Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 11-30-18

White House And Political News
Trump Lashes Out At GM As Company Announces Plans To Cut 14,000 Jobs
Republican Hyde-Smith
Beats Democrat Espy in Mississippi Senate Race
DETROIT — General Mo- tors will cut up to 14,000 workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it aban- dons many of its car models and restructures to focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles, the au- tomaker announced Monday, leading to scathing re- marks from President Trump.
The reductions could amount to as much as 8 per- cent of GM’s global workforce of 180,000 employees.
The restructuring reflects changing North American auto markets as manufactur- ers continue to shift away from cars toward SUVs and trucks. In October, almost 65 percent of new vehicles sold in the U. S. were trucks or SUVs. That figure was about 50 percent cars just five years ago.
Trump said his adminis-
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND GENERAL MOTORS
tration and lawmakers are exerting ‘‘a lot of pressure’’ on GM.
“I believe they’ll be open- ing up something else,” Trump said of the plant clo- sures, without offering evi- dence. “I spoke with CEO Mary Barra when I heard they were closing. And I said, ‘You know, this country has done a lot for General Mo-
tors. You better get back in there soon. That’s Ohio, and you better get back in there soon.”
Trump said he was being tough on GM chief executive Mary Barra. He said he told the company that the U. S. has done a lot for GM and that if its cars aren’t selling, the company needs to pro- duce ones that will.
Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith has defeated Democrat Mike Espy in Tuesday night's special Sen- ate election in Mississippi, a contest tainted by race-re- lated controversies, NBC News projects.
With 98 percent of votes being reported, Hyde-Smith had 53.0 percent, or 473,109 votes, to 46.1 percent, or 404,640 votes, for Espy.
The Republican incum- bent's single-digit victory in the deep-red state was not re- garded by analysts as particu- larly impressive, while Espy appears to have outper- formed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama when he ran for president both times.
Hyde-Smith, who be- comes the first woman elected to Congress from Mis- sissippi, will serve out the re- maining two years of former GOP Sen. Thad Cochran's term, whom she was ap- pointed to replace earlier this year after he resigned.
SENATOR CINDY HYDE- SMITH
With her win in the final contest of the midterm cycle, Republicans will start the new Congress in January with a 53-47 majority in the Senate. The GOP expanded its Senate majority in the midterm elec- tions despite Democrats mak- ing a net gain of at least 39 seats in the House, with one race left to be called.
Romaine Lettuce E. Coli Outbreak Has Many Slamming Trump For Rolling Back Obama-Era FDA Regulations
The recent E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce, which led to at least 210 people across 36 states growing ill, may have been caused by the rolling back of Obama-era FDA regulations by the Trump administration.
One outbreak earlier this year, which has been tied to nationally distributed ro- maine lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz., caused kidney failure in at least 27 of the re- ported cases and the death of five people. The contamina- tion from the most recent outbreak has been traced to the central and northern coastal growing regions in California, according to the CDC.
Scientists believe the out- break began when contami- nated irrigation water was used to water the crops. Al- though many people have dis- cussed how the water became contaminated, former physi- cian and Twitter activist Dr. Eugene Gu detailed how the
Romaine lettuce E-Coli out- break
Trump administration is to blame in a detailed thread.
Right now the FDA does not require that irrigation water be tested for dangerous pathogens such as E. coli. In 2011, the Obama adminis- tration created policies that would have forced farmers to begin testing for such con- taminants starting this year.
However, six months be- fore the most recent E. coli outbreak, the Trump admin- istration delayed the new reg- ulations for at least four more years.
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL-BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018