patrick.net

Biden Actor's position has become favorable to a short term sociopathic thinker. He can lie as much as he wants to get out of temporary jams, he has no 'long run' any more where he has to stack his lies on top of each other or even attempt the appearance of credibility.

Looking increasingly like he is soon out, but who knows but the gaming computers and the Woo?

Its Biden not staying on script and what his handlers are spoon feeding him.

He's just acting like the birdbrain he always has been going back to to at least the 1980s in the Senate.

It doesn't matter since mainstream media essentially does a blackout of anything dumb that he says or does.

They are gearing up for next summer as far as telling us the economy has recovered and is in good shape (its a reverse of "its the economy stupid" campaign when Bill Clinton ran in 1992).
.

While it will be interesting to see how this works out, since the consumer has already decided that they don't give a shit where their car is made the long term prognosis for the UAW is extinction. They are already a fraction of their peak (and their current numbers seem to vary greatly from one news source to the next).

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/09/15/uaw-membership-numbers-through-years/70865885007/

UAW membership peaked at 1.5 million workers in the late 70s, here's how it's changed

But only 150,000 UAW members work at GM, Ford, and Stellantis. Not sure where the rest work.

I expect a lot of the unskilled labor types to be replaced by AI or Mexicans as factories will eventually move to Mexico unless AI can replace enough of them. I see this as a new positive as unskilled labor will be replaced by robots maintained by technicians who make decent money as a way to keep factories domestic.

Plus various news sources are quoting wildly different numbers with respect to labor cost as a total % of vehicle cost.

zzyzzx says

expect a lot of the unskilled labor types to be replaced by AI or Mexicans as factories will eventually move to Mexico unless AI can replace enough of them. I see this as a new positive as unskilled labor will be replaced by robots maintained by technicians who make decent money as a way to keep factories domestic.

zzyzzx says

Plus various news sources are quoting wildly different numbers with respect to labor cost as a total % of vehicle cost.

I've been hearing ~5%. But I bet what they do automation cannot (yet), so that is where their bargaining power lies

UK is already facing the conundrum of either enforcing their EV mandate which requires levying heavy fines on domestic manufacturers who still make gas cars thus completely ceding their market to Chinese electric cars heavily subsidized by the CCP and losing a shitload of manufacturing base, or rolling the whole shit back and missing their "AGW mitigation goals". Their consumers supposedly don't care where the cars are made either.

I think the only reason why they aren't frantically moving factories to Mexico is because if they can use AI to get rid of unskilled labor, they are most likely better off in the US where the technicians necessary to maintain everything are readily available.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2023/09/19/unifor-gets-tentative-contract-with-ford-for-canadian-autoworkers/70905408007/

Unifor gets tentative contract with Ford in Canada

Unifor National President Lana Payne touted the breadth of the tentative deal, without listing specifics

James Brown said it best "I got mine, don't worry about his."

zzyzzx says

I think the only reason why they aren't frantically moving factories to Mexico is because if they can use AI to get rid of unskilled labor, they are most likely better off in the US where the technicians necessary to maintain everything are readily available.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.