I can think of many great attractions in Chattanooga, TN. You can stay in the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. If you climb to the top of Rock City you can see seven states; and if you are a fan of art and jellyfish, the Tennessee Aquarium has the perfect exhibits for you.
However, of all the wonderful reasons to visit the beautiful City of Chattanooga, putting pressure on one of the most successful auto manufacturers to include an organization that has a track record of bankrupting its hosts should not be one of them. Yet, President Obama on Tuesday will be doing just that.
Under the cover of President Obama’s campaign to sell his budget, I can assure you it is no coincidence that his visit is occurring at the same time Volkswagen is being pressured to accept the UAW into its Chattanooga factory.
The United Auto Workers have tried every other option at this point including calling in a favor with the union that resides in Volkswagen’s home plant in Germany. Originally, IG Metall, the dominant metalworkers’ union in Germany, was reserved when it came to getting involved in the UAW’s plans. However, something changed recently in the dynamic which led to the IG Metall’s Chairman Berthold Huber addressing a letter to the VW workers encouraging them to welcome the UAW into their workplace. This endorsement as well as an aggressive PR campaign including billboards, advertisements and other marketing materials have increasingly become more prominent not only in Chattanooga but as well as throughout the entire state of Tennessee.
But it doesn’t look like the UAW’s normal campaign of propaganda seems to be succeeding; therefore, it’s time to call in the big dog himself and hope their investment of $148,967 into the reelection of President Obama does the trick.
However, didn’t the UAW and President Obama do their research enough to realize that Tennessee is a Right to Work State governed predominantly by Republican officials? With only Oklahoma and South Carolina bleeding a deeper red then Tennessee, wouldn’t they realize the people of Tennessee are intelligent enough not to want the economic doom of GM, Chrysler, and Ford to fall on the factory which has brought more then 3,350 jobs to the Volunteer State?
Granted, many Tennessee Conservatives might debate on whether Senator Corker, Senator Alexander, and Governor Haslam belong more in the RINO category than with the elephants, but the fact is each of them has an “R” next to his name when it comes to the voting booth. However, with Senator Corker having a 40% rating and Senator Alexander having a 41% ranking by the Heritage Action Scorecard—both of which are less than the Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper from Nashville—maybe the UAW thinks there might be some weakness amongst the Republican ranks and these political leaders just might be twisted into helping with their plan. Especially considering Senator Bob Corker is the former Mayor of Chattanooga who not only was praised for revitalizing this once economically challenged city and was one of the few Republican Senators who recently dined at the White House with President Obama, but he also offered the not-so-popular-with-Conservatives Corker-Hoeven Amendment on the Immigration Bill. Even in the past, Senator Corker faulted the Bush White House when it came to negotiating with the UAW in 2008. His counterpart, Senator Lamar Alexander is facing a reelection year and while no serious challenger has emerged so far, it’s no secret the Conservative base in Tennessee, as well as beyond, is hunting intensely for a candidate. This makes for a very nervous Senator and only a few remedies (i.e., campaign contributions) will calm him down.
Regardless, the Republican Party of the Volunteer State is not taking a chance on the man who was elected as a Community Organizer of Volunteers and rolling out the welcoming mat this Tuesday. In fact, the TNGOP produced a short film, which highlights why TN is succeeding in job creation despite the liberal policies of the Obama Administration—just in case President Obama didn’t do his research.
View TNGOP Commercial “Welcome to Chattanooga—Welcome to America”
I have faith that President Obama’s visit won’t do much in this debate and organizations like Citizens for Free Markets and workplacechoice.org who are leading the fight against the UAW, will eventually be successful in keeping the Chattanooga plant from unionizing. The facts are simple and I can guarantee the Volkswagen plant workers do not want to see the same fate that befell their plant in Detroit. They also realize that if the UAW is successful in bringing their organization into the Volkswagen plant, their equivalents at the Nissan plants in both TN and Mississippi, will have an even more difficult time resisting the labor union’s disease which eventually, like most diseases, results in economic death for a company.