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President Obama speaks Friday at the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Mo. The president spoke to company employees about expanding the middle class for economic success
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Ford employees and their families applaud in agreement with President Barack Obama's speech in Claycomo, Mo. on Friday afternoon, Sept. 20.
President Obama addresses future of middle class workers at Claycomo Ford assembly plant
EMILY DONOVAN
edonovan@kansan.com
Kansas City was no arbitrary location for President Barack Obama's speech Friday afternoon. The President's "A Better Bargain for the Middle Class" tour stopped at the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Mo., to discuss the progress made since the economic recession.
"We bet on the American worker and we bet on you," Obama said. "Today that bet has paid off because the auto industry has come back."
the speech detailed the President's belief that politicians must focus on expanding the middle class. He described the American automobile industry as the "heartbeat of American manufacturing."
"It's never a bad day when the president comes by with good news," said Tony Reinhart, regional director of governmental relations for Ford Motor Company.
Creating more jobs in the automobile industry also creates jobs for suppliers, distributors, local restaurant and bar owners, teachers, shareholders and CEOs
alike, Obama said. The Ford Motor Company is in the process of hiring more than 2,000 new employees between the two assembly facilities in Claycomo.
"All those people are impacted by your success," Obama said. "When the middle class does better, we all do better."
Ford, the fifth largest international automaker in 2010 vehicle sales, began restructuring corporate platforms in 2006, before the economic downturn.
The company has since focused its global platforms and collaborated with stakeholders on common goals.
"It's early action that has enabled us to survive."
Reinhart said. "We were able to better predict where the economy was and where it was going so we were able to better prepare for the upturn."
In Claycomo, Ford is now building over 1,000 new F-150s and has made a $1.1 billion dollar investment in a new assembly line
"The only thing built tougher than Ford trucks are American workers."
to build 15-passenger vans. The automobile industry is strong, said Curt Magleby, vice president of government relations, because cars are a product that the American people always need."
Magleby believes Ford will keep progressing thanks to consistently putting out new, increasingly sustainable technology. The company set a target of increasing mileage to 54.5 miles per gallon in new vehicles by 2025.
"If we're competitive, we can
BARACK OBAMA
support the jobs,
we can support
the families, we can
support the
communities,"
Magleby said.
"We want to
make anybody
who works for
Ford feel secure
because their jobs are competitive on a global basis.
DeMarle Jones, a member of the public who was in attendance, has worked at the Kansas City Assembly Plant for 28 years. She now is a team leader in the transit body shop and started at Ford working on the trim assembly line.
"It's a good paying job," lones said. "I've made a nice living working for Ford. It let me do a lot of things for my daughter and grandkids."
Chad Troncin works for Ford on the bargaining committee for the United Automobile Workers local union 249. After 20 years of working at the Kansas City Assembly Plant, he's not surprised Obama chose Claycomo as an example of successful jobs for the middle class.
"It shows that if you invest in America, it's a win-win for everybody" Troncin said.
Tailoring his speech to his Ford employees audience, the President compared failing to raise the debt ceiling to defaulting on a car payment loan on a new F-150. He said that economic growth must be from the middle out, not the top down, arguing that the success of the economy as a whole depends on workers like those at Ford.
"We've shown the world that American workers are tough and resilient," Obama said. "The only thing built tougher than Ford trucks are American workers."
Edited by Casey Hutchins
VISIT KANSAN.COM TO FIND MORE COVERAGE OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH.
UNIVERSITY
Alumni respond to professor's controversial tweet
EMILY DONOVAN
edonovan@kansan.com
The University of Kansas placed Professor David Guth on administrative leave after strong public backlash to his controversial gun control tweet in response to the Navy Yard shooting last Monday.
"The volume of emails and phone calls have been quite threatening and disruptive on both sides," said Ann Brill, Dean of the William Allen White School of Journalism.
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little released a statement Friday morning announcing the action. Dean Brill wrote that the privilege to express controversial opinions must be balanced with the rights of others in a statement
Thursday, and she clarified that administrative leave is intended to create time for the University to review the situation rather than to punish Professor Guth.
"#NavyYardShooting The blood is on the hands of the #NRA. Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters. Shame on you. May God damn you."
"I don't want anyone to feel afraid to come to campus but one way to quiet this was to create some distance," Brill said. "And to make sure that Professor Guth was able to be safe too."
Guth, a Strategic Communications professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism, tweeted on Monday:
The tweet received only a handful of comments until Campus Reform, a higher
education watchdog project run by the Leadership Institute, a conservative activist group. group. published in
article with an interview from Guth Thursday afternoon. The article ran with the headline "Journalism professor says he hopes for murder of NRA members' children."
Guth
published an
"I don't wish what happened today on anyone. But if it does happen again—and it likely will—may it happen to those misguided
In a longer post to his personal blog published Monday, Guth wrote:
miscreants who suggest that today's death toll at the Navy Yard would have been lower if the employees there were allowed to pack heat."
Guth stood by his tweet and blog post, saying that he has nothing to apologize for.
"All I did was what any American should have the right to do: express his or her opinion in an opinion forum," Guth said Thursday. "I regret that there's been a blowback at KU. I didn't do it on a KU site."
Chancellor Gray-Little said that Guth's classes will be taught by other faculty members. Some students in Guth's classes are asking to drop or be transferred to other sections.
"In order to prevent disruptions to the learning environment for
students, the School of Journalism and the university, I have directed Provost Jeffrey Vitter to place Associate Professor Guth on indefinite administrative leave pending a review of the entire situation," Gray-Little wrote.
The Kansas Board of Regents, which governs the six public universities in the state of Kansas, has expressed offense at Guth's statements.
"The Board expresses its appreciation for the immediate response by the chancellor to the situation and expresses its confidence in her leadership," said Andy Tompkins, President and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents.
The School of Journalism has fielded several donors' concerns about Guth's conduct.
Edited by Casey Hutchins
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"We have a lot of wonderful alumni—they're very talented people of amazing integrity—and I hope they appreciate we're trying to do what's best for the students," Brill said.
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I contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
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