From the start of 2022 through August of this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has tracked 42 work stoppages of 1,000 or more strikers. Its count shows 33% of those strikes were in the health care industry. That’s up from 24% of major strikes in 2019, the year before the pandemic.The increased number of health care strikes have happened despite health care workers making up only about 9% of private sector union members nationwide.
With the Biden administration controlling the NLRB, maybe the folks think that they have someone on their side.
In rejecting the bill, Newsom noted that the state’s unemployment trust fund is already nearing $20 billion in debt.
“Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he wrote in a message explaining his veto.
The Democratic-majority legislature passed the bill in September amid several high-profile strikes. Hollywood writers ended their nearly five-month walkout 12 days later but Hollywood actors remain out on the picket lines. Southern California hotel workers are also on strike.
The bill would have made workers out on strike for at least two weeks eligible for unemployment checks. The vast majority of states, with the exception of New York and New Jersey, do not offer unemployment benefits to striking workers.
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LORDSTOWN, Ohio – In a surprising turn of events, an agreement was reached late Friday to sell the assets of Lordstown Motors Corp., for $10 million, to LAS Capital and Stephen S. Burns, the founder and former CEO of the EV startup and the majority equity holder of LAS Capital.
The agreement was posted on the bankruptcy court docket at the close of business Friday.
An auction was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Friday but was canceled by Lordstown Motors.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company reported that it “received several non-binding proposals for the purchase of specified assets … [but] the selling entities through their board determined that none of these other proposals was a qualified bid in accordance with the bid procedures and determined LAS Capital to be the successful bidder.”
The $10 million deal includes “specified assets … related to the design, production and sale of electric light duty vehicles focused on the commercial fleet market free and clear of liens, claims, encumbrances and other interests,” according to the SEC filing, plus the assumption of “certain specified liabilities.”
Julio Rodriquez, former chief financial officer of the company, “is one of the indirect managers of LAS Capital,” Lordstown Motors told the SEC, and is the former chief financial officer of LMC.
Burns and Rodriquez both resigned from Lordstown Motors on June 14, 2021. Neither has had any management role since “and do not currently have any affiliation with the company other than as a third-party bidder” in the bankruptcy court sale process, according to Lordstown Motors.
Burns has personally guaranteed the $10 million purchase price obligation of LAS Capital, which has deposited $1 million into an escrow account.
According to the LAS Capital website, the company name stands for “Land Air and Sea — the three spaces we work within to create superior electric vehicles, and the three of earth’s elements made better by our efforts.”
The site describes Burns as a successful “serial entrepreneur [who has] been a first-mover inthe EV space for the past 15 years. Without naming Lordstown Motors, the website touts that Burns has taken two EV companies public — “one of which reached +$1 billion market cap during his tenure.” Also unmentioned is the fact that Burns founded Burns also founded Workhorse Group, an early investor in Lordstown Motors.
LAS says it has four electric vehicle companies, all of which “have working prototypes and are in various stages of pre-production.” They include Greenstreet, which is developing a three-wheel “fun and sun” EV; RYSE Aero Tech, developer of a vertical take-off and landing aircraft; Blue Innovations Group, whose stated goal is to “revolutionize the entire boating industry”; and Power Shower, the developer of “the world’s first plug-and-play automatic shower head that cuts water waste in half.”
The LAS Capital purchase agreement with Lordstown Motors contains customary representations, warranties and covenants for a bankruptcy transaction. It must be approved by the court, which has set a hearing for Oct. 18.
The agreement can be terminated if is not consummated by Oct. 31.
Lordstown Motors filed Chapter 11 June 27 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. By that time, Burns and Rodriquez were long gone from the company, exits precipitated by a highly critical report published by Hindenburg Research.
In March 2021, Hindenburg accused company executives of misleading investors about demand for the Endurance and the company’s financial strength. “Lordstown is an electric vehicle SPAC with no revenue and no sellable product, which we believe has misled investors on both its demand and production capabilities,” the report warned. In fact, Lordstown’s claim of securing 100,000 preorders for the Endurance was “fictitious,” the report said.
Burns and Rodriguez resigned after an ensuing internal inquiry found “issues regarding the accuracy of certain statements regarding the company’s preorders.”
Burns received a $750,000 severance package to be paid over 18 months and was allowed to retain all of his shares in the company.
Between Nov. 16, 2021, and June 21, 2023, Burns liquidated all 46,351,745 shares that at one point comprised more than 26% of Lordstown Motors.
In his first sell-off, on Nov. 12, 2021, Burns jettisoned 3,204,000 shares worth $18.8 million at $5.88 per share.
On June 16, 11 days before the company that he founded filed for Chapter 11, the former CEO sold off his remaining 591,752 shares for a total of $3.9 million.
A complete analysis of Lordstown Motors’ insider stock sales shows that Burns’ total sell-off amounted to $66.8 million. Other than Burns, no other Lordstown Motors insider has sold stock since February 2021.
Pictured at top: Stephen S. Burns at a Lordstown Motors press event in 2020.
Dan O’Brien contributed reporting to this story
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Americans outside the wealthiest 20% of the country have run out of extra savings and now have less cash on hand than they did when the pandemic began, according to the latest Federal Reserve study of household finances. For the bottom 80% of households by income, bank deposits and other liquid assets were lower in June this year than they were in March 2020, after adjustment for inflation. All income groups have seen their balances decline in real terms from a peak in 2021, according to the Fed survey. But among the wealthiest one-fifth of households, cash savings are still about 8% above their level when Covid hit. By contrast, the poorest two-fifths of Americans have seen an 8% drop in that period. And the next 40% — a group that roughly corresponds with the US middle class — saw their cash savings drop below pre-pandemic levels in the last quarter. The figures point to dwindling firepower available for US consumers, whose resilience has kept the economy growing at a rapid clip this year and staved off the recession that many expected. Some analysts warn a downturn is still in the cards as households run low on spare cash. (Source: bloomberg.com)
2. Consumers in the market for loans to buy homes and cars are discovering that, because of the Federal Reserve’s rate increases, their money gets them a lot less than it would have a few years ago. Meanwhile, those with credit cards and other loans that carry rates pegged to broader benchmarks are finding they have gotten much more expensive. Fed officials signaled last week that they plan to keep interest rates high for quite a while. For families who don’t need to borrow, higher rates might not affect daily life too much. But for those who do, the Fed’s aggressive rate increases are really beginning to sting. “The bite is starting now,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. (Source: wsj.com)
Time to focus on where Republicans are winning with the American Voters. I’ve made a decision that it’s time to ease up on the criminal activities of Joe and Hunter Biden. Don’t get me wrong. There’s crimes that have been committed, but we must look at the big picture.
Republicans are winning on the Border, The Economy, Education, COVID, and Green Energy. The Biden administration is screwing up in all of those areas. They want us to just focus on Hunter so their other misdeeds will go unnoticed.
So unless it’s earth shattering and a main News issue of the day, this writer will ease up on the Hunter and Joe Biden money laundering.
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“The city of Chicago is reimagining the role government can play in our lives by exploring a public option for grocery stores via a municipally owned grocery store and market,” said Pawar, senior adviser at Economic Security Project. “Not dissimilar from the way a library or the postal service operates, a public option offers economic choice and power to communities.”
To write this in plain english:
The city of Chicago is re-imagining the role government can play in our lives by exploring a command economy for Chicago via government owned stores and markets. A public option takes away economic and personal choice and eliminates the buying power of the people.
For an example of how well this works.
This is Soviet (communist) grocery store from the 1980s.
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Just in case you missed it, California is blaming their failures on big oil. So, they’re going to court. Yes, they claim big oil caused Climate change. What happened to mankind being the culprit?
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group also named in the lawsuit, said climate policy should be debated in Congress, not the courtroom.
“This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of California taxpayer resources,” institute senior vice president Ryan Meyers said in a statement.
If big oil caused this, why not sue for damages? But the state wants the establishment of a fund to offset future costs from extreme weather events and climate mitigation efforts. In other words, it rains, or snows, big oil pays.
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Did the Union automakers rush to make the EV cars? I honestly think that the union automakers miscalculated when they decided to spend billions on EV vehicles. I think they looked at Tesla and thought everyone wanted an electric car. They don’t.
EV cars are a Nitch market. Not mainstream. Plus, the expense to buy one is out of reach for many poor and lower income folks. When this strike is settled, they will be even more expensive.
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Oberlin College Lacrosse Coach Under Attack by Woke Administrators for Defending Women’s Sports.
The head coach of Oberlin College’s lacrosse team says she was called “transphobic” and “unsafe,” and investigated by the woke college after questioning transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, winning last year in the NCAA. “It is scientific that, biologically, males and females are different,” the lacrosse coach added. “I don’t believe biological males should be in women’s locker rooms. Where is the MeToo movement now? What happened to that?”
“I was blown away that a male was allowed to compete with women in NCAA swimming,” Oberlin College lacrosse coach Kim Russell said in an eight-minute video documentary shared by the Independent Women’s Forum.
Watch Below.
🆕BREAKING: Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Oberlin College is breaking her silence in an @IWF documentary after being “burned at the stake” for her support of single-sex sports & speaking out against allowing men in women’s sports. https://t.co/n1MPhiM4D5pic.twitter.com/WgD57sAYxR
“When Lia Thomas won, I reposted a post that said, ‘Congratulations to Emma Weyant, the real woman who won the NCAA 500-yard freestyle event.’ One of my own players took that post and sent it in an email to my athletic director,” Russell explained.
Oberlin College Women’s Lacrosse Coach Kim Russell
School administrators responded to the complaint by calling Russell into their offices for a series of disciplinary meetings, and the lacrosse coach recorded each one.
In one instance, Natalie Winkelfoos, Associate VP for Athletics, can be heard telling Russell, “Unfortunately, you fall into a category of people that are kind of filled with hate in the world.”
“It’s acceptable to have your own opinions, but when they go against, you know, Oberlin College’s beliefs, it’s a problem, for your employment,” Creg Jantz, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, told Russell in another instance.
Russell said school administrators later demanded that she write a letter of apology to the team, and to the Department of Athletics.
“I hope you feel remorse for it,” Winkelfoos said in another audio recording.
The lacrosse coach said she began to write her apology letter, but then stopped herself from doing so.
“I’m not writing a letter of apology, I’m not sorry,” Russell said in the documentary. “I really believe that women should be competing against other biological females.”
Russell, who has been coaching for 27 years, said she was then told that she had to attend a meeting with her entire team, the athletic director, the Title IX director for the Athletics Department, the head of the department’s Diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) office, and the Title IX and director of D.E.I. for the entire college.
“There was a very dark energy,” Russell explained of the meeting. “Chairs were set up in a huge circle, I felt like I was burned at the stake.”
“It was, what I would call the ‘mob mentality,’ where a few people on the team spoke about how much they were upset with what I had posted, and how dare I post that,” the coach said. “I love these kids, and to have many of them say all these things that, to me, were attacking who I was as a person, it made me sad.”
The documentary also featured several audio clips of student lacrosse players lecturing Russell.
“Everyone has their views,” one student said. “But what the focus should be here isn’t what the view is, it should be the impact that that caused, the impact that that post had,” one student could be heard preaching in an audio clip.
“I still feel like we’re just kind of, like, justifying your actions a little, instead of, like, a true apology,” another student lectured. “Especially at Oberlin, where there is such a high, like, LGBTQ+ population, I just feel like I would like a little more accountability.”
“It’s not good enough just to work for, like, women’s issues or white feminism, you know? It has to, like, your feminism, has to be inclusive for everybody,” another said.
During the meeting, Russell felt that nobody was really listening to what she had to say. After that, when the season was finished, Russell was called in for yet another meeting, where she was given a letter that informed her she had damaged her credibility and would need to change her behavior immediately.
“I believe that there are so many people who are afraid of losing their jobs that they are just going to do what they have to do to keep working,” Russell said in the documentary. “It is my job to be a voice for everyone who is too afraid, who needs to keep their job.”
“It is scientific that, biologically, males and females are different,” the lacrosse coach added. “I don’t believe biological males should be in women’s locker rooms. Where is the MeToo movement now? What happened to that?”
“Do I believe I’m at risk of being fired, of having a storm hit me?” Russell said. “Yes. Am I ready for the storm? Yes.”
Russell is not the first person Oberlin College has attacked.
As Breitbart News previously reported, the leftist school had to pay $36.59 million in court-ordered defamation damages to a mom-and-pop bakery it slandered as racist — after previously fighting desperately to avoid paying the judgment.
In 2019, Meredith Raimondo, now an ex-dean, had orchestrated a woke mob into slandering the family that runs Gibson’s Bakery as racists for calling the police on three black students for allegedly shoplifting a bottle of wine.
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Biden out on the lying tour. Joey boy is at it again. Going out telling more lies about Bidenomics. But it seems as if Reuter has some bad news based on the latest poll.
Americans have soured on Bidenomics, concluding that the U.S. economy is worse now than it was five years ago under former President Donald Trump’s leadership, a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey found.
Forty-nine percent of Americans say that inflation or increasing costs are the most important issues facing the country, 9% cite unemployment and 10% cite economic inequality.
Sixty-four percent of Americans say the economy is worse off compared to 2020, while seventy-three percent of Americans say the economy is worse off compared to five years ago. About two in five of Americans say they feel worse off from five years ago generally (38%) and a similar number say they feel worse off compared to 2020 (37%).
A majority of Americans say that President Biden and his administration are not doing enough when it comes to investing in the economy (56%) and reducing economic inequality (52%).
Ipsos Poll: 73% of Americans view the economy as worse compared to 5 years ago
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