Jeep fails to fess up to a major problem

It's no wonder American automakers are in trouble. Between the unreliability of their products and poor customer satisfaction rates, it's hard to get behind U.S.-made vehicles. You would think this would have improved by now.

For the second time, my 2006 Jeep Liberty had a regulator break on a window. The first time it happened, I thought it was just one of those things. The vehicle was still under warranty, so it was no big deal.

Then it happened again yesterday, this time to a different window. The person at the dealership said it was common but there was no recall on the Jeeps. This time, with my warranty expired, I had to pay for Jeep/Chrysler's idiotic engineering of a part that simply doesn't last very long and also causes windows to break (an additional expense for the glass).

So today I filed complaints with Jeep/Chrysler and also filled out a form with a government agency responsible for tracking recalls. Jeep/Chrysler, in their words, has 24 hours to respond to my request for reimbursement. If they don't respond or don't pay for the repair, then I have to take this further. It was also disheartening to be told by the person in charge of complaints that he knew nothing about the problem with Liberty window regulators. The dealership, where it was repaired, sure knew about the problem.

If you simply Google "Jeep complaints" the first thing you will see is a site with complaints about this very problem. So it's not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, it appears to be the most-reported problem of any Jeep model in the last decade. Yet, the guy on the phone at Jeep said he was unaware of it?

When something similar happened to my wife's Jetta several years ago, Volkswagen made good and paid for the full repair. While there was no official recall despite the Jetta models having window problems, the German-automaker seemed more willing to satisfy the customer. That's good business. Of course, if you buy dependable models from Honda, you likely won't have any problems in the first place. My wife now drives a CR-V. Not a single issue in nearly four years.

What's scary about Jeep is that the new part that was replaced is of the same design and could break again tomorrow. There's no way of telling when the windows will break or whether glass will shatter. There are even reports, according to the dealership, where the regulators break so violently that they rip apart the door locking system. I have three other windows that could go at any time, including the other one that was previously repaired.

Jeep/Chrysler, which recently merged with Italian manufacturer, Fiat, should do a better job at taking care of an obvious flaw in design that has cost thousands of Liberty owners a ton of money. Whether this is a safety issue or not is irrelevant in my mind. Jeep/Chrysler is making thousands off of repairs of a part designed to fail.

UPDATE: Jeep has agreed to pay for the cost of the repair, minus $100 for what they said was a "deductible." Not exactly sure what that means since this is not an insurance issue, but I will now wait to see if they actually cut me a check. I did not, however, get any indication from Jeep that this defect will be fixed once and for all, either through a recall, or a voluntary redesign/replacement of all four window mechanisms.

You can't budget for busted windows

When one hasn't worked in a year, an unexpected $700 car-repair bill is reason enough for quite a bit of anxiety. I hadn't had to worry about affording to fix a broken window, decayed tooth or leaky roof in a long time because for 29 years I worked. I didn't always make a lot of money, but I made enough to get by. Today's car mishap reminded me of how a big chunk of cash taken here or there over time can eventually lead to homelessness, which at my age is almost surreal to think about, yet a very real possibility as the months fly by and the savings account dwindles. While we've cut back on many things due to my being cast out of the newspaper business with thousands of others at the worst possible time, life still happens. Things break. However, if I do end up living in my car, at least the window regulator and battery will work.

Odds and ends from Sunday's games

The most discouraging moment from Sunday's games: Atlanta fans cheering Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick late in the game. A convicted felon who tortured and killed dogs for entertainment, the former Atlanta player should never have been allowed back into the league. His return to Atlanta as a member of the opposing team should have produced a cascade of sustained boos for three hours. Fans boo former players who defect to other teams all the time for far less serious reasons. Yet, in Atlanta, Vick continues to have substantial support, which makes me wonder about that city.

The Washington Redskins had three of the most heartbreaking mistakes possible in their 33-30 overtime loss to undefeated New Orleans. Take away any of the mistakes and the Redskins would have pulled off the upset of the year. They missed a late field goal that was essentially the same distance of an extra point. And extra points have well above a 90% success rate in the NFL. Earlier, they intercepted a pass, and while returning it, the Redskin player wasn't paying attention to how he carried the ball and a receiver from the Saints took it out of his hands and ran the other way for a touchdown. The Washington secondary has done some bonehead things this year, like lateraling after a pick or leaving receivers wide open for touchdowns, but this took the prize for carelessness. Then, the Saints punter shanked a punt for just 20 yards, which would have given Washington great field position. Instead, the ball hit a Redskins player on the back and New Orleans recovered.

What's up with the Pittsburgh Steelers? Losing to Oakland? The defending champs are now in jeopardy of not making the playoffs.

With that all said, any week that includes a Dallas Cowboys loss is a good week. Even better on Sunday because the loss came against the New York Giants, who remain in playoff contention.

Waiting on the arrival of UFO images

Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have always seemed feasible to me. Presidents have seen them. Police and pilots have witnessed them. Even my own father claimed he saw one or two in his lifetime. I've listened to guest lecturers in college speak of a historic case of a UFO hovering over one of the main buildings on campus in the 1950s in Lynchburg, Va. It seems to me that believing in UFOs is no crazier than having faith in an unseen god (of your spiritual choice) that has never been scientifically proven to exist. I guess we all want to believe in something beyond our own existence, which is one of the appealing things about UFOs and religion.

We're entering a make-or-break era in UFO-ology. Because cameras now exist in everything from our cell phones to traffic intersections, I believe someone is going to capture definitive proof of unworldly objects in the sky. When that day comes, the debate about what the nature of the object(s) is will intensify. Some believe that definitive proof of visitors from another planet could even change how human beings view themselves in an extremely profound manner that could alter cultures and society in general. I wonder if it would change us for the better?

Unfortunately, the UFO community has its fair share of nuts. Just like some cat enthusiasts who don't know where to draw the line between loving their pets and total obsession, UFO people are one of two types. Either they remain relatively quiet about what they believe or possibly have seen out of fear of ridicule, or they wear UFO t-shirts and drive around in saucer-shaped cars.

If all the digital cameras in existence now can't capture one image or video clip that proves UFOs are real and probably not from this planet, I may have to rethink my beliefs and consider the possibility that we are truly alone.

This is no time to exhale, Mr. Norris

Floyd Norris is financial writer for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune. He covers finance and economics. Apparently, Norris believes the job drought might be over, which is an astonishing conclusion to make based on today's modestly good news of unemployment dropping from 10.3% to 10.0% in November.

It's opinions like this that allow politicians to exhale and create a false sense of things improving, making it less likely that job-creation will remain near the top of the national agenda. But in the real world, the middle-class folks I know, employed and unemployed, don't see any significant job gains on the horizon. And believe me, I contact a lot of people about work on a weekly basis in my job search. The news I get from potential employers is almost always 100% discouraging. They simply have no plans to hire.

Granted, there are the occasional tales of people going back to work, but usually at lower pay or fewer hours than they previously worked, meaning they are still struggling. That's not going to bolster the general economy much. Those folks aren't going on shopping sprees this Christmas. The jobs that are popping up are jobs with salaries that people might have made 20 years ago but can't live on today. Those lucky enough to find comparable pay to their previous jobs are more likely to save at a higher rate, meaning they aren't going to buy goods that help grow businesses that allow for more hiring. The destruction that comes from a lack of public confidence, due to companies slashing jobs, comes back to those same companies that now can't sell their products because fewer people have expendable cash. In an odd, ironic twist, companies laying off people are actually hurting themselves. They might enjoy the immediate gains that come from a lighter payroll, but the domino effect eventually returns to haunt them as products go unsold. So then there are more layoffs. It's a vicious cycle.

It's frustrating to see some businesses cutting more employees than need be because it feeds into the entire economic mess were in. I see it happening in the newspaper industry, mainly because certain companies are carrying such high debt that their once-fat profit margins are dwindling. Yet, they are still turning a profit. Perhaps not enough to keep investors and boards of directors happy, but nonetheless some publishers are making money. The unfortunate thing now is that to increase profits, they are getting rid of workers and blaming it on the recession or unions, when in fact the blame lies with the folks who ran up the debt. (Have you seen the new New York Times building where Mr. Norris works?) This quick fix has ruined careers, bogged down the economy, destroyed consumer confidence and rippled through millions of American households like an endless tsunami. There is a lack of compassion and even a shortage of patriotism in the way the workforce is being dismantled.

I would profoundly welcome feeling optimistic again, but until I see the real unemployment/underemployment rate dropping (the U6 number), and until I can get through a week or two without reading about more companies laying off workers by the dozens or hundreds, I respectfully disagree with the opinion of this particular Times columnist.

We have to keep the pressure on politicians and business leaders to find a real and lasting solution to the unemployment problem. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency from government, business and even the media. I suggest Norris walk around some Florida neighborhoods and witness the countless foreclosure signs still going up. Maybe a stroll through almost any downtown outside of New York City, where there are numerous empty storefronts, would give him some perspective. He should take a look at the empty desks that are likely abundant in his own newsroom. Tell me their is a sense of optimism in you, Mr. Norris, when more cubicles are vacated in 2010.

It's tempting to cling to any good news these days, but to imply that the drought might be over is bordering on irresponsible. I don't completely trust unemployment numbers, nor should any good journalist draw too many conclusions from this sort of data. Too many folks are falling through the cracks and not being counted by the Labor Department. If a columnist at The New York Times can't see that, well, I question his observation abilities.

Dumb and dumber

Jay Leno interviewed people on the street for Thursday night's show. He showed images to mostly young adults. Keep in mind, some of these folks were college students. One young lady could not identify George Washington, even after Leno gave her the hint, "He was the first president..." It's a funny segment Leno does from time to time, but it's also scary as this country seems to be getting dumber at an alarming rate.

Summit appears cosmetic at best

In lieu of no apparent new ideas coming out of the White House "jobs summit" on Thursday, FOX TV commentator Bill O'Reilly offered his own suggestions to get people back to work. I actually thought a few of his ideas made sense, including giving tax breaks to companies that hire new employees. Rather than giving all companies tax relief, the reward would only be triggered by proof of hiring. I wonder, in that same sense, if tax breaks should be taken away from companies that are using the recession as an excuse to get rid of more workers than they really need to?

I also found this article in The Washington Post to be interesting. It explains how President Obama has failed to help the private sector create jobs.

What I am not buying from anyone, including ABC News, is that the stimulus money made a significant difference in improving the private-sector job market. On its broadcast Thursday night, ABC did a fluff piece about some folks going back to work because of stimulus money given to various municipalities. What they didn't mention was that every one of the jobs they featured was directly or indirectly related to government work.

Washington's other newspaper

The Washington Times, D.C.'s other newspaper, will layoff a "significant number" of employees. This coming on the heels of nearby USA Today slashing more jobs in McLean, Va. Even the mighty Washington Post isn't out of the woods yet. All of this in one of the more affluent areas of the country where the population is still growing. Cities like Detroit or the agricultural areas of California, where the recession has decimated businesses (potential advertisers), things are far worse. Wonder if the "jobs summit" at the White House today will bring any hope for journalism and other professions on the verge of extinction? Click here to read about the layoffs at the Times.

I am far from a professional musician, let alone recording engineer, but this song came to me yesterday after learning of more layoffs at my former place of employment, USA Today, and thinking about my year of unemployment. I won't bore you with the technical challenges of how I put this together on a simple laptop computer. Obviously, I wrote the lyrics first, then the music. I recorded the main guitar and vocals together, then played the bass and lead guitar parts later. Finally, I added a computerized drum track (since I don't play the drums) and created an MP3. After the song was recorded, I found some photographs online to accompany the music and merged everything in a video-editing application. I was tempted to turn this into a standard blues song, but decided on a different approach. Because I mumble a lot, I am providing the lyrics below.

LAID OFF
Lyrics and Music by Mick Calvacca

Went to the boss yesterday
got three months severance
that's all I'm going to pay.

I said what am I going to do
with all that money
I got bills to pay, it ain't funny.

When you're 50 years old and
feeling weary about the days
gone by and all that spirit.

Well times are hard and
I'm not believin' all I'm told
and all that I'm leaving.

You got to know someone.

You got to have some luck.

Note: Video slides compiled by Mick Calvacca with apologies to photographers and cartoonists who I was not able to credit

Cruel irony to these layoffs

Museums in Washington, D.C. are hurting. The Newseum (pictured) is laying off 13 percent of its employees. The Smithsonian is also reducing staff through buyouts and other means.

There is a logical, if not cruel irony to the Newseum slashing jobs. Washington's latest museum features displays about the news business. As most readers of this blog know, the newspaper business has been decimated by the bad economy. So now the pricey attraction that was built in good times to honor journalists is suffering from what caused me and thousands of other reporters, editors and photographers to lose our jobs in the last year or two.

The D.C.-area, particularly Northern Virginia, is below the national average in unemployment, yet the recession continues to devastate area businesses, local municipalities, colleges/universities and now museums. Wonder why certain politicians and economists are claiming the recession is over?