It costs more to rent a pump in Kissimmee than to pay a man for an 8 hr. day.
And that’s the way it is….
Happy “Job Creators Day” everyone!
All blessings be upon them…
When I was a young sprout, WWII was still a recent event. TV in the old days had lots of recycled war movies that were basically slightly spruced up propaganda films meant to keep the national spirit up during that dark time. The role of labor was often portrayed as a vital element in winning the war. It was, at least I have always believed it was, because the workers that kept the tanks, and airplanes rolling off the assembly lines were honored. The quality of their work was honored because it saved lives. Hell even Chester A. Riley worked at the Cunningham Aircraft plant, you had to like him.
As the memory faded, certain members of the team slipped down the memory hole first. They were the ones who wanted a decent life despite being “ordinary” Americans. But, hey, the war was over.
……….
Shelby Foote did mention briefly that some of Marx’s ideas had affected Lincoln’s thought about labor. I suppose this was not entirely lost on people like the Lincoln Brigade. I remember one member interviewed for a documentary said, “We had the chance to go over and kill a few fascists, so we all wanted to go.”
……
Just heard a new Ry Cooder song, “No Banker Left Behind”– pretty cool.
If you’ll allow me to continue from the last thread – I think Stoller makes some good points (and I’m not all that interested in following his historical references, or for that matter the counter arguments to the same), but one of the main ones – that Obama should be primaried – is pointless. By whom?
Stoller and I agree that it speaks volumes about the state of the Democratic party that there are no serious up and coming leaders that anyone can name off the top of their heads. I see this party as melting into the Republican party, not officially, but in effect, as their useful tool, which it’s been doing for the last several decades. It’s very useful for Capital to have a Democratic party for people to waste their energies on. A charade in other words.
That said, I will be voting for Obama, simply because I don’t think I could live with myself were I to take any other option. However I’m very interested in the dilemma of stopping evil now or later. What if Hitler had been stopped in the 30s, rather than waiting for him to gather strength and for war to erupt and engulf the continent years later? That kind of argument.
Because at some point a confrontation is coming. If you don’t stop evil now, it will just continue to grow. If Obama is not man enough to do this now, then there is a good argument to get him out of the way and put someone in that position who will. Now and not later. Unfortunately, I cannot think of anyone of that stature right now. That’s the only thing that keeps me from fully enjoining Stoller’s argument.
“there are no serious up and coming leaders that anyone can name off the top of their heads.”
You can say that seeing the GOP bench? Those guys couldn’t flip a light switch.
“That said, I will be voting for Obama”
The Dem’s roll over and cave at the drop of a hat, but at least they don’t believe in Big Government, like the GOP: a camera in every uterus; every bedroom; all schools run by corporate shills; privatize even when it degrades service.
My big concern for Nov 2012 is TURNOUT. The GOP has shown no interest in their only strong candidate– Huntsman– because the base prefers fairy tales to half-truths. Obama can’t beat any one of the clowns we’ve seen so far, if we just get more turnout than 2010.
The USPS is next in the crosshairs of the GOP. This month the USPS will default on a 5.5 billion dollar payment to a retirement fund. No government agency is asked to prefund retirement decades in advance. Except the Post Office. This injunction was laid on us ((I’m a Mailman) in 2006 by the GOP Congress as one of the provisions for solving our fiscal problems. It made no sense then, and its breaking our back now. Put this in perspective. We anticipate an 8 billion dollar shortfall this year, 5.5 billion is to meet the overpayment mandated by Congress. So its actually a 2.5 billion loss on about 70 billion in expenses. Excluding the prepayment, a 3.5% loss.
The USPS has trimmed over 100,000 career jobs over the last 3 years – without layoffs. That’s a 15% reduction in the workforce. The contracts of the 4 major unions prohibit layoffs, so the contraction has been from retirement mostly. The USPS is the largest union workforce in the country, the second largest civilian workforce in the country.
The tea party
This is what’s significant about the USPS and the September showdown in Congress. It looks like postal management has teamed up with the Tea Party in Congress to break the unions. This isn’t rumor – this is straight from the mouth of the postmaster general. Management wants to de-federalize medical and retirement to save money. The postmaster wants to end collective bargaining but retain the no-strike clause. He wants to eliminate the no layoff clause and terminate 200,000 employees. Roughly a third of he career force. Doing the arithmetic, the ‘savings’ are on he order of 12 billion annually. But wait, didn’t I show that the loss is only 2.5 billion? Why cut 12 billion?
To castrated the largest union force
Moonbat, I know you can’t hear it, but I’m applauding out loud. You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth.
Interestingly, last night I was at a cafe/pub run by a friend of mine, and met a couple of Dutch tourists who are touring around Asia. We had quite a long discussion about politics. I was interested in knowing the situation in their country about the increasing conflicts with Muslim immigrants. They, in turn, were trying to make some sense out of US conservatism (“Where is the birth certificate? Evolution and global warming are myths,” etc). The best I could do was to compare the situation to Germany in the early 1930s. America’s deluded righties are, I believe, as capable of turning into murderers and torturers just as the Nazis were. All they really lack is a leader to egg them on, but there are plenty of potential Fuhrers running in this presidential primary.
The Democrats are too timid, weak and ineffective to stand up to the right. If I was looking for a historical figure to compare Obama to, it would probably be two people: Friedrich Ebert and his successor Paul von Hindenburg. Ebert was the first president of Germany, during the Weimar Republic. He was a trade unionist, tried to govern as a moderate, but the German right walked all over him. He died in office and was replaced by Paul von Hindenburg, a moderate conservative who was also no match for the Nazis, and had to constantly compromise with them, eventually appointing Hitler (whom he loathed) as Chancellor. Now obviously, the US electoral system is different and Obama won’t be appointing Rick Perry or Michelle Bachmann as chancellor, but his weak compromising is setting the stage for a full Republican takeover. And if you thought Bush was bad, just wait – you ain’t seen nothing yet.
“We are the ones we have been waiting for”… That bum Obama, how dare he imply that I should have any responsibility for the future of America..Doesn’t he realize that I vested all of my power in him by giving him my vote? What does he expect from me.. to go running off to town hall meetings and vote in the mid-terms like some crazy teabagger? NO ,NO, NO.. my job is done!..it’s now up to Mr Obama to straighten out this country…He’s articulate and intelligent, and is fully equipped to do battle with the mighty GOP….I gave him my all on election day.
I mean, really…Why couldn’t he be like Martin Luther King who just spoke of change and it happened..He didn’t have to rely on an army of freedom riders, marchers, boycotter’s, protesters, churches and civil disobediant’s to accomplish the change that he effected in America. So why can’t Obama just go it alone with all that power we gave him?
Anybody get my point? If you didn’t then ask yourself this question..Why are all the potential repug Presidential candidates tripping over their feet in an effort to win and woo the support of the teabaggers. Or what power does Michele Bachmann have apart from the nutjobs that give her that power? She has none!
Doug, you have a right to be proud, being a member of a long standing and vital part of our government and history. I always use the USPS, you guys do a great job. Thanks for clarifying some of the reasons behind the assault on the USPS.
Well Doug, in the Conservatives never ending quest to f*ck up anything government does well besides go to war and coddle and shield the rich, the USPS is in their gunsights because it has been doing its job well for over 200+ years, and at the same cost if you’re a homeless person writing a letter asking a Congressperson for help, or a billionaire sending in a column for the Op-ed page blasting the USPS, and claiming that UPS and FedEx do a better job since they’re private companies – all while ignoring that it’s frequently the USPS which delivers their packages the final mile to the home – TO SAVE MONEY FOR THE CORPORATIONS!!!
They don’t believe in “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” They believe in “If it ain’t broke, break it, so someone can profit from it.”
Good luck to you and you fellow USPS workers. You’ve been doing a great job for centuries, and let nothing stop you – neither rain nor snow…
Of all the stupid ideas, getting government out of education, weather, regulation, and the mail, and privatizing them, are among the dumbest things anyone has ever uttered. But then, to the dim, dumb things seem smart.
ASSHOLES!
It costs more to rent a pump in Kissimmee than to pay a man for an 8 hr. day.
And that’s the way it is….
Happy “Job Creators Day” everyone!
All blessings be upon them…
When I was a young sprout, WWII was still a recent event. TV in the old days had lots of recycled war movies that were basically slightly spruced up propaganda films meant to keep the national spirit up during that dark time. The role of labor was often portrayed as a vital element in winning the war. It was, at least I have always believed it was, because the workers that kept the tanks, and airplanes rolling off the assembly lines were honored. The quality of their work was honored because it saved lives. Hell even Chester A. Riley worked at the Cunningham Aircraft plant, you had to like him.
As the memory faded, certain members of the team slipped down the memory hole first. They were the ones who wanted a decent life despite being “ordinary” Americans. But, hey, the war was over.
……….
Shelby Foote did mention briefly that some of Marx’s ideas had affected Lincoln’s thought about labor. I suppose this was not entirely lost on people like the Lincoln Brigade. I remember one member interviewed for a documentary said, “We had the chance to go over and kill a few fascists, so we all wanted to go.”
……
Just heard a new Ry Cooder song, “No Banker Left Behind”– pretty cool.
If you’ll allow me to continue from the last thread – I think Stoller makes some good points (and I’m not all that interested in following his historical references, or for that matter the counter arguments to the same), but one of the main ones – that Obama should be primaried – is pointless. By whom?
Stoller and I agree that it speaks volumes about the state of the Democratic party that there are no serious up and coming leaders that anyone can name off the top of their heads. I see this party as melting into the Republican party, not officially, but in effect, as their useful tool, which it’s been doing for the last several decades. It’s very useful for Capital to have a Democratic party for people to waste their energies on. A charade in other words.
That said, I will be voting for Obama, simply because I don’t think I could live with myself were I to take any other option. However I’m very interested in the dilemma of stopping evil now or later. What if Hitler had been stopped in the 30s, rather than waiting for him to gather strength and for war to erupt and engulf the continent years later? That kind of argument.
Because at some point a confrontation is coming. If you don’t stop evil now, it will just continue to grow. If Obama is not man enough to do this now, then there is a good argument to get him out of the way and put someone in that position who will. Now and not later. Unfortunately, I cannot think of anyone of that stature right now. That’s the only thing that keeps me from fully enjoining Stoller’s argument.
“there are no serious up and coming leaders that anyone can name off the top of their heads.”
You can say that seeing the GOP bench? Those guys couldn’t flip a light switch.
“That said, I will be voting for Obama”
The Dem’s roll over and cave at the drop of a hat, but at least they don’t believe in Big Government, like the GOP: a camera in every uterus; every bedroom; all schools run by corporate shills; privatize even when it degrades service.
My big concern for Nov 2012 is TURNOUT. The GOP has shown no interest in their only strong candidate– Huntsman– because the base prefers fairy tales to half-truths. Obama can’t beat any one of the clowns we’ve seen so far, if we just get more turnout than 2010.
The USPS is next in the crosshairs of the GOP. This month the USPS will default on a 5.5 billion dollar payment to a retirement fund. No government agency is asked to prefund retirement decades in advance. Except the Post Office. This injunction was laid on us ((I’m a Mailman) in 2006 by the GOP Congress as one of the provisions for solving our fiscal problems. It made no sense then, and its breaking our back now. Put this in perspective. We anticipate an 8 billion dollar shortfall this year, 5.5 billion is to meet the overpayment mandated by Congress. So its actually a 2.5 billion loss on about 70 billion in expenses. Excluding the prepayment, a 3.5% loss.
The USPS has trimmed over 100,000 career jobs over the last 3 years – without layoffs. That’s a 15% reduction in the workforce. The contracts of the 4 major unions prohibit layoffs, so the contraction has been from retirement mostly. The USPS is the largest union workforce in the country, the second largest civilian workforce in the country.
The tea party
This is what’s significant about the USPS and the September showdown in Congress. It looks like postal management has teamed up with the Tea Party in Congress to break the unions. This isn’t rumor – this is straight from the mouth of the postmaster general. Management wants to de-federalize medical and retirement to save money. The postmaster wants to end collective bargaining but retain the no-strike clause. He wants to eliminate the no layoff clause and terminate 200,000 employees. Roughly a third of he career force. Doing the arithmetic, the ‘savings’ are on he order of 12 billion annually. But wait, didn’t I show that the loss is only 2.5 billion? Why cut 12 billion?
To castrated the largest union force
Moonbat, I know you can’t hear it, but I’m applauding out loud. You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth.
Interestingly, last night I was at a cafe/pub run by a friend of mine, and met a couple of Dutch tourists who are touring around Asia. We had quite a long discussion about politics. I was interested in knowing the situation in their country about the increasing conflicts with Muslim immigrants. They, in turn, were trying to make some sense out of US conservatism (“Where is the birth certificate? Evolution and global warming are myths,” etc). The best I could do was to compare the situation to Germany in the early 1930s. America’s deluded righties are, I believe, as capable of turning into murderers and torturers just as the Nazis were. All they really lack is a leader to egg them on, but there are plenty of potential Fuhrers running in this presidential primary.
The Democrats are too timid, weak and ineffective to stand up to the right. If I was looking for a historical figure to compare Obama to, it would probably be two people: Friedrich Ebert and his successor Paul von Hindenburg. Ebert was the first president of Germany, during the Weimar Republic. He was a trade unionist, tried to govern as a moderate, but the German right walked all over him. He died in office and was replaced by Paul von Hindenburg, a moderate conservative who was also no match for the Nazis, and had to constantly compromise with them, eventually appointing Hitler (whom he loathed) as Chancellor. Now obviously, the US electoral system is different and Obama won’t be appointing Rick Perry or Michelle Bachmann as chancellor, but his weak compromising is setting the stage for a full Republican takeover. And if you thought Bush was bad, just wait – you ain’t seen nothing yet.
“We are the ones we have been waiting for”… That bum Obama, how dare he imply that I should have any responsibility for the future of America..Doesn’t he realize that I vested all of my power in him by giving him my vote? What does he expect from me.. to go running off to town hall meetings and vote in the mid-terms like some crazy teabagger? NO ,NO, NO.. my job is done!..it’s now up to Mr Obama to straighten out this country…He’s articulate and intelligent, and is fully equipped to do battle with the mighty GOP….I gave him my all on election day.
I mean, really…Why couldn’t he be like Martin Luther King who just spoke of change and it happened..He didn’t have to rely on an army of freedom riders, marchers, boycotter’s, protesters, churches and civil disobediant’s to accomplish the change that he effected in America. So why can’t Obama just go it alone with all that power we gave him?
Anybody get my point? If you didn’t then ask yourself this question..Why are all the potential repug Presidential candidates tripping over their feet in an effort to win and woo the support of the teabaggers. Or what power does Michele Bachmann have apart from the nutjobs that give her that power? She has none!
Doug, you have a right to be proud, being a member of a long standing and vital part of our government and history. I always use the USPS, you guys do a great job. Thanks for clarifying some of the reasons behind the assault on the USPS.
Bachmann does Iowa! Marcus you old mink…. 🙂
http://politicsfail.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Michele-Bachmann-corn-dog.jpg
http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779
Well Doug, in the Conservatives never ending quest to f*ck up anything government does well besides go to war and coddle and shield the rich, the USPS is in their gunsights because it has been doing its job well for over 200+ years, and at the same cost if you’re a homeless person writing a letter asking a Congressperson for help, or a billionaire sending in a column for the Op-ed page blasting the USPS, and claiming that UPS and FedEx do a better job since they’re private companies – all while ignoring that it’s frequently the USPS which delivers their packages the final mile to the home – TO SAVE MONEY FOR THE CORPORATIONS!!!
They don’t believe in “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” They believe in “If it ain’t broke, break it, so someone can profit from it.”
Good luck to you and you fellow USPS workers. You’ve been doing a great job for centuries, and let nothing stop you – neither rain nor snow…
Of all the stupid ideas, getting government out of education, weather, regulation, and the mail, and privatizing them, are among the dumbest things anyone has ever uttered. But then, to the dim, dumb things seem smart.
ASSHOLES!