U.S. - COLUMBIA TRADE PROMOTION AGREEMENT - CONGRESS GETS SOME GUTS

Finally, Congress exhibited its long absent intestinal fortitude - guts - to stand up to the administration’s incessant scare tactics surrounding free trade agreements, notably the U.S. - Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement. Congress or should I say the Democrats - with a few exceptions - took action to delay the implementation of yet another lopsided and unfair free trade agreement.

H. Res. 1092 passed this week in Congress states as follows:

Resolved, That section 151(e)(1) and section 151(f)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 shall not apply in the case of the bill (H.R. 5724) to implement the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.

The sections mentioned detail time constraints under which free trade agreements are to be considered by Congress under the Free Trade Agreement Act of 1974. That Act required that Congress take up consideration of trade agreements 90 days after they are received from the White House. The recently-passed Resolution removes that timetable and allows delay in consideration of the Agreement.

The Indiana house congressional delegation voted on an expected partisan line with Visclosky, Donnelly, Carson, and Ellsworth voting to delay consideration and Souder, Burton, Pence, and Hill voting to take up the bill immediately. Buyer did not vote, and Hill was the lone Indiana Democrat to jump ship and side with the Republicans.

The Administration continues to use statements such as “helping an important ally in South America is in the political and security interests of the United States.” Absent from Bush’s yammering on security and political interests is any hint of how, once again, American workers will be benefited rather than hurt by another free trade agreement.

Free trade agreements are nothing more than corporate gifts from the administration. And, while many administrations have entered into these agreements over the past, the effect has now become painfully obvious. The agreements require few, if any, reciprocal efforts in the areas of environmental protection or human rights violations. Corporate powers-that-be are the beneficiaries of the following policy that can be found at the government’s export website:

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) can help your company to enter and compete more easily in the global marketplace. Trade agreements help level the international playing field and encourage foreign governments to adopt open and transparent rulemaking procedures, as well as non-discriminatory laws and regulations. FTAs help strengthen business climates by eliminating or reducing tariff rates, improving intellectual property regulations, opening government procurement opportunities, easing investment rules, and much more.

The informational description contains no reference to how FTAs help American workers. The reason? FTAs do not help our workers. When the statement says “trade agreements help level the international playing field, what actually occurs is that American job losses increase through outsourcing.

As a final note, the new agreement is called a “trade promotion” agreement rather than a “free trade” agreement. The change in terminology is simply an exercise in semantics. A rose is a rose is a rose, and a trade agreement is a trade agreement no matter how you disguise it.

GEORGE WHO? OPEC SMACKDOWN

King George must be feeling somewhat chagrined these days.  He has literally had his way trampling on civil rights and liberties with little repurcussions from the Democrats.  But half a world away, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has handed him a big smack-down with its refusal to increase oil production.  Rather than take any responsibility for our country’s tremendous appetite for oil and energy, Bush has decided that the blame should be placed on OPEC. 

Bush chastised OPEC for helping to push the United States’ economy into a slowdown by stating “I think it’s a mistake to have your biggest customers’ economies slowing down as a result of higher energy prices.”  OPEC was having none of that talk.   OPEC President Chakib Khelil told reporters that the global market is being affected by what he called “the mismanagement of the U.S. economy,” and that the United States’ problems were a key factor in the cartel’s decision to hold off on any action.

The members of OPEC must be laughing all the way to the bank.  Despite decades of warnings that we should be working toward energy dependence, one administration after another has failed to come up with a viable energy plan.  Now Bush has decided to blame OPEC for our inability to control our appetite for oil and our refusal to cut our energy consumption. 

While Bush flings his accustions, OPEC simply refuses to buy into his rantings; instead Khelil noted that crude stocks were well within their five-year average.  And, waiting in the wings is China with its ever-increasing need for oil to support its rise as one of the world’s fastest growing economies.  So, as Bush blusters, OPEC thumbs its nose at his pathetic attempts to blame our deepening economic crisis on their reluctance to increase oil supplies.  The old phrase “over a barrel” was never more accurate.

JUST WHAT ARE GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMOs)?

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or as they are alternatively called, genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) have raised quite a bit of concern over the past decade. But just what are these creatures that have caused so much alarm? In order to understand GMOs and their penchant to trigger alarm, we must first look at the base structure of all living things - DNA. The structure of DNA is often described as resembling a spiral staircase as shown in the drawing below.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the building block of life because it contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms - it is often called a blueprint or map. Only four bases comprise every conceivable combination of DNA pairings. The four bases found in DNA are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T) with each type of base on one strand forming a bond with just one type of base on the other strand. This is called complementary base pairing.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Genetic modification is a special set of technologies that alter the genetic makeup of such living organisms as animals, plants, or bacteria by combining genes from different organisms and is known as recombinant DNA technology. The result is an organism that is said to be “genetically modified,” “genetically engineered,” or “transgenic.” With recombinant DNA technology, DNA molecules from different sources are combined in vitro into one molecule to create a new gene. This DNA is then transferred into an organism and causes the expression of modified or novel traits

Tinkering with the DNA of seeds - those packets of DNA producing our food supply - has become big business in agriculture. Companies such as Syngenta and Monsanto have been involved for decades in experimenting with modifying the DNA of crops such as corn, soybeans, and rice. Once modification has taken place, the company slaps a patent on the seed and owns the rights to market the seed.

Just how important is ownership of technology processes as well as seed patents? The two Goliaths of agribusiness went toe-to-toe in a battle over the rights to Agrobacterium technology. The following is an excerpt from a report on that case:

On February 23, 2004, Syngenta International AG (Basel, Switzerland) and Monsanto Company (St. Louis, Missouri) announced an agreement in which the companies cross-license proprietary Agrobacterium-mediated transformation technology. The agreement resolved a patent interference proceeding in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) involving transgenic broad leaf crops.

The Monsanto-Syngenta deal also resolved a lawsuit that had been pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Syngenta had filed the case in 2002, alleging that Monsanto and Delta and Pine Land infringed U.S. Patent No. 6,051,757, which covers methods of transferring genes into dicotyledonous plants using Agrobacterium-based vectors. On the day that the companies announced their new agreement, the Delaware district court dismissed the patent infringement case.

Monsanto continues to build its store of Agrobacterium-related patent rights. In October, the company announced the PTO’s decision that Monsanto’s scientists had invented Agrobacterium transformation methods in dicot plants before the Max Planck Institute and other parties. The decision ended a 12-year patent interference dispute.

The Human Genome Project Information website provides a list of both benefits and controversies:

Benefits

• Crops
  • Enhanced taste and quality
  • Reduced maturation time
  • Increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance
  • Improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides
  • New products and growing techniques
• Animals
  • Increased resistance, productivity, hardiness, and feed efficiency
  • Better yields of meat, eggs, and milk
  • Improved animal health and diagnostic methods
• Environment
  • “Friendly” bioherbicides and bioinsecticides
  • Conservation of soil, water, and energy
  • Bioprocessing for forestry products
  • Better natural waste management
  • More efficient processing
• Society
  • Increased food security for growing populations

Controversies

• Safety
  • Potential human health impact: allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects Potential environmental impact: unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity
• Access and Intellectual Property
  • Domination of world food production by a few companies
  • Increasing dependence on Industralized nations by developing countries
  • Biopiracy—foreign exploitation of natural resources
• Ethics
  • Violation of natural organisms’ intrinsic values
  • Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species
  • Objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa
  • Stress for animal
• Labeling
  • Not mandatory in some countries (e.g., United States)
  • Mixing GM crops with non-GM confounds labeling attempts
• Society
  • New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries

GMOs have set off a debate as to health, safety, ethics, etc., but, it is the last concern listed that should set off an alarm to all citizens in all countries. While we were not paying much attention, the multinational agribusiness corporations have been establishing patent after patent for GMOs. They are exploiting third world nations by using them as experimental stations.

As noted in the short excerpt about Monsanto and Syngenta, the companies are building storehouses of patents - patents that control the creation and distribution of seeds.

He who controls the food supply controls the world. And, it looks like it will be the Goliaths of agribusiness, not the fast-disappearing Davids of the agriculture world.

SKILLMAN TO LEAD MORE JOBS OUT OF INDIANA

Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman - aka Outsourcing Annie - will lead a 26-member delegation of Indiana food and agribusiness leaders to Mexico. Indiana Agriculture Director Andy Miller will join the traveling party. The group will visit a pork processing plant and the largest dairy operation in Latin America as well as meet with representatives from grain and biotechnology industries.

See a trend here - anyone? Anyone? Daniels and Skillman unleashed the Possibilities Unbound Plan in 2005 which triggered the filing and approval of hundreds of CAFO permits to operate confined operations to meet the goal of doubling hog production within a few years. The visits to the pork processing plant operation will no doubt be to work out agreements for processing the pork product or to open the possibility to contract for raising hogs in Mexico. But why would outsourcing processing even be needed?

Wasn’t one of the Guv’s goals in doubling pork production to increase economic benefit to Indiana? The next excuse we will hear from the Guv and Skillman is that we just don’t have the capacity to handle all the processing.

In addition to outsourcing possibilities visiting pork and dairy locations, one of the foremost topics appears to be “rural development.” This is code for “rural exploitation” of Mexican agricultural areas; obviously we are not discussing rural development here in Indiana. Much of the country is too arid or too mountainous for crops or grazing, and it is estimated that no more than one-fifth of the land is potentially arable. However, Mexico’s burgeoning population has made it a net importer of grains.

Add to this mix the fact that NAFTA, which was implemented 14 years ago, required the lifting of tariffs on corn and beans by early 2008, and it looks like the Guv and Skillman will be some of the first to exploit the elimination of the tariffs by shipping Indiana grain to Mexico.

Again, more exploitation of the Mexican people and land. Note that Emily Otto-Tice of the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Corn Alliance is one of the 26-members making the trip.

Photo Credit: Photovault.com

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With much of the land too arid or too mountainous for grazing, it also raises the prospect that Mexico would be an excellent experiment in building and running CAFOs since CAFOs do not require a large number of acres to operate. Build CAFOs in Mexico, ship Indiana grain to Mexico to supply the necessary feed, and ship the finished product to the growing middle classes in countries such as China. With states and local communities becoming ever more wary of the environmental dangers of CAFOs, why not use Mexico with its less stringent environmental standards.

Skillman has previously led separate missions to Taiwan and Vietnam and to Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama. All countries which produce all those lovely, cheap products competing for the American consumers’ attention. So, while Indiana’s economy is not faring so well and the United States appears headed into a recession, the Guv sends his right-hand woman on another field trip with 26 cohorts at the expense of the taxpayers.

The following are those individuals who owe us thanks for their memories in Mexico since I assume the Hoosier taxpayer is again paying for the privilege of losing jobs. I have underlined and bolded those names connected with agriculture. Notice that two areas are predominantly represented: grains and pork. Connect the dots: Mexican rural development - exporting crops and outsourcing meat production and processing.

• Lt. Governor Becky Skillman
• Andy Miller, Director, Indiana State Department of Agriculture
• Juana Watson, Senior Advisor to the Governor on Hispanic Affairs
• Steve Akard, Director of International Development, Indiana Economic Development Corporation
• Angela Coats, Press Secretary, Office of the Lt. Governor
• Bart Lomont, Special Assistant to the Lt. Governor of Indiana
• Matt Harrod, Assistant Director of Policy and Research, Indiana State Department of Agriculture
• Lesley Taulman, International Trade Program Manager, Indiana State Department of Agriculture
• Dale Whittaker, Associate Dean for Academic Program, Purdue University College of Agriculture
• Guillermo Vasquez de Velasco, Dean, College of Architecture and Planning, Ball State University
• Susan Sutton, Associate Vice Chancellor of International Affairs and Chancellor’s Professor of Anthropology, IUPUI
• Dr. David A. Bathe, Chancellor, Ivy Tech Lafayette
• Don Villwock, President, Indiana Farm Bureau
• Mike Platt, State Executive Indiana Pork Producers Association
• Terry Vanlaningham, Indiana Pork
• Emily Otto-Tice, Director of Grain Marketing, Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn
• Fayte Brewer, Indiana Grain Producer
• Jim Eichhorst, Manager, State Government Relations, Midwest Region, Biotechnology Industry Organization
• Ted McKinney, Leader, U.S. Food Chain and States Affairs, Dow AgroSciences
• Andres Felix, Legal and Government Affairs Lead, Latin and North America, Monsanto
• Angel Saavedra, Regulatory and Government Affairs Manager, Dow AgroSciences, Mexico
• Mike Murphy, President, Murphy Partners, LLC
• Beth Bechdol, Director of Agribusiness Strategies, Ice Miller LLP
• Terry Anker, Chairman, The Anker Consulting Group
• Steve Churchill, President and CEO, PreferredPartners

GE TO CLOSE BLOOMINGTON PLANT

The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that General Electric Company will close its massive refrigerator plant in Bloomington by the end of 2009, displacing about 900 employees. Apparently, the Bloomington operation lost about $45 million last year, thanks to declining side-by-side refrigerator sales and rising material and labor costs.

Kent Suiters, the plant manager said that despite continued investment by the company and hard work by the union leadership and GE employees, they can no longer effectively compete.  Effectively compete against what or who?  Could it be that this is another example of corporations sending their work to other countries to reap ever-wider profit margins?

The union that represents the plant’s 837 hourly employees will have a limited amount of time to offer competitive alternatives to the closure. A final decision on the closing of the 1 million-square-foot plant will be made after those talks. The shutdown would wipe out 1 percent of the total work force in the Bloomington area and 8.7 percent of workers in the area who make durable goods - refrigerators and other products expected to last at least three years.

The last few years have been rough for GE employees in Indiana. In March 2005, the company laid off 470 workers at the Bloomington refrigerator plant, leaving about 1,000 employees. At a later date, the company said it planned to let go of 365 of its 750 employees at an electric motors and transformers plant in Fort Wayne.

But, what will probably happen is that Daniels will hop up on his magic podium and announce more jobs for the year 2011 - that three-year stretch that he seems to favor. Daniels seems to know how to manipulate the media to make it look like he is doing so much for Indiana when all the while we are losing jobs that may not be replaced for years. Sure won’t do the GE workers any good.

ANIMAL CRUELTY - HYPOCRISY AS A NATION

Recently, the Humane Society of the United States (USUS) released results of an undercover investigation at the Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California. It garnered attention on the nightly news for oh, let’s say, about one night. But underlying this mistreatment of the downed cattle shown in the picture below and the video I have included, is a pervasive distinction and yes, hypocrisy, in this country between animals designated as “pets” and those not fortunate enough to generate that moniker.

Photo Credit: Humane Society of the United States

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A pet is “any domesticated animal kept as a companion.” If animals are labeled as pets, they are coddled, pampered, spoiled, decked out in special outfits, taken on trips, fed like royalty, inoculated against diseases, taken for regular health checkups, and left bequests in wills. If, on the other hand, animals are labeled as part of the food chain, they are prodded, shocked, beaten, kicked, stomped, and slaughtered. The only distinction? Their categorization - either as a pet or a food product. How is it we justify two entirely different treatment systems for animals?

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An animal is an animal is an animal - the classification shouldn’t matter. I have been around both categories of animals. I have had dozens of pets over the years: dogs, cats, ferrets, and a wolf. I also have been around farm animals for about half of my 60 years - first, with my great grandfather and his farm, and later with my ex-husband and his farm.

I am a vegetarian and have been one since March 1990. I cannot imagine ever eating meat again; however, that is my choice. I do not expect to change anyone who is not willing to change. But I am absolutely outraged - vegetarianism aside - that we, as a nation, would tolerate the cruel treatment of cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, or any other “food chain” animal in such inhumane ways simply because they are designated as non-pets.

It makes me sick to watch the USHS video and think that there are those people out there who have so little respect for a living creature that they would torture it before its death. I know people who do not know and do not care from where their meat products originate. They simply state that it comes from the store in a neatly wrapped package. The store is simply the last step in the chain to your table and stomach.

Fast Food Nation provides a glimpse behind the scenes of slaughtering and “preparing” animals for human consumption.

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While I have no illusions as to changing any minds as to their choice of protein sources, I hope that you will watch the two video clips and come away with a sense of our hypocrisy when it comes to treatment of animals - is it a pet or is it not?

GENCOM WITHDRAWS WEST CENTRAL TOWER PROPOSAL

GenCom presented two cell tower requests last night at the Board of Zoning Appeals hearing. The first was a request for a special use at a St. Joe Road location, which was deferred until February. Ours in West Central followed the first request. A number of us had come prepared to register our objections to the tower proposal, but we were surprised when GenCom initially requested a deferral of the issue until the February meeting.

Photo Credit: FreeFoto.com

Cell phone tower similar to one that was requested by GenCom’s application.

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The GenCom representative told the Board that because they had received a number of objections from West Central residents and others, they wished to try to work out an alternative proposal which would possibly garner neighborhood support. However, the Board was not willing to defer the proposal. The Board agreed that the request to defer would simply delay the same issue for a month. The Board instructed GenCom either to go forward with its current proposal and let the chips “fall where they may” or to withdraw the request and file a different one at a later date.

As I sat in the second row behind the GenCom and Centennial representatives, I was unsure how they would respond. Would they really withdraw the application after the time and effort involved to go forward? Or did they want to take the chance and go forward and receive a denial? Although a number of us were ready to speak against the request, if the request were withdrawn, obviously it would put us in a better position.

I watched as the GenCom representative looked back to get guidance from the Centennial representative. With a slight nod of the Centennial rep’s head indicating withdrawal, the GenCom issue was over, at least for last night. GenCom withdrew its request, and we all breathed a sign of relief.

The issue is not dead. GenCom can still file its request, but any new request must be “significantly different” than the current one. Cities and towns are becoming much more proactive in this new age of telecommunications technology and the methods needed to sustain it. Even though the first request, the St. Joe tower application, was deferred until February, prior to making that decision, the Board posed numerous questions to the GenCom representative.

While many see the rush to newer and better forms of technology to speed up our lives as absolutely necessary, others see the need to be cautious and ensure that the technology does, indeed, fit into our lives in more ways than just convenience. I sensed from both the St. Joe and the West Central situations that the trend may be toward making these companies truly address the public’s future concerns about their actions rather than simply rubber-stamp their requests because the company raises the alarm that they must have these towers to keep pace with the growth in new cell phone usage.

The bottom line is that there has to be a balance between any technology and the concerns of society. So, for now, the issue is tabled for the 1427 Broadway site. But, should the issue arise again, we will be ready to go back. We have a West Central Plan, and we have the Harrison Square sub-plan, both focusing on the historic nature of our neighborhood. If GenCom truly wants to be a “good neighbor” it will come up with an alternative that will satisfy not only the Plans but also the concerns of us, as West Central residents.

THE NAFTA SUPERHIGHWAY - THE ROAD TO A NORTH AMERICAN UNION

On January 15, 2008, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) formally began a massive public reeducation and public relations effort in an aggressive and expensive attempt to stem the chorus of objections voiced thus far over the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC).

The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) is a multi-lane highway system that would include toll roads for automobiles and rail lines and would run parallel to the eastern side of Interstate Highway 35 in Texas. Two corridors are being proposed, one parallel to I-35, named TTC 35, and another that will run from Northeast Texas down to Mexico, referred to as TTC 69.

 

Photo Credit: Texas Department of Transportation

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The Trans-Texas Corridor is the first leg of a new superhighway which will extend from Mexico to Canada so that the North American Free Trade Agreement, better known as NAFTA, can function even more “smoothly” to remove American jobs as if NAFTA hasn’t done enough already. The highway will take about half a million acres of Texas out of agricultural production – and according to opponents hasten the advent of a North American Union.

How does anything like the Trans-Texas Corridor impact us here in good, old Indiana? Think Interstate 69 from Indy to Evansville. The route is an extension of the Interstate which already runs through northeast Indiana. The website of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration has the following description of plans for the I-69 corridor:

Corridor from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, through Port Huron, Michigan, southwesterly along Interstate Route 69 through Indianapolis, Indiana, through Evansville, Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Shreveport / Bossier Louisiana, to Houston, Texas, and to the Lower Rio Grande Valley at the border between the United States and Mexico, as follows:

1. 1. In Michigan, the corridor shall be from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, southwesterly along Interstate Route 94 to the Ambassador Bridge interchange in Detroit, Michigan.
   2. In Michigan and Illinois, the corridor shall be from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, through Detroit, Michigan, westerly along Interstate Route 94 to Chicago, Illinois.
   3. In Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, the Corridor shall–
      1. follow the alignment generally identified in the Corridor 18 Special Issues Study Final Report; and
      2. include a connection between the Corridor east of Wilmar, Arkansas, and west of Monticello, Arkansas, to Pine Bluff, Arkansas
   4. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, the Corridor shall-
      1. include United States Route 77 from the Rio Grande River to Interstate Route 37 at Corpus Christi, Texas, and then to Victoria, Texas, via United States Route 77; [I-69 East]
      2. include United States Route 281 from the Rio Grande River to Interstate Route 37 and then to Victoria, Texas, via United States Route 59; [I-69 Central] and
      3. include the Corpus Christi North-side Highway and Rail Corridor from the existing intersection of United States Route 77 and Interstate Route 37 to United States Route 181, including FM511 from United States Route 77 to the Port of Brownsville.

 

Photo Credit: Smokescreendesign.com

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Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP):

The SPP is a Bush White House-led initiative among the United States and the two nations it borders - Canada and Mexico. The “goals” are to increase security and to enhance prosperity among the three countries through greater cooperation. The SPP is based on the principle that our prosperity is dependent on our security and recognizes that our three great nations share a belief in freedom, economic opportunity, and strong democratic institutions.

The SPP outlines a comprehensive agenda for cooperation among our three countries while respecting the sovereignty and unique cultural heritage of each nation. The SPP provides a vehicle by which the United States, Canada, and Mexico can identify and resolve unnecessary obstacles to trade, and it provides a means to improve our response to emergencies and increase security, thus benefiting and protecting Americans.

The SPP is short for dumping on the American people again by the Bush Administration. Unnecessary obstacles to trade can be read to mean more profit for the large corporations as they whiz the jobs out of the United States via the superhighway. And, you can almost hear the hum of the truck traffic from Mexico bringing in cheap goods produced in a country ridden by poverty and lax on environmental standards as well as worker standards.

The only ones who will benefit from this NAFTA Superhighway are the corporate powers that have their hands in Bush’s pocket and their cash in Bush’s wallet.

 

DANIELS AND MEDCO - WHAT A DIFFERENCE THREE - OOPS - FOUR YEARS MAY MAKE

Mitch Daniels is doing it again. His method of job creation seems to be 1) obtain a commitment of some type; 2) ignore the fact that the jobs won’t be here for two or three years; and 3) take credit.

Here’s the headline:

INDIANA IS HOME TO MEDCO ‘FLAGSHIP’ - $150 MILLION PHARMACY TO GENERATE 1,300 JOBS.

What isn’t reflected in the headline are the particulars of the deal, so here they are:

1. Medco Health Solutions, a New Jersey based corporation, will build a 318,000-square-foot pharmacy right here in Indiana
2. No location selected yet but potential sights are somewhere in either Johnson, Hendricks, or Boone counties - perhaps throwing a dart may be the way the location will be established (location to be picked within the next 30 days according to the president and CEO, Kenneth Klepper)
3. The pharmacy will be automated
4. Construction will start next year - that would be 2008
5. Pharmacy to open in 2009
6. Hiring will start next year with most of it being done in 2010 and 2011 - got that?
7. By 2012, the company expects to employ around 1,300 people

Daniels and Klepper have already announced all of this exciting news even though most of the jobs won’t be filled - gasp - for three to four more years.

And, if you want to know where your tax dollars are going, well, Daniels and the state offered Medco up to $18.25 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $450,000 in training grants.

In addition, new rules passed by the Indiana Board of Pharmacy board Friday, just coincidentally, establish standards covering facilities that use automation technology to store, package, dispense and distribute prescription drugs. The new rules will allow Medco to install the latest technology in its mail-order distribution center.

I sure hope that the average reader of news media looks past the large headlines that Daniels seems to be so fond of generating to see that Daniels truly has perfected his one-two-three plan of obtaining a commitment, ignoring the time line, and taking credit for feats yet to be accomplished.

Here’s a thought - I wonder if we will see any major donations from the pharmacy industry - namely Medco - to Daniels campaign?

MORE BAD NUMBERS FOR THE GUV - GDX AND SELECT SNACKS

More numbers the governor likely wishes didn’t exist. The GDX Automotive plant in Wabash will close by the end of November, putting about 825 people out of work.The Wabash GDX plant is one of a handful that will not be sold when parent company GDX International Holdings Ltd. is sold to an affiliate of private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital.

Employees at the plant were given Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (ironically called WARN) on Friday afternoon, laying out a timeline for the layoffs. Layoffs could begin as early as Nov. 9th, and the plant could be closed by November 30th, right before the Christmas season begins.

A second layoff is occurring in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Select Snacks, Inc. will layoff 245 workers with the layoff to take effect on December 10th - even closer to the Christmas holiday. In October, Select Snacks parent company, Ubiquity Brands, LLC filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in its hometown of Chicago. According to the bankruptcy filing, Ubiquity plans to sell Select Snacks and Chicago-based Jays Foods.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification was filed with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development a day after the bankruptcy filing.

So, there ya go. Over 1,000 jobs lost in two locations in October. Yet, we are continuously bombarded by news of the Governor flying all over the world garnering “potential” jobs. Many of the Governor’s efforts fall in the area of future employment, and, even then, sometimes two or three years in the future. Sure doesn’t help our fellow Hoosiers today.

The WARN notices provide an excellent foil to the governor’s constant press releases touting all the future jobs he hopes to bring to Indiana. Of course, Daniels is well-known for his ability to deflect what is reality. He did it so well during the election of 2004 when he pretended to be a “down-home”, folksy Hoosier.