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Comments
REality check needed. Just as the UAW needs to pay back some of the money they were given in the bankruptcy to pay for Delphi workers' pensions, they also need to revamp the pay scale and put everyone on the same scale--lower the overpaid union seniors' salaries. The Govt and GM can't afford them.
In the quote, those "savings" are imaginary just like Osama's savings through what we wouldn't spend on the "wars" over the next 10 years when he was claiming to save money. Those savings on the unions' parts are from lessening the increases built into the spending as normal progressions. What we need are actual freezes. The cost of their benefits went up even if the actual cash salaries stayed the same. We need decreases in salaries from those folks--and Congress can cut their own benefits and salaries as well. TEA.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
At least 10% so the Hostess twinkies don't feel cheated.
(NY Times)
Yeah, I know it has little to do with the topic, but how can a judge not know that Twinkies last decades without moldering? :P
Enjoy watching Washington beat the Cowboys tomorrow in Jerry's fancy digs.
On your other note, I was actually in Dallas a few years ago when they imploded the original Dallas Cowboys stadium. From the outside at least, the new stadium seems quite the spectacle.
Happy Thanksgiving.
If you're a Bears and Cubs fan, I guess I understand your "Bama " support - gotta have some "winner" in the portfolio.
Funny, the reason that Twinkies do stay fresh is supposedly due to the airtight wrapping, not any preservatives in the recipe.
Read a story last week about an overweight nutrition professor in Kansas who went on a Twinkie diet and lost 27 pounds in two months. His point was that losing weight was all about the calories. His fellow nutritionists were appalled naturally, (and kicked him out of the union?). (CNN)
What is it with Cornbread Dressing?? They used to substitute that at camp for REAL DRESSING.
As for Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder bread. I expect the names to be sold and truckloads coming up from Mexico within 2 months of the sale. Sugar and Labor are cheaper down there. Most of the factories will sit moldering like so many other factories in the USA. Kind of sad but inevitable.
The Hostess Unions will be lucky to get 10 cents on the dollar for their pension funds. You would think these unions would know better than invest in the company they work for. Think GM, Enron etc.
And yes management is a big factor. They should have liquidated in 2004 when they filed for Chapter 11. If they were losing money in boom years, expecting to make money in a recession is poor management. Don't forget the Feds played a big role in the demise of Hostess and other US bakeries and candy companies, protecting a sugar producers with high tariffs on foreign sugar.
As far as healthy, eating out is not likely the healthiest choice under the best of conditions. If my taxes are going to support someone else's HC, I want to dictate what they eat, drink and smoke. Should be my right as benefactor. Also their exercise regimen.
Good luck with that,
There's good and bad. Had higher prices at the mom&pop chains in the old days and you couldn't easily return an item.
Hostess did make a lot of special order breads for restaurant chains and school districts. You know they are scrambling at the moment. Even if the bakery buildings are dated, someone will want to crank them up if only to supply those markets.
Cornbread dressing at the camps? Probably because most of the cooks were either Southern or Texans/Okies. Good stuff (so long as it's made with real cornbread without any flour or sugar in it).
The anti-union crowd probably doesn't like that, goes against capitalism and free trade and other myths.
Where have you been Fintail? COOL are taboo says the WTO. We do not have the right in the USA to force country of origin labels in the USA. We are NOW owned by the UN and it's bunch of lackeys in the WTO.
Try to find where your juice comes from on the bottle. Unless it says Made in USA it is probably from China. We are headed into the OWO at high speed.
I am NOT anti Union in the private sector. I think the UAW has screwed US and the workers big time. Just like everything else there are good unions that understand you cannot get blood out of a turnip. And there are the Bakers at Hostess with their heads up their behinds.
That is very true. We like San Luis Sourdough bread. I don't know if it was baked in a Hostess bakery or not. Kind of hard to tell about bread as the shelves were getting empty with Thanksgiving buyers. We have enough in the freezer for a couple weeks. Worse comes to worse the wife has a good sourdough starter in the refrigerator.
Renault to Expand Hiring in Spain (Wall St. Journal)
...and if my taxes subsidize the permanently unemployed lower class in this country, I should be able to make some decisions on what those people should be trying to accomplish for them to continue getting that aid, too...
The unions have it the best - work a while and then ride their pensions into the sunset...
Much of the waste Fintail is ranting about is directly going to over paid government employees protected by public employee unions.
How long were people unemployed able to collect unemployment checks at full rate? 2 years?
Along with the nice welfare setups these enabled lots of folks to either work on the side paid in cash and still collect from the unemployment funds OR they just sat and watched Oprah and JZ. There seem to be few if any in the way of checks on what people are doing while on unemployment or collecting SNAP monies or whatever cute euphemism is the current one for welfare.
The UAW high seniority folks are the ones who have made out like bandits. Others have been hired on at low rates and then were the first cut in past decades. Then the reorganization still gave the overpaid UAW high seniority folks full pay with a little trimming on benefits BUT no 8% cut in pay such as the bakers' union at Hostess was needing to take.
Essentially the UAW made out like bandits in the Obama-managed reorganization because they are a UNION, the constituency that the party loves and who can donate huge amounts of undercover support in funds and manhours during an election, at the same time they are whining about PACs on the other side being able to put money in to campaign with their own freedom of speech. That will be an effort for repeal after card check is implemented.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
While not at full pay, two years of paid vacation makes it difficult to get back into the routine of working 40 hours per week. In CA you could get $450 per week on unemployment. It would be crazy to take a job that pays less than that. I know people that collected the full two years before getting motivated to find a job. It also gave folks a lot of time to research all the welfare options. Once you get on one program another is revealed. CA has about 12% of the USA population. They are the proud sponsors of 40% of all the welfare cases. When Ahnold proposed cuts to CA welfare programs he pushed the state back toward Jerry Brown and his bunch. As long as those on welfare are allowed to vote, the cash register drawer will be wide open.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday unveiled plans to plug California’s budget deficit by slashing billions of dollars worth of funding for services designed to help the state’s poor.
Schwarzenegger’s budget proposals would see spending cuts of 12.4 billion dollars and include the elimination of California’s welfare-to-work program and virtually all child care for low income families.
“California no longer has low-hanging fruits,” Schwarzenegger said in Sacramento. “We have to take the ladder away from the tree and shake the whole tree. We must make very difficult decisions.”
If CC gets pushed through which I doubt, with some sanity in the House, non RTW states will hear that sucking sound of jobs leaving their states. Indiana has implemented RTW and been the recipients of good paying jobs from companies like Caterpillar.
Gary, would that preclude the US from mandating that all products that are made here carry a "made in USA" label, thereby "mandating" that if it doesn't say "made in USA" on the label, then it's not made here?
U.S. country-of-origin labeling provisions violate global trade law and unfairly curb agricultural commerce, World Trade Organization judges said as they upheld an earlier ruling backing Canada and Mexico.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-29/wto-backs-ruling-against-u-dot-s-dot- -country-of-origin-labeling
Gary, that's the equivalent of $11.25/hr, based on a 40 hr week. Also, to get the full $450, you had to have been making quite a bit more than that, as unemployment is what 67-80% or thereabouts of your previous gross pay.
But I ask, where were the jobs that were paying more than that, and would they guarantee more than a couple months work??
Last yr there was an article in the USA Today talking about the people on unemployment. They mentioned one guy in the midwest who lost a professional job (computer programming???) making about $80K/yr. After a few months, he took a job at a private security company making $10-12/hr, because pride got the best of him. After about 6-8 months there, he got laid off again. Now, he goes for unemployment, and the amount he can collect is less than HALF what he was getting, because of the minimal wage he was getting!!!! He was beside himself, because by "doing the right thing" and going back to work, he essentially screwed himself.
I'm not saying that there aren't those who lack ambition, or those who are discouraged enough to think they can just screw the system for 2 yrs because they feel they were wronged by the economy and "The Man", but really, human nature would ask why accept less than the "social saftey net" offers.
And why don't employers who complain "they can't find anybody" to work offering up more scratch for the work??
I agree. No way we can compete with China making many products such as iPhones. Smartphones have to be one of our largest imports, pushing our trade imbalance. The One Worlders probably feel it is only fair after more than 100 years of US World dominance.
You bring up some good points. I don't think it is the money as much as the skill levels that account for the 3 million unfilled jobs in the USA.
I can see where you could shoot yourself in the foot by taking a low paying job that does not last long. The two people I knew that took the full two years were both making right at $100k. One for HP the other at Qualcomm. They are both back working one making $20 per hour in a Drs. office, the other back at QC making the big bucks.
Don't forget the guy in Boston they interviewed that was enjoying his Pd vacation. Taking care of his young daughter while his wife worked. And he collected UI.
What worries me is the surge in disability claims due to lack of JOBS. These are people that we will be supporting FOREVER. They drop out of the employment lines and onto the welfare roles.
You ask where are the JOBS. They are low paying service jobs for the most part. Our economy is in very bad shape if you do not have a good job or retirement. I am not optimistic about good paying jobs returning to the US. No good reason to open a factory here unless you get government subsidies. That cannot go on forever.
The US is being derailed much more by continued failed trickle down dreams and foreign control of expensive defense and foreign policy ideals than it is by a welfare state that still comes up short compared to other first world nations.
I'd say the CEO class and lucky sperm club have it even better than unions - live a virtual fairytale life with not much input required, no accountability, and no vilification by an older generation who made theirs during unrepeatable economic expansion and could never make what they have now with identical skills and credentials, and now tell others to go pound sand...
They say there is always a surge in SSDI claims during a downturn. Again, not to justify, but "lets stick it to the man"????
The other thing is that those low paying service jobs are below the safety net for the average full time worker. Those are the "second jobs" that people would get or the ones gotten by the "non bread winner".
Someday those comapnies will understand that if they don't bring the jobs back, nobody will have any money to buy what they import. Hopefully, it's not too late by then.
I thought the admin had taken care of all of these things with their "fixes during the last 4 years. I'm surprised they hadn't taken care of all those problematic details in the welfare state system while they were fixing the GM/C bailouts. There has certainly been enough money passed around and the UAW was a big, big beneficiary along with GM salaried.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
That is just NOT true. We spend more per capita on welfare and education than any other 1st World country.
I'd say the CEO class and lucky sperm club have it even better than unions
How is it any different in say Germany. They allow family businesses to be passed down tax free.
The assessment of real property and encumbrances for inheritance tax purposes in Germany is more complicated. Business assets are subject to special rules which may allow heirs, who continue a business, to reduce or even avoid inheritance tax liability.
http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=21353
Being born with a silver spoon would include being born into a UAW family. Until the UAW killed the golden goose, those high paying low skilled jobs were handed down from father to son.
Or realizing their demands are too much. I work in a corporate nightmare managed by idiots. I see some relatively entry level positions suggesting graduate degrees now - while the boomer aged senior leadership doesn't have nearly similar credentials or any knowledge gained by them. Academic inflation by our should be hanged corporate leadership class certainly isn't helping anything.
I have a friend who got laid off from a public sector job, collected UI for 11 months, then took a similar job in a much hailed "right to work"/low amenity state for significantly less money. He claimed his new pay was not significantly more than unemployment, and when moving expenses were counted, he lost money in the escapade. He recently found a lower job than his original, and moved back to the first world, happy to do so, as the lower position still paid more than the second job.
And education? Figured how so, by who, when?
I'd say continuing a business rather than simply receiving undeserved wealth through birth are different worlds. Did you read that article?
And when it comes down to it, historically, those children born into UAW families have been the ones who go off and die in wars so legitimate silver spoons can profit.
That is why the Stimulus was a joke. When they specified Union only it left out many jobless non union contractors. It opened the door for shady subcontractors to hire illegals to do the actual work at substandard wages. While filling the pockets of the big union contractors.
Maybe our military should just send a few missiles to WTO HQ and disband the entity once and for all. Really, what good has it done?
Absolutely agree, the UN and WTO are not our friends.
Someday those comapnies will understand that if they don't bring the jobs back, nobody will have any money to buy what they import. Hopefully, it's not too late by then.
I think it is already too late for 100s of 1000s of people that are falling between the cracks. If you are 18 to 35 single without kids, you are screwed if mom and pop cannot give you a couch to sleep on and meals. We have examples of the results of free unfair trade around the World and our leaders did nothing. Now the jobs are gone and no one is willing to spend the money to bring them back. Why should they, states like CA are horrible places to do business on just about every level.
while the boomer aged senior leadership doesn't have nearly similar credentials or any knowledge gained by them.
They should soon be gone. I saw that coming in the late 1960s when they required a college degree for low level management at Bell. Thankfully I got out before the whole Bell system imploded and into a much better working environment. The guys I worked with at Bell got dumped early and live in sub poverty on SS and a meager pension.
Most high-paying jobs have been replaced by low-paying jobs during the last 4 years. The high salary jobs went to other countries. The jobs touted as being "made" here are low pay and part time.
Not a good prognosis unless you're one of the UAW people who actually still has a job. Most of the low pay new employees, like a neighbor and his wife, from 15 years ago and more recently are long cut out leaving the high pay, high seniority UAW. Need to just cut the wages including benefits, short and long term, by 20% to make GM competitive.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Percentage of GDP for education is NOT per capita. Last study I saw was comparing Germany to Los Angeles City Schools. Germany spends $12k per student per year through High School. LA spends $25k per student per year. Over twice spent and a much worse level of education. Money wasted.
And when it comes down to it, historically, those children born into UAW families have been the ones who go off and die in wars so legitimate silver spoons can profit.
When you look at the small percentage of prima donna UAW workers, I don't buy it. For every UAW worker at the peak how many hundreds of non union workers were in the USA workforce, making about half the wages? Their kids went and died or came back to a low paying job in a meat packing plant or bakery. My step dad was making minimum wage at Nabisco in the 1950s when the UAW workers were knocking down the big bucks, inflating the cost of cars for the rest of US.
Compared to the amount of people in the living wage working class/ middle class and the stability of those incomes, along with prices of housing, healthcare, education etc, were cars 55 years ago really price inflated? I don't see it that way.
Either way, it is those in one untouchable irresponsible prima donna group who profit when those in another are fooled into dying in wars - and that group isn't people who bolt fenders onto Chevies.
IMHO the biggest thing failing us is the ability of big money to buy off our politiicians, diminishing the role of the individual in government. And our wonderful Supreme Court has supported that situation.
Are you saying the current Admin was reelected by the big money behind them? Some was foreign donations..., but are you talking about the huge PAC monies? Huge money was spent in Ohio by PACs and one biggest was Harry Reid's PAC (why does a senator have his own PAC?) to support Sherrod Brown on behalf of the UAW interests in Ohio. Their goal is card check.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
both sides, and at all levels of government -- but more at higher levels (federal, state)