AP, Lies About Strikes. Why Am I Not Surprised?

So, I get this e-mail from a friend. Since I work in the mortgage industry and am now trying to sell my house, she sends me articles she finds.

So, I open this AP wire article,
By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP Business Writer

The hardest hit states so far are those that have
experienced the roughest times economically. Michigan,
Texas and Georgia lead the pack, specifically around
Detroit, Dallas and Atlanta, whose major employers
have run into strikes, bankruptcies and industry
downturns.

So, I decided to see if that pans out. First stop, Michigan. You know the state they mention above.

Apparently, the UAW is so worried about the bankrupt Delphi that they shifted their strike fund. Wow, even CNN noted that. There were no real comments about anything other than a possible teachers strike, hardly enough to cause an extensive rise in foreclosures.

On to Texas.
Well, there was the horrible strike by transportation workers in September of 2005. But, wait, it was only 1 day.

There was a strike at ASARCO copper mine. They declared chapter 11 but noted that the strike (not even a month old at the time of the BK11) was a minor contribution at best.

There were notes about airline strikes, but none of them seemed to have much of an impact. It seems like lots more talk and threats, but a serious lack of striking. But there were loads of anti-union stuff about union threats of strike. Just not much in the way of strikes. I did find this interesting commentary.

And there was this one about a "work to the rule" comment, but again, no strikes.

One last chance. Here I go for Atlanta.

I finally found something. Lockheed Martin. But, nothing else. Nothing on the IAM site. Not even something from Lockheed from that period. There was another Lockheed Martin strike in Dallas/Forth Worth, but I doubt this strike from 2003 that lasted 2 weeks has any current affect on today's foreclosure rates.

So, AGAIN, here's an article that is more than misleading, it's an outright lie.

If there were strikes that seriously affected the economic might of any given region or city, then it would have happend within the last 18 months. However, I haven't found anything that would account for the foreclosure rates noted in the article.

On a similar note, since I work in the mortgage industry, I'm going to add that foreclosures are rising now. Foreclosures have been rising slowly for a while now. A rise in foreclosure rates after historic lows, well, this isn't exaclty unexpected. Not only is it not unexpected, it's been forecast for at least the past year.

This article is not news. It's not new and it's not even close to being cutting edge. It's the same story repeated over and over again. I'm just a little tired of hearing about the same old thing.

Yes, foreclosure rates are on the rise. Jobs are harder to find. Jobs pay less. Health care is on the rise. Housing is on the market longer. Well, how about some real news now about the real loss in incomes and rise in prices and stop bashing unions? Come on, report, don't be Faux news with all it's editorializing.