Thursday, May 26, 2011
Ethiopia
Watch Ethiopia. This may be the most important news you won't hear. Nobody really understands this nations full importance. If it goes the way of the other nations in the region, we have a real possibility of trouble.
The Possibility of a Double Dip Recession
I keep hearing that the nation is recovering. Slow job growth numbers have given many people a small measure of confidence. I’m not one of them. I want to believe it, but my depleting checkbook is telling me a different story. Who am I to refute all these political experts, all these media men, etc. I’m the guy who’s unconvinced. Maybe it’s my Missouri upbringing; but experts can TELL me all they want, I need you to SHOW me. All that I have been shown are new regulations, increasing prices, and political unrest all over the country and the world.
So will there be a double dip? I have to say yes. I will even go so far as to say it will occur in this year. What’s my evidence? That would be precedents in recent history. The last recession (we are told) was due to the collapse of the housing bubble. There is truth to that, but it is not the full educated answer. It’s a sound bite, an answer with no meaning. The answer is that government regulation forced banks to give loans to people who had no business receiving loans. The people who received these loans were barely able to make the payments and were only one crisis away from default. The crisis came in the form of huge oil costs. Oil costs rising did not just impact the gas to drive to work; it impacts the cost of transporting goods. Rising transportation costs led to businesses that were on the edge to close, creating layoffs. Others were forced into layoffs just to stay afloat. Food and energy prices went up, and in order to buy food or stay warm through the winter months; people had to push off house payments. When you have a large group of people with loans they could never pay default, you get a housing bubble and an economic crash.
Now where are we as a nation? Those people most severely affected are now essentially pushed into the poverty class. The people who were once fairly secure financially are now on the line where a crisis can destroy them. Banks that do not want to loan are now being scolded or regulated by the government into giving loans again. Small businesses and middle class groups are forced to pay more for food and energy and depleting their reserves of credit. Many of these people are finding it harder to make the house payments and one hard push can destroy them.
Gas has just risen to $3.88 a gallon and is projected to rise as high as $5.00 or more.
Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Those who don’t study RECENT history are either worse than stupid or repeating it on purpose. Whichever one these people are, they should not be leading this nation.
Maybe I’m wrong, but my track record has held up pretty well on here. Am I a terrible person for saying you should consider the possibility? How much longer will people be content to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the possibility that something can go wrong, and then have the audacity to be surprised when it does?
Confidence is the single defining factor to a stable economy. That confidence has to be based in truth. The media and the politicians seem to be trying to restore confidence based on lies, then wonder why it isn’t working. Don’t trust what they say. Don’t trust what I say. Trust what your eyes and heart are telling you. Preparation has never hurt anyone, lack of it has.
So will there be a double dip? I have to say yes. I will even go so far as to say it will occur in this year. What’s my evidence? That would be precedents in recent history. The last recession (we are told) was due to the collapse of the housing bubble. There is truth to that, but it is not the full educated answer. It’s a sound bite, an answer with no meaning. The answer is that government regulation forced banks to give loans to people who had no business receiving loans. The people who received these loans were barely able to make the payments and were only one crisis away from default. The crisis came in the form of huge oil costs. Oil costs rising did not just impact the gas to drive to work; it impacts the cost of transporting goods. Rising transportation costs led to businesses that were on the edge to close, creating layoffs. Others were forced into layoffs just to stay afloat. Food and energy prices went up, and in order to buy food or stay warm through the winter months; people had to push off house payments. When you have a large group of people with loans they could never pay default, you get a housing bubble and an economic crash.
Now where are we as a nation? Those people most severely affected are now essentially pushed into the poverty class. The people who were once fairly secure financially are now on the line where a crisis can destroy them. Banks that do not want to loan are now being scolded or regulated by the government into giving loans again. Small businesses and middle class groups are forced to pay more for food and energy and depleting their reserves of credit. Many of these people are finding it harder to make the house payments and one hard push can destroy them.
Gas has just risen to $3.88 a gallon and is projected to rise as high as $5.00 or more.
Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Those who don’t study RECENT history are either worse than stupid or repeating it on purpose. Whichever one these people are, they should not be leading this nation.
Maybe I’m wrong, but my track record has held up pretty well on here. Am I a terrible person for saying you should consider the possibility? How much longer will people be content to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the possibility that something can go wrong, and then have the audacity to be surprised when it does?
Confidence is the single defining factor to a stable economy. That confidence has to be based in truth. The media and the politicians seem to be trying to restore confidence based on lies, then wonder why it isn’t working. Don’t trust what they say. Don’t trust what I say. Trust what your eyes and heart are telling you. Preparation has never hurt anyone, lack of it has.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Job Impact on the Deficit (Public and Private)
With the protests in Wisconsin and other states going, now is a good time to talk about what we need to do to get jobs into balance. This should be THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY for our White House, Congress, Senate, State officials, and the public. I am thoroughly irritated that this complete no-brainer is not discussed more.
Private sector job creation brings new tax revenue. People receiving a paycheck pay taxes. People receiving a paycheck buy things and circulate money, which provide more jobs. The people employed are people who are no longer on welfare rolls, no longer strain the Medicaid system, no longer receive unemployment checks, and take their families off these programs as well. That means real private sector job creation is absolutely essential to helping our economic stability.
Public sector jobs are different. These groups paychecks are our taxpayer dollars, their benefits the same, pensions the same. The items they buy may help the economy, but it is mostly just circulating existing money around. Federal public sector groups (not always state, but there are cases) also tend to make better pay and benefits than their private sector counterparts (especially in this economy.)
Supporting public sector jobs requires a substantially larger private sector to pay them. We do not have that now. We have large unemployment in the private sector, people that are paying fewer taxes and going onto government systems, which requires hiring more people into the public sector to process them. It’s another dangerous cycle. This leads me to only one conclusion.
We need fewer public sector jobs and a lot more private sector ones..
This one sentence stirs the arguments, the pro-government officials immediately cry, “He wants to fire teachers, police and firefighters!” So before that tirade starts let me reply, “Shut up and grow up!” Those three groups are the very last I would want to touch; but it may have to come to that. Bear in mind, I am talking about Federal and to a smaller extent local solutions. State governments will do what they do, without interference from Federal government. The voters of those states will be the ultimate deciders on those decisions.
The first order of business for our Federal government should be to go through its Departments and privatize those areas that can be privatized. Amtrak immediately comes to mind; it’s losing money which the taxpayer subsidizes. Give it to the private sector and let them make it profitable or fail. The Post Office is another one. Fed-Ex, UPS, and e-mail are rendering it obsolete. It’s time to give it over to us to make it work. There are dozens of programs in NASA as well. The Dept. of Labor’s Drug Free Workplace Program can go. I’m pretty confident businesses don’t need this incentive anymore; it’s in their interests to keep the workplace drug free. There are so many more like this.
Secondly, our Congressman and Senators need to TALK with us. What regulations are impacting our job growth? What regulations are preventing us from building small businesses? These regulations need to be revised or removed.
With the ongoing protests in the Middle East it is crucial that we begin getting our energy costs under control. We must begin giving permits to drill for oil, we need to do more to promote natural gas (one of our largest US resources), and we need to push the limits on renewable energy. We do not need the Federal government involved, their brand of beaurocracy will only slow us down and give them opportunities to pick winners and losers. Haven’t we had enough of that already? We all know big oil gets preferential treatment, and lesser known is the new green favoritism shown to GE and others. The American people can pick our own winners. Large sections of the Dept. of Energy need to go private.
We must throw out the existing tax code system. It is thousands of pages filled with contradictions, favoritism to certain businesses, and costs the American people billions of dollars to process. Replace it with a simple, easy to understand set of progressive rates and exemptions for people; and then do the same for business. Two sets of easy rules which cater to our needs. People get exemptions for children, charity contributions, and medical. Businesses get exemptions for exporting goods, providing benefits to employees, and keeping jobs in our country. I’ll outline this better in a later note.
These changes begin to remove public sector jobs to the private sector along with trained people from the public sector which can provide some initial experience. The tax code changes will reduce the manpower requirements on the IRS, freeing some public sector employees from the rolls. Hopefully they can pick up jobs accounting in new small businesses. This also means these people will generate tax revenue rather than consume it.
So what about the Union impact on these jobs? Well, if I’m going to be honest; I don’t much care. If these areas go private and wish to unionize, that’s between them and their employers. These groups will have to leave the public sector unions though.
This brings me to the big three: teachers, police, and firefighters. Teachers are already losing their jobs in droves. What really irritates me about this is that many of the bureaucratic administrators are keeping their jobs. These are the people who I have a true problem with in education. Why do I push defunding the Dept. of Education and putting it back in the interior? Because it’s a bureaucratic mess. States send the education money to Washington, they remove 11% to pay the department, and send the rest back again. How many teachers would that 11% pay? What benefits have the D.o.Ed. provided? There is a growing concern among parents that their children are not graduating with the knowledge they need to have. This frustration is vented onto the teachers but never the administrators in government who push these policies. Granted there are some bad teachers, there are bad employees everywhere, but in general teachers are just a convenient scapegoat for our irritation.
What alternative do these fired teachers have? Not much else is out there for them.
I’m a proponent of school choice; but there is not much of a choice. If a low-income mom wants to transport her children to a safer school environment and pays her school revenues; I don’t see a problem. What about if we don’t want our kids exposed to certain things in the middle income sector? Should our only option be public schools or expensive private ones? Many parents would love to homeschool their children but are prevented by regulations or lack of expertise. Couldn’t we start a combination small classroom grade equivalent option? Allow teachers in the private sector to teach small groups of kids without the nonsense? Begin some new pilot programs for education in the private sector which can provide trained teachers with jobs.
These programs can incorporate new innovations as they are discovered. Example: the Kindle program could save schools untold costs and space from school textbooks by placing the books onto a mainframe and downloading them to a child’s Kindle. These ideas need room to run, and a Federal Department of Education will only provide a roadblock.
How many people know about Patrol Specials? Take the time to look it up if you don't. This kind of program might provide needed jobs to police who may be laid off, but it is a semi-private enterprise nonetheless. We can find solutions if we just go out of the standard ways of thinking.
So now we need to do them. We are going to go nowhere if we sit back and wait for our federal leaders to work this out. Communities need to begin outlining plans, and push their officials to get on the stick. Question them, push new ideas, and let them know we can be ready to do these things.
Spending cuts are our only option, but there are consequences to those cuts. However, if the government cuts these costs only to leave a still largely unemployed people in it’s wake; it’s useless.
Private sector job creation brings new tax revenue. People receiving a paycheck pay taxes. People receiving a paycheck buy things and circulate money, which provide more jobs. The people employed are people who are no longer on welfare rolls, no longer strain the Medicaid system, no longer receive unemployment checks, and take their families off these programs as well. That means real private sector job creation is absolutely essential to helping our economic stability.
Public sector jobs are different. These groups paychecks are our taxpayer dollars, their benefits the same, pensions the same. The items they buy may help the economy, but it is mostly just circulating existing money around. Federal public sector groups (not always state, but there are cases) also tend to make better pay and benefits than their private sector counterparts (especially in this economy.)
Supporting public sector jobs requires a substantially larger private sector to pay them. We do not have that now. We have large unemployment in the private sector, people that are paying fewer taxes and going onto government systems, which requires hiring more people into the public sector to process them. It’s another dangerous cycle. This leads me to only one conclusion.
We need fewer public sector jobs and a lot more private sector ones..
This one sentence stirs the arguments, the pro-government officials immediately cry, “He wants to fire teachers, police and firefighters!” So before that tirade starts let me reply, “Shut up and grow up!” Those three groups are the very last I would want to touch; but it may have to come to that. Bear in mind, I am talking about Federal and to a smaller extent local solutions. State governments will do what they do, without interference from Federal government. The voters of those states will be the ultimate deciders on those decisions.
The first order of business for our Federal government should be to go through its Departments and privatize those areas that can be privatized. Amtrak immediately comes to mind; it’s losing money which the taxpayer subsidizes. Give it to the private sector and let them make it profitable or fail. The Post Office is another one. Fed-Ex, UPS, and e-mail are rendering it obsolete. It’s time to give it over to us to make it work. There are dozens of programs in NASA as well. The Dept. of Labor’s Drug Free Workplace Program can go. I’m pretty confident businesses don’t need this incentive anymore; it’s in their interests to keep the workplace drug free. There are so many more like this.
Secondly, our Congressman and Senators need to TALK with us. What regulations are impacting our job growth? What regulations are preventing us from building small businesses? These regulations need to be revised or removed.
With the ongoing protests in the Middle East it is crucial that we begin getting our energy costs under control. We must begin giving permits to drill for oil, we need to do more to promote natural gas (one of our largest US resources), and we need to push the limits on renewable energy. We do not need the Federal government involved, their brand of beaurocracy will only slow us down and give them opportunities to pick winners and losers. Haven’t we had enough of that already? We all know big oil gets preferential treatment, and lesser known is the new green favoritism shown to GE and others. The American people can pick our own winners. Large sections of the Dept. of Energy need to go private.
We must throw out the existing tax code system. It is thousands of pages filled with contradictions, favoritism to certain businesses, and costs the American people billions of dollars to process. Replace it with a simple, easy to understand set of progressive rates and exemptions for people; and then do the same for business. Two sets of easy rules which cater to our needs. People get exemptions for children, charity contributions, and medical. Businesses get exemptions for exporting goods, providing benefits to employees, and keeping jobs in our country. I’ll outline this better in a later note.
These changes begin to remove public sector jobs to the private sector along with trained people from the public sector which can provide some initial experience. The tax code changes will reduce the manpower requirements on the IRS, freeing some public sector employees from the rolls. Hopefully they can pick up jobs accounting in new small businesses. This also means these people will generate tax revenue rather than consume it.
So what about the Union impact on these jobs? Well, if I’m going to be honest; I don’t much care. If these areas go private and wish to unionize, that’s between them and their employers. These groups will have to leave the public sector unions though.
This brings me to the big three: teachers, police, and firefighters. Teachers are already losing their jobs in droves. What really irritates me about this is that many of the bureaucratic administrators are keeping their jobs. These are the people who I have a true problem with in education. Why do I push defunding the Dept. of Education and putting it back in the interior? Because it’s a bureaucratic mess. States send the education money to Washington, they remove 11% to pay the department, and send the rest back again. How many teachers would that 11% pay? What benefits have the D.o.Ed. provided? There is a growing concern among parents that their children are not graduating with the knowledge they need to have. This frustration is vented onto the teachers but never the administrators in government who push these policies. Granted there are some bad teachers, there are bad employees everywhere, but in general teachers are just a convenient scapegoat for our irritation.
What alternative do these fired teachers have? Not much else is out there for them.
I’m a proponent of school choice; but there is not much of a choice. If a low-income mom wants to transport her children to a safer school environment and pays her school revenues; I don’t see a problem. What about if we don’t want our kids exposed to certain things in the middle income sector? Should our only option be public schools or expensive private ones? Many parents would love to homeschool their children but are prevented by regulations or lack of expertise. Couldn’t we start a combination small classroom grade equivalent option? Allow teachers in the private sector to teach small groups of kids without the nonsense? Begin some new pilot programs for education in the private sector which can provide trained teachers with jobs.
These programs can incorporate new innovations as they are discovered. Example: the Kindle program could save schools untold costs and space from school textbooks by placing the books onto a mainframe and downloading them to a child’s Kindle. These ideas need room to run, and a Federal Department of Education will only provide a roadblock.
How many people know about Patrol Specials? Take the time to look it up if you don't. This kind of program might provide needed jobs to police who may be laid off, but it is a semi-private enterprise nonetheless. We can find solutions if we just go out of the standard ways of thinking.
So now we need to do them. We are going to go nowhere if we sit back and wait for our federal leaders to work this out. Communities need to begin outlining plans, and push their officials to get on the stick. Question them, push new ideas, and let them know we can be ready to do these things.
Spending cuts are our only option, but there are consequences to those cuts. However, if the government cuts these costs only to leave a still largely unemployed people in it’s wake; it’s useless.
Stuck in the Middle with You
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right; is it any wonder the rest of the world is laughing at us? While under Bush’s administration, many polls showed Americans thought unfavorably of the Republican policies. Under Obama’s current administration, many polls show Americans think unfavorably of the Democratic policies. The media and the politicians would have you think the American people are fickle, stupid, and don’t really know what we want. I think it is really the opposite; that the media and the political parties are fickle, stupid, and don’t really know (or care, depending on the people) what the American people want.
Polls reflect the views of the American people, not just the parties. The diehard partisan voters, the base; only reflect 30% of the voters, per party. That leaves 40% of independent and moderates who influence the vote. The rub is that most of these voters don’t show up. Why? Apathy? Maybe, in some cases. I think in many cases though it is because they don’t believe in any of them anymore. I get that, really I do. But look at the consequences, every term now puts partisan extremes behind the wheel of our country. The best we can get under those circumstances is stagnation, each side repealing the past administration policies, which will destroy us slowly. At worst, one group destroys the other and we ALL go down a road which will destroy us.
I guess I’m talking about bipartisanship. The lack of it is sending us on a first class ticket on the non-stop to nowhere (keeping the musical theme going). It’s gone, and we need it back. Now we hear we need it during campaigns, and we hear the parties talk about the lack of it from the other side. That is true, both sides suffer from partisanship. Now we need to understand why.
Money and power. It can’t be that simple, can it? I’m afraid so. There are those politicians who I truly believe ran for office to help their country. These people had good ideas and a sense of reaching out across the aisle in hopes of not necessarily “winning” their view, but moving the country forward in the best way they could. What happened to them? Political party leaders are partisans, they decide who gets on the Committees, they decide who gets maximum funding for re-elections; they have the ability to influence others against them or to influence them into a hard-line stance against something they might have compromised on to get a favorable result.
Another reason is the political outsiders and lobbyists: AFL-CIO, Focus on the Family, Planned Parenthood, the 700 club, the NRA, Center for American Progress, etc. These are the guys who shell out big money and influence during campaigns. They are also hard core partisan groups who will NOT condone a compromise on their issue. (I believe some of these groups would stall any attempt to achieve a real victory either, that would make them unnecessary and how do you make any money that way?) These are the people who run the attack ads on the other party, (which helps a candidate but doesn’t get his/her hands dirty) but they will not hesitate to turn that around. That means they call the shots on how our lives are run after the election. Even if you believe in one of these causes, this should scare you. These activists are also the suppliers of campaign staff and support and the primary source of “early” campaign money, crucial elements of primary election strength.
Most Media and blogs also have an agenda (including me, I can only hope our agenda’s agree.) They are owned by companies that have or want influence, or belong to groups of the same, or need the divisiveness to get ratings or attention. FOX, CNN, MSNBC, Media Matters, even the AP have to earn their money.
So what do you get when you combine these factors? Usually you get a poor choice of political candidates to vote for in the first place. To quote Lewis Black, “You have a choice between two big bowls of $&%#, the only difference is the smell.”
Not only are the extremes calling the shots, they slam and insult anyone who disagrees or tries to find common ground. The Democratic Parties treatment of Joe Lieberman comes to mind when he disagreed about Iraq. The right even coined a cute little insult, R.I.N.O.’s (Republican in Name Only).
We are being trained to believe that we can’t find common ground on anything; we are a nation of red and blue states, blah blah blah. Is it any wonder this country is losing its preeminent position in the world? How can we be a world leader when we can’t lead our nation?
I think the silent majority can’t stay silent much longer. If the squeaky wheels are getting all the grease, maybe we need to kick the wheels off and replace them.
There is common ground we can agree to without losing our principles:
Abortion: It shouldn’t matter that it’s legal if it’s unnecessary. What could happen if pro-life and pro-choice groups quit spending millions on the law and spent it on the problems.
Funding medical research to stop birth defects, to provide for mothers health, outreach programs to educate against and help prevent rape and incest. Programs to provide for young people to have child care access and continue school. These wouldn’t need to be government programs either. I have to think we are better than this and that we just haven’t looked at this from the right angle.
Affirmative Action: Same thing, make it unnecessary. If we quit arguing about this and focus on bringing jobs back here in big numbers, this problem will go a long way towards fixing itself. Will it be perfect? No, but it IS a start towards it. If wide selections of jobs are in this country and studies show that minorities are still being passed over for lesser qualified white people, then all the speculation has to end and we know as a nation that we have to keep this program.
Welfare/Medicaid/Food stamps: Democrats claim that people have to have this help. I agree. Republicans say this system is misused and abused. I agree. See how easy that is? Now fix it. CREATE JOBS! The people who can get off it usually will. Rather than firing all government staff who used to process that paperwork, keep half of them to begin investigating the ones who are on it for signs of abuse and mistreatment and then deal with it.
Social Security: Why do I like Congressman Ryan’s plan? You get a choice. If you want to partially privatize, you can. If not, you can stay in the system. Maybe this argument shouldn’t be about “right and wrong”, maybe it should be about which system YOU prefer and be a part of it.
Religion and School/Government/etc.: 3 minutes of silence at the beginning of the day. It can be used to pray, gather your thoughts, whatever. Nobody gets offended, nobody even needs to know what the other person believes or don’t. Then move on together through the day.
These are some of my thoughts on just a few topics. I don’t think these ideas make me a R.I.N.O. I think they make me an American who wants to keep us moving forward. What do you think?
Now how do we get there? I would love to see an election year where the majority of Americans just voted “No Confidence”. The politicians would say you just wasted your vote, but is it? Yes, someone would have to win. Those same people would also have to recognize that a large portion of Americans have lost faith in the two party system. If everyone who could vote would, and voted for people they believed in, over a handful of choices picked for us instead of by us, we could get this country moving again. Lobbyists and special interests would have to take notice too.
I like to see some real debates as well. Not these three minute answer, rebuttal, return debates. I know it can’t work for TV, but what about online? Divide it by issues on Youtube and have some real back and forth discussion? Do the same with town halls or community. Give us a chance to see who is qualified, not who has the best spin for three minutes. Look up the Lincoln/Douglas debates sometime. People brought picnics with them to see those debates. That would be a rather long sit, but with today’s technology this could be split into issues and watched by your preference.
I’ve said before that we the people need to have more of a hand in who runs for office. Don’t just let someone stand up and say, “I’m going to run as your Republican/Democrat choice.” Look for people you trust and ask them to consider it, they may say no or they may say, “That’s not for me. You should talk to so-and so. He/She helped me reach these ideas. They would be perfect.” It will take some work in the beginning, but look what doing nothing has gotten us.
Till next time.
Polls reflect the views of the American people, not just the parties. The diehard partisan voters, the base; only reflect 30% of the voters, per party. That leaves 40% of independent and moderates who influence the vote. The rub is that most of these voters don’t show up. Why? Apathy? Maybe, in some cases. I think in many cases though it is because they don’t believe in any of them anymore. I get that, really I do. But look at the consequences, every term now puts partisan extremes behind the wheel of our country. The best we can get under those circumstances is stagnation, each side repealing the past administration policies, which will destroy us slowly. At worst, one group destroys the other and we ALL go down a road which will destroy us.
I guess I’m talking about bipartisanship. The lack of it is sending us on a first class ticket on the non-stop to nowhere (keeping the musical theme going). It’s gone, and we need it back. Now we hear we need it during campaigns, and we hear the parties talk about the lack of it from the other side. That is true, both sides suffer from partisanship. Now we need to understand why.
Money and power. It can’t be that simple, can it? I’m afraid so. There are those politicians who I truly believe ran for office to help their country. These people had good ideas and a sense of reaching out across the aisle in hopes of not necessarily “winning” their view, but moving the country forward in the best way they could. What happened to them? Political party leaders are partisans, they decide who gets on the Committees, they decide who gets maximum funding for re-elections; they have the ability to influence others against them or to influence them into a hard-line stance against something they might have compromised on to get a favorable result.
Another reason is the political outsiders and lobbyists: AFL-CIO, Focus on the Family, Planned Parenthood, the 700 club, the NRA, Center for American Progress, etc. These are the guys who shell out big money and influence during campaigns. They are also hard core partisan groups who will NOT condone a compromise on their issue. (I believe some of these groups would stall any attempt to achieve a real victory either, that would make them unnecessary and how do you make any money that way?) These are the people who run the attack ads on the other party, (which helps a candidate but doesn’t get his/her hands dirty) but they will not hesitate to turn that around. That means they call the shots on how our lives are run after the election. Even if you believe in one of these causes, this should scare you. These activists are also the suppliers of campaign staff and support and the primary source of “early” campaign money, crucial elements of primary election strength.
Most Media and blogs also have an agenda (including me, I can only hope our agenda’s agree.) They are owned by companies that have or want influence, or belong to groups of the same, or need the divisiveness to get ratings or attention. FOX, CNN, MSNBC, Media Matters, even the AP have to earn their money.
So what do you get when you combine these factors? Usually you get a poor choice of political candidates to vote for in the first place. To quote Lewis Black, “You have a choice between two big bowls of $&%#, the only difference is the smell.”
Not only are the extremes calling the shots, they slam and insult anyone who disagrees or tries to find common ground. The Democratic Parties treatment of Joe Lieberman comes to mind when he disagreed about Iraq. The right even coined a cute little insult, R.I.N.O.’s (Republican in Name Only).
We are being trained to believe that we can’t find common ground on anything; we are a nation of red and blue states, blah blah blah. Is it any wonder this country is losing its preeminent position in the world? How can we be a world leader when we can’t lead our nation?
I think the silent majority can’t stay silent much longer. If the squeaky wheels are getting all the grease, maybe we need to kick the wheels off and replace them.
There is common ground we can agree to without losing our principles:
Abortion: It shouldn’t matter that it’s legal if it’s unnecessary. What could happen if pro-life and pro-choice groups quit spending millions on the law and spent it on the problems.
Funding medical research to stop birth defects, to provide for mothers health, outreach programs to educate against and help prevent rape and incest. Programs to provide for young people to have child care access and continue school. These wouldn’t need to be government programs either. I have to think we are better than this and that we just haven’t looked at this from the right angle.
Affirmative Action: Same thing, make it unnecessary. If we quit arguing about this and focus on bringing jobs back here in big numbers, this problem will go a long way towards fixing itself. Will it be perfect? No, but it IS a start towards it. If wide selections of jobs are in this country and studies show that minorities are still being passed over for lesser qualified white people, then all the speculation has to end and we know as a nation that we have to keep this program.
Welfare/Medicaid/Food stamps: Democrats claim that people have to have this help. I agree. Republicans say this system is misused and abused. I agree. See how easy that is? Now fix it. CREATE JOBS! The people who can get off it usually will. Rather than firing all government staff who used to process that paperwork, keep half of them to begin investigating the ones who are on it for signs of abuse and mistreatment and then deal with it.
Social Security: Why do I like Congressman Ryan’s plan? You get a choice. If you want to partially privatize, you can. If not, you can stay in the system. Maybe this argument shouldn’t be about “right and wrong”, maybe it should be about which system YOU prefer and be a part of it.
Religion and School/Government/etc.: 3 minutes of silence at the beginning of the day. It can be used to pray, gather your thoughts, whatever. Nobody gets offended, nobody even needs to know what the other person believes or don’t. Then move on together through the day.
These are some of my thoughts on just a few topics. I don’t think these ideas make me a R.I.N.O. I think they make me an American who wants to keep us moving forward. What do you think?
Now how do we get there? I would love to see an election year where the majority of Americans just voted “No Confidence”. The politicians would say you just wasted your vote, but is it? Yes, someone would have to win. Those same people would also have to recognize that a large portion of Americans have lost faith in the two party system. If everyone who could vote would, and voted for people they believed in, over a handful of choices picked for us instead of by us, we could get this country moving again. Lobbyists and special interests would have to take notice too.
I like to see some real debates as well. Not these three minute answer, rebuttal, return debates. I know it can’t work for TV, but what about online? Divide it by issues on Youtube and have some real back and forth discussion? Do the same with town halls or community. Give us a chance to see who is qualified, not who has the best spin for three minutes. Look up the Lincoln/Douglas debates sometime. People brought picnics with them to see those debates. That would be a rather long sit, but with today’s technology this could be split into issues and watched by your preference.
I’ve said before that we the people need to have more of a hand in who runs for office. Don’t just let someone stand up and say, “I’m going to run as your Republican/Democrat choice.” Look for people you trust and ask them to consider it, they may say no or they may say, “That’s not for me. You should talk to so-and so. He/She helped me reach these ideas. They would be perfect.” It will take some work in the beginning, but look what doing nothing has gotten us.
Till next time.
The Issue of Declining Morality
Here is another term thrown around a lot; “Moral Decline”. Are we as a nation suffering from it? When did it start? Does it even matter?
For me, the question is; “How is morality being defined, and by whom?”
So I’ll give my personal thoughts on these questions, not so you will agree with me, but so you can answer yourself on these questions and develop your own opinions. This isn’t a quiz and there is no right or wrong here.
Are we as a nation suffering from moral decline? I believe so; I think a large portion of American society (myself included) had been infected by what I call the “I deserve this” mentality. I deserve this so I’m going to have it, by God; and nobody will stop me! Someone has the job you deserve, screw them over. Someone has a nicer home, I deserve it and if I have to go into enormous debt to get it, I will. I want it, these people, programs, etc. will help me get it, and if I can get it; well, I deserve it. Wait for it? No way. Work harder to earn it? So and so didn’t, why should I? Other’s suffering because of what we did? It’s the “me” generation and they’re not me.
It was a similar thought mode in the roaring 20’s, where did it get them? Where has it gotten us? Media, economists, and politicians point to it as an economic mindset, but aren’t pride, greed, and envy a moral mindset? Isn’t that what we were doing?
When did it start? Which time? Greed and pride drove this nation to slavery, a moral decline we broke free of in the Civil War. The roaring 20’s was powered by greed and envy. The Great Depression and WWII broke us of that. I think another decline began in the 60’s, one that I’m not sure we have really broken free of. We’ve had moral breakthroughs in those times, but it feels to me as if we have been going through a very slow slide down. It seems that maybe, ONLY a maybe, we are beginning to break from it.
I think this is a generational decline, people from the past who went through the rough patch learned from it, and kept a moral framework with them the rest of their lives, and try to pass it on to their children and grandchildren. Those kids and grandkids however did not LIVE through those times and can’t understand. As parents we want our kids to have a better life than us. Our kids also tend to rebel against us and decide they WILL have a better life than their parents had. It’s a natural response for us as parents and them as children to act this way. Over generations, I feel the drive always stays but the responsibility, the self-regulation, the morality fades.
Does it matter? It does to me. As I said above, I was one of those “I deserve it” people. I was wrong; I had to hit the wall in my personal life to learn that, years ago. I consider myself lucky though, things could have been worse. I know what matters to me, and I am a pretty happy person now. I think a lot of people are going through their own personal hells now in order to get there. I don’t know if this is some big awakening or if it will fade in a few years, that’s for us to decide.
How is morality being defined, and by whom? Well right now, morality still seems to be defined by churches. Well that’s their job, but attendance is low and scandals are rife. I’m afraid if they don’t get their house in order, they may not be any help.
What about the government and morality? Well, attendance is low and scandals are rife. I don’t expect guidance there.
Really, it’s up to you, again. Nobody will have the same moral guidebook, religion, code of honor, whatever; but I think we all should have something.
For me, the question is; “How is morality being defined, and by whom?”
So I’ll give my personal thoughts on these questions, not so you will agree with me, but so you can answer yourself on these questions and develop your own opinions. This isn’t a quiz and there is no right or wrong here.
Are we as a nation suffering from moral decline? I believe so; I think a large portion of American society (myself included) had been infected by what I call the “I deserve this” mentality. I deserve this so I’m going to have it, by God; and nobody will stop me! Someone has the job you deserve, screw them over. Someone has a nicer home, I deserve it and if I have to go into enormous debt to get it, I will. I want it, these people, programs, etc. will help me get it, and if I can get it; well, I deserve it. Wait for it? No way. Work harder to earn it? So and so didn’t, why should I? Other’s suffering because of what we did? It’s the “me” generation and they’re not me.
It was a similar thought mode in the roaring 20’s, where did it get them? Where has it gotten us? Media, economists, and politicians point to it as an economic mindset, but aren’t pride, greed, and envy a moral mindset? Isn’t that what we were doing?
When did it start? Which time? Greed and pride drove this nation to slavery, a moral decline we broke free of in the Civil War. The roaring 20’s was powered by greed and envy. The Great Depression and WWII broke us of that. I think another decline began in the 60’s, one that I’m not sure we have really broken free of. We’ve had moral breakthroughs in those times, but it feels to me as if we have been going through a very slow slide down. It seems that maybe, ONLY a maybe, we are beginning to break from it.
I think this is a generational decline, people from the past who went through the rough patch learned from it, and kept a moral framework with them the rest of their lives, and try to pass it on to their children and grandchildren. Those kids and grandkids however did not LIVE through those times and can’t understand. As parents we want our kids to have a better life than us. Our kids also tend to rebel against us and decide they WILL have a better life than their parents had. It’s a natural response for us as parents and them as children to act this way. Over generations, I feel the drive always stays but the responsibility, the self-regulation, the morality fades.
Does it matter? It does to me. As I said above, I was one of those “I deserve it” people. I was wrong; I had to hit the wall in my personal life to learn that, years ago. I consider myself lucky though, things could have been worse. I know what matters to me, and I am a pretty happy person now. I think a lot of people are going through their own personal hells now in order to get there. I don’t know if this is some big awakening or if it will fade in a few years, that’s for us to decide.
How is morality being defined, and by whom? Well right now, morality still seems to be defined by churches. Well that’s their job, but attendance is low and scandals are rife. I’m afraid if they don’t get their house in order, they may not be any help.
What about the government and morality? Well, attendance is low and scandals are rife. I don’t expect guidance there.
Really, it’s up to you, again. Nobody will have the same moral guidebook, religion, code of honor, whatever; but I think we all should have something.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Job Creation
This whole situation begins with NAFTA. Paraphrasing Ross Perot, "When this passes, the giant sucking sound you here will be our jobs flushing away." During this time a decision was made that we will become a society of consumers. As manufacturing would go away, we would deal with the management and financial. There was a bit of hope though, Mexican labor was cheap but the country could only accommodate so much space and security was (and is) an issue.
Enter China; NAFTA had set the precedent and with China's resettlement of Hong Kong a new player had emerged. They took no time getting the lay of the land and gave American business a better offer. Cheap labor, space, and security were all available. So NAFTA essentially became a non-issue. (It still exists as many companies were already in place there, but it has not exploded in growth like China.
One other convenient service offered was nearness to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Management and Financial services are now on the table. The jobs left in droves and we are in financial decline. As if this situation weren't bad enough, we are borrowing money by the hundreds of billions at a time to the same country that we are giving our jobs to.
They have us in a weird style of financial stranglehold, our debt prevents us from being more stringent with their policies and our means of paying off our debt are on their shores!
Now our consumer based society is based off one thing; our continued purchase of goods. If we can't pay, they extend credit to us. They continually bombard us with advertising and such to promote our buying. In the time immediately following 9/11, when we asked what can we do? We were all united, ready to pay any price. What did President Bush say? "Go shopping, spend, don't let the fear keep you from living your life." I thought it was a bad thing to say then, but as I studied our economy, I realized it was even worse. This was a chance, I didn't realize it then. I don't think anyone did.
We have another now; I think what may be our last, best chance. What's the catch? We ALL have to make it happen. Anything else will be a temporary solution at best. A strange thing is happening; some businessmen are beginning to realize they made a mistake. It was one thing to go to China, get rich, but live in the States; it's another to become China, be broke, with nowhere to go. Business for a time has to put Patriotism before profit. Stockholders have to go from short term immediate gain to long term security. Unions have to balance worker wants from worker needs. We the people need to buckle down and pull together for a time. This is the transition. Transitions are hard, but we are going to go through one. You have to decide whether you want it to be good or bad.
First off, Government MUST cut spending and cut taxes evenly to the people; rich, middle class, and poor. Business will get a different cut, a substantial one to the payroll tax. Why? Businesses make jobs, not the rich that own them. Payroll taxes create an incentive to reduce the payroll. Cut the tax, hiring will improve. It's common sense. The cuts to us will give us the confidence to begin buying again which will create job demand.
This tax cut will only be extended to those businesses which have 50% or more of their employee base in the U.S! Why not more? Because we have to maintain a stable relationship with China. If we pull out to fast, their economy falters. They will want to collect on our debt before we are able to pay and we will falter too. This also prevents any accusations by other countries that we intentionally collapsed the system. I want to get our economy straight, not start a war.
I can hearthe overseas businesses now, "That's not fair, we should be treated equally on taxes!" You haven't been treated equally for decades! You bought tax breaks, bought political favor, and squeezed competitors with lobbying all this time. That's why you are operating overseas now.The way I see it, you pitched the ball at the American people's head, don't act surprised if we charge the mound.
Next, a real bank loan business plan for small business will be developed, again with a monetary increase from spending cuts. No exceptions. Sorry Democrats, women and minorities will need to have a viable business plan based on a unified standard, adjusted for state to state income. This is a major thorn in my side on the Financial Reform.
All businesses must be on equal footing, to succeed or fail on their merit, not on government preferences to a special interest. This was why Fannie and Freddie, Lehman Bros., and Goldman Sachs got so far before it fell, and the fall was magnified.
Big businesses need to ascertain its position in all of this. The small business loan plan has a long term goal; to create new options for Americans should large businesses not return. Places that we can invest in and see grow. A condition of the new loans will be that businesses paying off that loan STAY HERE! Now smart money, tax breaks, and a fair bit of competition should bring other jobs back here, but I never put all my eggs in one basket.
We the people will need to commit to helping small business grow and be selective about the businesses that could come. Example: State and local governments have a choice of bringing some businesses, but limited space will only allow for one. The selections are a strip mall, a Wal-Mart, or a manufacturing job. This is within a half-mile of residential property. Conflict is brewing. Strip malls bring in tidy revenue for the state and local governments. A Wal-Mart has the (rather annoying)tendency to raise property values of the residential homes. A manufacturing building can devalue nearby residential property and has a limiting tax option for government, but it can provide jobs, good jobs. Where do you fall? I can't give you the answer.
Another thing to watch for is state and local incentives for bringing in businesses. This is why we have Wal-Marts and Walgreen's everywhere. They offer them space to collect tax revenue, but they use taxpayer money to help them build parking lots, roads to and from, drainage, utilities, and so on. We know good and well these companies can afford these things but they hold out for them. Welfare for the Wealthy! Is the convenience of a Wal-Mart ½ mile away as opposed to 2 or 3 worth those tax dollars? Are they really providing the jobs that we as Americans need right now?
Unions have to get straight, explain to workers how the short-term gains they fight for sometimes can destroy the long-term goals. Push for profit sharing! This is the single greatest thing you can do to create productivity for a business and will help with the blasé attitude of those employees that destroy worker morale. The workers will help to monitor themselves.
This does not mean I've given up on tax reform or the other things I've discussed in earlier notes. Those things are important to me, but I realize the challenges getting them through. If this is what we have to work with, we'll do it.
Enter China; NAFTA had set the precedent and with China's resettlement of Hong Kong a new player had emerged. They took no time getting the lay of the land and gave American business a better offer. Cheap labor, space, and security were all available. So NAFTA essentially became a non-issue. (It still exists as many companies were already in place there, but it has not exploded in growth like China.
One other convenient service offered was nearness to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Management and Financial services are now on the table. The jobs left in droves and we are in financial decline. As if this situation weren't bad enough, we are borrowing money by the hundreds of billions at a time to the same country that we are giving our jobs to.
They have us in a weird style of financial stranglehold, our debt prevents us from being more stringent with their policies and our means of paying off our debt are on their shores!
Now our consumer based society is based off one thing; our continued purchase of goods. If we can't pay, they extend credit to us. They continually bombard us with advertising and such to promote our buying. In the time immediately following 9/11, when we asked what can we do? We were all united, ready to pay any price. What did President Bush say? "Go shopping, spend, don't let the fear keep you from living your life." I thought it was a bad thing to say then, but as I studied our economy, I realized it was even worse. This was a chance, I didn't realize it then. I don't think anyone did.
We have another now; I think what may be our last, best chance. What's the catch? We ALL have to make it happen. Anything else will be a temporary solution at best. A strange thing is happening; some businessmen are beginning to realize they made a mistake. It was one thing to go to China, get rich, but live in the States; it's another to become China, be broke, with nowhere to go. Business for a time has to put Patriotism before profit. Stockholders have to go from short term immediate gain to long term security. Unions have to balance worker wants from worker needs. We the people need to buckle down and pull together for a time. This is the transition. Transitions are hard, but we are going to go through one. You have to decide whether you want it to be good or bad.
First off, Government MUST cut spending and cut taxes evenly to the people; rich, middle class, and poor. Business will get a different cut, a substantial one to the payroll tax. Why? Businesses make jobs, not the rich that own them. Payroll taxes create an incentive to reduce the payroll. Cut the tax, hiring will improve. It's common sense. The cuts to us will give us the confidence to begin buying again which will create job demand.
This tax cut will only be extended to those businesses which have 50% or more of their employee base in the U.S! Why not more? Because we have to maintain a stable relationship with China. If we pull out to fast, their economy falters. They will want to collect on our debt before we are able to pay and we will falter too. This also prevents any accusations by other countries that we intentionally collapsed the system. I want to get our economy straight, not start a war.
I can hearthe overseas businesses now, "That's not fair, we should be treated equally on taxes!" You haven't been treated equally for decades! You bought tax breaks, bought political favor, and squeezed competitors with lobbying all this time. That's why you are operating overseas now.The way I see it, you pitched the ball at the American people's head, don't act surprised if we charge the mound.
Next, a real bank loan business plan for small business will be developed, again with a monetary increase from spending cuts. No exceptions. Sorry Democrats, women and minorities will need to have a viable business plan based on a unified standard, adjusted for state to state income. This is a major thorn in my side on the Financial Reform.
All businesses must be on equal footing, to succeed or fail on their merit, not on government preferences to a special interest. This was why Fannie and Freddie, Lehman Bros., and Goldman Sachs got so far before it fell, and the fall was magnified.
Big businesses need to ascertain its position in all of this. The small business loan plan has a long term goal; to create new options for Americans should large businesses not return. Places that we can invest in and see grow. A condition of the new loans will be that businesses paying off that loan STAY HERE! Now smart money, tax breaks, and a fair bit of competition should bring other jobs back here, but I never put all my eggs in one basket.
We the people will need to commit to helping small business grow and be selective about the businesses that could come. Example: State and local governments have a choice of bringing some businesses, but limited space will only allow for one. The selections are a strip mall, a Wal-Mart, or a manufacturing job. This is within a half-mile of residential property. Conflict is brewing. Strip malls bring in tidy revenue for the state and local governments. A Wal-Mart has the (rather annoying)tendency to raise property values of the residential homes. A manufacturing building can devalue nearby residential property and has a limiting tax option for government, but it can provide jobs, good jobs. Where do you fall? I can't give you the answer.
Another thing to watch for is state and local incentives for bringing in businesses. This is why we have Wal-Marts and Walgreen's everywhere. They offer them space to collect tax revenue, but they use taxpayer money to help them build parking lots, roads to and from, drainage, utilities, and so on. We know good and well these companies can afford these things but they hold out for them. Welfare for the Wealthy! Is the convenience of a Wal-Mart ½ mile away as opposed to 2 or 3 worth those tax dollars? Are they really providing the jobs that we as Americans need right now?
Unions have to get straight, explain to workers how the short-term gains they fight for sometimes can destroy the long-term goals. Push for profit sharing! This is the single greatest thing you can do to create productivity for a business and will help with the blasé attitude of those employees that destroy worker morale. The workers will help to monitor themselves.
This does not mean I've given up on tax reform or the other things I've discussed in earlier notes. Those things are important to me, but I realize the challenges getting them through. If this is what we have to work with, we'll do it.
The Unions
Hey, another topic those politicians tear each other to pieces over! I know I promised a job creation article, but unions are an important part of that equation and I feel needs to be addressed in a full topic. Republicans seem to loathe them, Democrats love them. I think unions, much like politicians, can be good for the country if they have proper leadership and common sense.
Looking from a historical standpoint; I believe Unions have done a lot for the creation of the middle class. Without them, we may never have achieved fair pay, retirements, benefits and so on. The things they fought for carried over to non-union workplaces as well and established some overall expectations we all look for in full time employment.
That being said, I feel something has changed; and I think it happened in the leadership.
When I was in the Teamsters, (about 16 years ago) the biggest rule among the workers was "Buy American". They resented American jobs going away and discouraged buying anything that wasn't made here. Now it is "Buy Union" for many. OK, so if Toyota unionized and kept manufacturing cars in the U.S. I can get along with that; what if they unionize but send the jobs to Mexico or China? Where does that leave you?
SEIU is currently trying to create union footholds overseas. Does this mean if a plant in China making cheap toys for cheap pay unionizes, you can go into Wal-Mart and buy it? The AFL-CIO organized and bussed in members to Arizona to protest the illegal immigration law there. When did the Unions start believing it was OK to allow illegal immigrants to come in and potentially take your job at less money? Granted, not all unions approve of this and quite a few left the AFL-CIO for reasons like this. I thank them, they are getting it.
For groups like these, I feel that it isn't about fairness for workers, it's about collecting dues. Why does that employee who should be fired for doing nothing get to keep his job and discourage the hard workers from ever getting ahead? Union Dues. If SEIU gets to unionize overseas, they collect dues from a huge stockpile of people. These people make less than you, will settle for less, and are in direct competition with your business. Is it easier for your leadership to make their wages comparable to yours, or to bring yours down to theirs? They'll probably go halfway, but you will lose, they will win, and union leadership gets rich.
My other issue comes from public service unions and the federal and state pensions. This is heading for disaster. These systems are going to fail at some point. Greece's did and there were riots. The E.U. and U.S. chipped in hundreds of billions to stabilize their economy. Who's going to do that for us? The other governments have the same problem and it will hit them sooner. If it hits here, it will be far worse than there. What if police, firefighter, teachers just stop because there is no more money for pensions and the unions encourage them to quit working?
I have family and friends who are police, teachers, and firefighters. I love and respect them all for what they do and I want their happiness and security. Having to say this knowing they will resent me stinks. I feel like the guy that shows up drunk to the summer party and urinates in the pool.
So if you are a union member on the road to pension, the first argument is "We negotiated it, if they are stupid enough to agree to it, tough!" You're right. It won't change a damn thing. The second reaction is "The governments going to screw us!" You're right again. The people in power offered you this knowing they will either be dead or out of power before the bill came due. It won't change a damn thing. In both cases, that argument is a two-way street. Your negotiators should have seen this coming, and has any of them talked about it?
I see the critical moment happening in one of two ways, but there could be others. Option One: The Pension Tax. Government can't pay, so they will institute a new tax on the pensions of state and federal workers. This is in addition to the others, not instead of. Option Two: Government Bankruptcy, the situation escalates to the point of Greece; America goes to the International Monetary Fund and they take over the financial regulation of the country till the bill is paid, the pensions go away. The Government has no choice, you're broke, but you paid your dues and those guys are long gone.
Or we can get our act together, all of us.
We acknowledge the problem and we work to a solution. Profit sharing doesn't work for public service (no profit), but we can start working toward something similar. Individual 401K's and more can be on the table. It won't be everything you were promised, but it will be more than nothing. Make no mistake, you might be lucky to get out in time, but others won't, and they will resent you. That could cost you more than money.
We quit watching our politicians and we are paying for it. We have to hold them accountable for their actions. Union members have the task of pulling double duty. You have to hold your leadership and politicians accountable. Do you attend your meetings? Do you raise the questions or sit quietly, afraid the others will turn on you? It's not a good situation for you to be in. You have to be informed on two fronts and you have to bring others along with your questioning.
Or you can write me off as someone who just hates unions and ignore it. I want YOU to fix it. How do you think the Republicans will fix it? America has a proud legacy that we let down of late, Unions the same. Let's get to work getting the legacy back.
Looking from a historical standpoint; I believe Unions have done a lot for the creation of the middle class. Without them, we may never have achieved fair pay, retirements, benefits and so on. The things they fought for carried over to non-union workplaces as well and established some overall expectations we all look for in full time employment.
That being said, I feel something has changed; and I think it happened in the leadership.
When I was in the Teamsters, (about 16 years ago) the biggest rule among the workers was "Buy American". They resented American jobs going away and discouraged buying anything that wasn't made here. Now it is "Buy Union" for many. OK, so if Toyota unionized and kept manufacturing cars in the U.S. I can get along with that; what if they unionize but send the jobs to Mexico or China? Where does that leave you?
SEIU is currently trying to create union footholds overseas. Does this mean if a plant in China making cheap toys for cheap pay unionizes, you can go into Wal-Mart and buy it? The AFL-CIO organized and bussed in members to Arizona to protest the illegal immigration law there. When did the Unions start believing it was OK to allow illegal immigrants to come in and potentially take your job at less money? Granted, not all unions approve of this and quite a few left the AFL-CIO for reasons like this. I thank them, they are getting it.
For groups like these, I feel that it isn't about fairness for workers, it's about collecting dues. Why does that employee who should be fired for doing nothing get to keep his job and discourage the hard workers from ever getting ahead? Union Dues. If SEIU gets to unionize overseas, they collect dues from a huge stockpile of people. These people make less than you, will settle for less, and are in direct competition with your business. Is it easier for your leadership to make their wages comparable to yours, or to bring yours down to theirs? They'll probably go halfway, but you will lose, they will win, and union leadership gets rich.
My other issue comes from public service unions and the federal and state pensions. This is heading for disaster. These systems are going to fail at some point. Greece's did and there were riots. The E.U. and U.S. chipped in hundreds of billions to stabilize their economy. Who's going to do that for us? The other governments have the same problem and it will hit them sooner. If it hits here, it will be far worse than there. What if police, firefighter, teachers just stop because there is no more money for pensions and the unions encourage them to quit working?
I have family and friends who are police, teachers, and firefighters. I love and respect them all for what they do and I want their happiness and security. Having to say this knowing they will resent me stinks. I feel like the guy that shows up drunk to the summer party and urinates in the pool.
So if you are a union member on the road to pension, the first argument is "We negotiated it, if they are stupid enough to agree to it, tough!" You're right. It won't change a damn thing. The second reaction is "The governments going to screw us!" You're right again. The people in power offered you this knowing they will either be dead or out of power before the bill came due. It won't change a damn thing. In both cases, that argument is a two-way street. Your negotiators should have seen this coming, and has any of them talked about it?
I see the critical moment happening in one of two ways, but there could be others. Option One: The Pension Tax. Government can't pay, so they will institute a new tax on the pensions of state and federal workers. This is in addition to the others, not instead of. Option Two: Government Bankruptcy, the situation escalates to the point of Greece; America goes to the International Monetary Fund and they take over the financial regulation of the country till the bill is paid, the pensions go away. The Government has no choice, you're broke, but you paid your dues and those guys are long gone.
Or we can get our act together, all of us.
We acknowledge the problem and we work to a solution. Profit sharing doesn't work for public service (no profit), but we can start working toward something similar. Individual 401K's and more can be on the table. It won't be everything you were promised, but it will be more than nothing. Make no mistake, you might be lucky to get out in time, but others won't, and they will resent you. That could cost you more than money.
We quit watching our politicians and we are paying for it. We have to hold them accountable for their actions. Union members have the task of pulling double duty. You have to hold your leadership and politicians accountable. Do you attend your meetings? Do you raise the questions or sit quietly, afraid the others will turn on you? It's not a good situation for you to be in. You have to be informed on two fronts and you have to bring others along with your questioning.
Or you can write me off as someone who just hates unions and ignore it. I want YOU to fix it. How do you think the Republicans will fix it? America has a proud legacy that we let down of late, Unions the same. Let's get to work getting the legacy back.
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