
company is
moving with
a sense of
urgency to
redesign and
restructure
the business
to capitalize
on our
strengths
Brad Carroll
Ford spokesman
HARRIGAN
■ Continued from 3D
tests and provide some latitude to moderate
members, as Pelosi did with the red-state
Democrats who rode Obama’s coattails to
Washington in 2008.
A “big tent” may not excite liberals who
want to see significant change, but that
approach is often necessary for a congres
sional party seeking majority status.
Thus, Nancy Pelosi’s experience and
savvy make her the right choice for speaker
in 2018, and such a pick would not preclude
the possibility of fresh Democratic leader
ship in the future.
As Pelosi herself has indicated, she can
navigate the troublesome waters of divided
government now, while the party grooms a
new class of leaders.
As of this writing, those members who
expressed a willingness to vote against
Pelosi as speaker have not backed an
actual challenger. The 2020 elections have
the potential to deliver Democrats unified
government and the opportunity to enact
a more progressive agenda, but the party
does not yet live in such a world.
Matthew T. Harrigan is Adjunct Lecturer in
the Department of Political Science at Santa
Clara University. Readers may write him at
SCU, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA
95053.
HASKINS
■ Continued from 3D
renewable-energy man
dates in a ridiculous attempt
to control the weather and
battle climate change.
Pelosi has mocked and
ridiculed the Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act, ignorantly refer
ring to the thousands of dol
lars in extra cash delivered
by the tax reform package
to millions of American
families as “crumbs.”
And she’s called for rais
ing taxes on job creators to
fund her numerous propos
als to expand the size and
power of government — a
strategy that would stunt
economic growth and
increase unemployment.
Pelosi’s policies have
failed over and over again,
which is why House Demo
crats took one of the biggest
political beatings in U.S.
history during the 2010 elec
tions, when Democrats, in
a single year, went from
enjoying a 79-seat advan
tage to being stuck with a
49-seat deficit.
Pelosi’s policies offer
Americans absolutely noth
ing they haven’t already
seen and rejected before:
more regulations, higher
taxes, less freedom, and
fewer health care options.
It’s time for something
better.
A summa cum laude
graduate of the University of
Richmond, Justin Haskins
is Executive Editor and
Research Fellow at The
Heartland Institute. Readers
may write him at Heartland,
3939 North Wilke Road,
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
that she supported the idea
of Pearce running for Con
gress because, she said, “I
love Russell. We get along
very well.”
Only in Arizona.
I’ve heard that Sinema
condescension directly. A
few years ago, when she
was in the House of Repre
sentatives, I interviewed
her and asked about her
hardline stance on immigra
tion enforcement.
In Congress, Sinema co
sponsored a bill calling for
regular border threat analy
sis of terrorism, smuggling
and human trafficking.
She supported Kate’s Law,
which sprang out of the
hysteria over so-called sanc
tuary cities and would have
expanded prison sentences
for illegal immigrants who
re-enter the country after
being deported. She voted
for the SAFE Act, which
made it more difficult for
refugees to enter the United
States. And she broke
with other Democrats in
opposing efforts to abolish
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement.
At one point, in response
to a question she didn’t like,
she called me combative
— and then ended the inter
view. As various activists in
Phoenix have told me, she
hates being challenged and
doesn’t take criticism well.
She illustrates perfectly
the great mirage of the Ari
zona immigration debate.
Supposedly white Demo
crats stick their necks out
every day to defend Latino
constituents against anti
immigration nativists.
Yeah, not so much.
Sinema also doesn’t stick
to her campaign promises.
In July, while trying to win
over conservatives, she told
Politico that she wouldn’t
support Chuck Schumer for
Senate Minority Leader.
This week, when Schumer
was re-elected by acclama
tion, no one objected —
including the Senator-elect
from Arizona.
We’d better get used to
such maneuvers. Sinema
looks out for Sinema. She’ll
say what you want to hear,
and then do what is best for
her.
In other words, when this
one is sworn in and takes
her seat in the Senate, she’ll
fit right in.
Ruben Navarrette writes for
the Washington Post Writers
Group.
SUNDAY CARTOON GALLERY
USA BENSON I Washington Post Writers Group
JOEL PETT I Tribune News Service
DANA SUMMERS I Tribune News Service
Today’s TV news shows
■ ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. Roy Blunt,
R-Mo.; Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.;
Reps.-elect Deb Haaland, D-N.M.,
Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Donna Shalala,
D-Fla., Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and
Lauren Underwood, D-lll.
■ NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sens.
Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Lindsey
Graham, R-S.C., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and
Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
■ CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Sens. Joni
Ernst, R-lowa, and Rand Paul, R-Ky.;
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.; Reps.-
elect Haaland, Houlahan, Dan Crenshaw,
R-Texas, and Joe Neguse, D-Colo.
■ CNN’s “State of the Union” — Sen.
Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Haaland, Houlahan,
Crenshaw.
■ “Fox News Sunday” — President
Donald Trump.
Associated Press
