Also on today’s menu:
Congress Finally Passes Defense Spending Bill
GM Plans Michigan Layoffs
After leaders of the European Union voted to enter into membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia on December 14, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky called the decision “a victory” for his country and Europe.
Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, who has opposed talks with Kyiv, left the room during the vote, allowing the other 26 EU leaders to unanimously approve the decision. Orban later posted a video message on Facebook: “EU membership of Ukraine is a bad decision. Hungary does not want to participate in this bad decision, and therefore stayed away from the decision today.”
Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who also had applied to join the EU after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, said it was an honor to share the path to membership with Ukraine. “We wouldn't be here today without Ukraine’s brave resistance against Russia’s brutal invasion,” she wrote.
With Republican lawmakers blocking further US aid to Ukraine, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the EU decision marked a historic moment and sent an “important message of hope” to the citizens of Ukraine and Moldova.
Discussion: Thursday’s decision does not guarantee Ukraine’s membership, with candidate countries having to adhere to EU standards on laws and the economy which can take years to achieve, but Kyiv already has completed more than 90% of the necessary steps. It truly is a “message of hope” because membership will not be immediate, but having it under consideration will boost Ukraine’s standing and may encourage European countries to continue supporting it in its efforts to repel Russia.
Congress Finally Passes Defense Spending Bill
A US defense policy bill is on its way to President Joe Biden Jr. for his signature, authorizing $886 billion in spending for national defense programs for the current fiscal year that began October 1, and increasing service member pay by 5.2%, the biggest increase in more than 20 years.
The Senate passed the bill on an 87-13 vote on December 13, and the House followed up on December 14 with a 310-118 vote, with 73 Republicans and 45 Democrats opposing it.
The bill allowed the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy to continue and did not restrict gender-affirming healthcare for transgender service members and dependents, which Republicans originally demanded; but the conservatives prevailed in freezing the hiring of personnel for diversity and inclusion training in the military.
Discussion: The US support of Ukraine and Israel in their current conflicts has depleted this country’s military supplies, making further military spending a necessity in order to maintain our defense capabilities, especially with so many other hot spots around the world that could lead to additional threats. Hopes of diverting money from the military to address problems at home will have to wait a while. This bill only sets policy; a follow-up appropriations bill will be necessary to implement the provisions of the policy.
GM Plans Michigan Layoffs
General Motors announced on December 14 that it will be laying off 1,300 workers at two Michigan auto factories in early January: 945 workers at its Orion Assembly plant and 350 at its Lansing Grand River plant. The layoffs come as GM ends its production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV at Orion to convert to electric truck production by 2025. The Lansing Grand River plant will end production of Chevrolet Camaros, but will continue producing the Cadillac CT4 and Cadillac CT5.
The company said the hourly employees affected will be offered positions at other factories.
Ford previously announced that it would temporarily cut one shift at its plant that builds the F-150 Lightning EV. This week, Ford said it planned to produce about 1,600 electric F-150 Lightning EV trucks per week starting in January, roughly half of the 3,200 trucks it previously had planned.
Discussion: The first thought that comes to mind is that the layoffs might be related to the raises won by the autoworkers’ union, which will likely lead to higher auto prices, but the Federal Reserve’s actions also make borrowing money to purchase cars more expensive. The upshot is that fewer cars will be selling, so automakers will be producing fewer cars.
By The Way…
Do you have a story to tell?
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where, each weekday, we discuss the news of the day: local, statewide, national, and international. Subscribers can share their knowledge, thoughts, and questions about any topic, and we may select some of those subjects for more in-depth analysis.
The News Cafe is a reader-supported publication. Although the posts are available to all subscribers at no charge, I appreciate the financial support for the time and resources it takes to do this work. Please consider “upsubscribing” to a paid subscription.
You also may donate to libertyindymedia@icloud.com through Zelle.
Either way, thank you for being here.