You can be a good American worker, or you can be a union member.

Reason #6,482 why Right-to-Work and Employment-at-Will laws make sense.

Union dispute slows work at vital western port to a crawl

So because a bunch of old, fat over-paid crane operators don't want to either do their job or quit, every other business and hourly employee that has anything to do with shipping through Portland has to suffer...and in the end, the increased costs fall on all of us.

This is exactly why any employer needs to absolute right to hire and fire at will. If I, as a business owner, offer you a pretty cushy job with above-average pay and benefits and you decide that, instead of being grateful for the opportunity to take home a paycheck, tat you're going to hurt my business, I should be able to send you packing and replace you with the first applicant who comes along who can pass a drug test and is willing to do the job right.

I'll say it right now: Unions had a place in this country once, but those days are long gone and they won't be back. Now they're just a parasitical cancer on our economy in the form of a slightly-legal mafia enterprise that adds nothing of value to any business that they infect. If we're going to get America back to the top of the industrial world again, we need to get rid of these press gangs and their lazy, disloyal members and let American companies reward their best workers and get rid of their worst. And when we've saved American businesses from the curse of union-backed inefficiency, we need to get rid of the public-sector unions, too. You want a job? Be better than the other guy who wants it. When you get the job, do it right or get used to filling out new job applications. The Japanese auto companies seem to do just fine without a bunch of slobs organizing slowdowns and committing sabotage every time one of them gets butt-hurt over some real or imagined slight, so maybe it's time for America to follow their lead in this area.

Great day! UAW gets it's ass handed to it in Tennessee

There is hope for America after all.

The United Auto Worker's latest attempt to force their way in between the workers and plant managers at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee went down in flames yesterday after a vote by the employees in which 89% of the workforce voted, with the majority saying "No thanks, UAW--we don't want to see you take our money and turn Chattanooga into another Detroit."

Loss at Volkswagen plant upends union's plan for U.S. South

Frankly, I was a bit worried when I learned that Volkswagen itself was going to stay neutral and not oppose the union drive, and I'm sure that the UAW figured that they had the vote in the bag or they would never have called for the election. But when secret ballots happen and people can vote without fear of intimidation or reprisal, funny things happen and sometimes even corrupt mobsters lose "sure thing" bets.

The UAW had a lot riding on this effort to try and halt their slide into obscurity and this vote, if anything, put fresh grease on those skids. Hopefully the UAW and other legitimized press gangs like it go the way of the dinosaur and the next generation of kids will have to use a search engine to find out what a labor union was and why they were such a cancer on American productivity. And with any luck, the public-sector unions comprised of people working directly for the taxpayers will be next. If you want high wages and job security, you can always get those things by the simple expedient of being damned good at what you do. Good employees seldom need unions, which serve basically to keep the lowest-performing, most discipline-requiring people on the payroll no matter how useless or counter-productive they are. Politics and the unions' unholy alliance with the Democrat Party aside, true freedom is being able to negotiate your own pay and/or deciding who you will or will not continue to employ, and no one who values freedom can support unions.

New car shopping

Well I'm actively hunting for a new vehicle now, either a small truck or an SUV. 4x4 capability is a must where I live, and I like the room to haul my bike, kayak, Murphy, etc. Still not sure what I want, but I can tell you for damned sure that, with one possible exception, it will not by a union-made American car.

Not after this:
Obama Administration sells GM stock back to company at huge loss to taxpayers.

And this:
50,000 GM Union Workers to Bag Year-End Bonuses

And this:
Chrysler workers fired for drinking, drug use on the job reinstated.

And this:
Obama and UAW in unholy alliance.

I have always purchased American-made cars since I was old enough to buy my second car (the first one was a VW Dune Buggy so we won't count it) but I won't ever buy another car made by alcoholic/drug-using Obama supporters who have given money and volunteered their time to destroy the fabric of this country. I won't help pay their salaries and if all of the unionized auto plants closed tomorrow for lack of customer demand, I would not shed a tear. Crappy work ethic notwithstanding, the union thugs chose a side politically, putting their self-interest ahead of America, and that choice has consequences as far as my dollars go.

Hopefully I'll get my new Japanese 4x4 this week, ideally one made in America by American workers good enough to not need a union.

Well that didn't take long

Being rather computer-illiterate and not up on things techy, I tend to shy away from most social media stuff. I don't (and won't) have Facebook or any of that other stuff, but I did actually break out of my shell a bit this morning and get a Twitter account for the first time, basically so I could play along in the unfolding drama of Michigan's Right-to-work legislation as hosted by a couple of area news services.

53 tweets later (and with my first follower already), my account was abruptly suspended without warning or explanation. Oh well...

Thing is, I'm not sure why it was suspended. Other than using the term "union thugs" a lot, I was civil and nice (if not bitingly sarcastic) and while I was guilty of mocking and gloating as the union thugs and their supporters grew angrier, I'm not seeing anything that warranted a ban in my humble tweet stream.

Oh wait. I responded to former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm not once but twice as she tweeted about today's events. The first time, she stated that she could not believe that Michigan's legislature had done this or some such, and I publicly replied by asking her what she expected after she single-handedly ruined Michigan's great post-Engler economy.

She posted again later and said that she was shocked that "her beloved state" had done this thing, and again I publicly replied, asking her how was it "her state" when she came from California and fled again once out of office. (She currently resides elsewhere and has no ties to the state.)

Within sixty seconds of my second reply to her, my account was suspended.

WTF? Does Twitter have a policy against reminding failed ex-governors about their record? I'm at a loss to understand this and would hope that someone can explain.

Anyone?
Bueller?
Anyone?

I'm currently waiting for a reply from Twitter in response to my "OK, what did I do that got you so cheesed..." e-mail. Frankly I doubt that I'll bother using it again if it's restored, though. The noise-to-signal ratio was pretty high and most of the comments posted seem to be one twit re-posting something that anther twit just said. Can't say as I get the point of that.

Anyway, that's my tale for the day. At least I had fun. And the Right-to-work bills all got passed.

Hee. Suck on that, union thugs.

Breaking Michigan News

From Twitter accounts on scene, Union thugs have assaulted pro-Right-to-work demonstrators and destroyed a tent that the pro-RTW folks had on the Capitol grounds. The Legislature passed the bills and several union thugs have been removed from the House gallery for disorderly conduct. Outside, police in riot gear and on horses are removing combative union thugs and pepper spray has been used against non-compliant union thugs.

Oh, and Jesse Jackson's there. Shock.

I wish I was in Michigan today

The Right to Work legislation is being taken up for final passage today. As of 6AM, when the State Capitol doors were unlocked, people were already lined up to get in.


This is legislation that will put an end to "closed shops" where people are forced to join the union in order to work there. It doesn't abolish unions (like some of it's detractors are screaming), it merely says that from now on, union membership will be voluntary and each employee will be free to decide for him/herself whether or not to join and write those checks to the union fund. Unions naturally fear a dramatic loss in revenue from workers who don't feel that they need or benefit from a union or who don't want to see their dues turned over to one political party--the Democrats--every election. The Republicans, who control the state's legislature, support this, and the Democrats, predictably but hypocritically, oppose it. Scott, over at Providentia, nails it when he points out that the Democrats always claim to be about "freedom to choose" when it comes to choices like abortion or other "lifestyle choices" like homosexuality, but here they actively fight against allowing citizens to decide for themselves whether or not to give money to Union, Inc., just because said union has established itself in whatever business that they wish to work in. Clearly the Democrats' so-called love of "freedom for the little people" takes a back seat to their desire for union campaign money every election, and they know that if the unions can collect less money, they'll get less union money next election cycle.

The Republican Governor Rick Snyder has been out there front and center, making this an issue about employee freedom, (And it's about time that we see the GOP talking about such concepts again.) and the unions and their Democrat puppets have no arguments against that position so they are resorting to the old tricks that they always use: personal attacks against any supporter or employee who is in favor of it, coupled with lots of screaming and threatening, property damage and assaulting behavior. The Democrat/union message is clear: Give us what we want or we'll disrupt everything and cause holy carnage and make you regret it.

And it's already started. 8 of them were arrested at the Capitol last Thursday for attacking police and charged with felonies by prosecutor Stuart Dunnings, no friend of any Republican.
Meanwhile, other union drones are training for "civil disobedience" and planning to create havoc, even it it means that they get arrested.

Shunya Cleveland is a long-time union supporter.

"I've supported the Detroit Federation of Teachers, UAW, Uniroyal and now AFSCME," said Cleveland of Sumpter Township. "This is just wrong. Isn't that our building up there in Lansing? Don't we support it with our tax dollars? We are going to throw barricades around that building.

"I'm going to jail today!"

Such selfishness. Union members are only 17.5% of Michigan's workforce, which means that lots and lots of other workers and taxpayers who are not union drones own that building, too. But then again, unions have always been about creating tyrannies of the minority, so this is really no different than what they usually do at work--demanding that their point of view be the only one heard or considered.

Thousands of protesters are expected at the Capitol today, many of them riding buses provided by the unions. I, of course, point out that this is a work day and most of these thugs, goons and drones are supposed to be at their jobs, but apparently the need to actually show up at work takes a back seat to a desire to ape around screaming and threatening people on the orders of the union officials. So now we've got nurses abandoning their patients wholesale, and so many teachers have fraudulently called in "sick" that at least four metro Detroit school districts have canceled class. (Suck on that one, working parents.) Speaking as a taxpayer, I'd hope that school administrators require a doctor's note from each and every allegedly sick teacher, and I'd hope that the schools send investigators to the protests to try to identify school employees who are there instead of home sick where they said that they'd be, and then taking disciplinary action against those lying employees.

Oh, and union sheep? This isn't how you make your case to the rest of the citizens--by lying and skipping work. That just tells people like me that you personally are about as essential at your job as your union is.

But no matter how stupid, how loud or how violent the union-led animals get today, it appears as if it's already a done deal. Michigan's legislature, elected by the people, has voted and the man that Michigan voters chose as a governor has pledged to sign it, so barring anything un-democratic, Michigan will likely become the 24th state in the country where people are free to choose for themselves whether or not to give their money to labor unions.

I wish I could be there today to enjoy the spectacle, but I salute Michigan's pro-freedom legislature today and I relish the thought of both parties of the corrupt Democrat Party/Labor Union alliance getting a long-overdue poke in the eye.

Edited to add: Looks like the unions couldn't even muster enough of their own members to make a decent showing, so they've imported union thugs from states like Maryland, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio. Remember that when you see the crowds, Michigan legislators. Remember that many of those gibbering, screaming toadies aren't even from your state. Then go in and do the right thing and pass this puppy!

A nice, relaxing day.

No Black Friday for us.

Murphy and I ate more turkey, then I primed pistol brass while watching Ride Clear of Diablo (1954) with Audie Murphy. It also starred western character actors Dan Duryea, ack Elam, Denver Pyle, and Russell Johnson, best known for his later role as "the professor" on Gilligan's Island. You remember him, right? He was the guy who could make radios out of coconuts and who could build pretty much anything out of bamboo and vines, except a boat, of course. Back in the day, he played lots of parts in westerns, including a role in Law and Order (1953) where he shot Ronald Reagan. (Hmmmm...the actual last name of the Professor on Gilligan's Island was Hinkley. Eerie coincidence, eh?) But in this flick, Audie Murphy shot him down in a gunfight in a mine. (Ever fire a gun in a mine tunnel? I have. Once. My ears are still ringing.) The movie also features Susan Cabot, who played opposite Murphy in many of his movies, mainly because she was one of the few actresses in Hollywood at the time who was shorter than he was and didn't tower over him.

Anyway, I got four hundred .40 S&W cases primed and ready for the powder measure now, and I've always believed that ammo prepared in the presence of old western greats like Murphy, Wayne, Eastwood and Stewart shoots better and straighter so this should be good stuff.

Now I'm going to go out to the airport and mess with the plane a bit, then maybe go see that new James Bond movie and try to convince myself that Daniel Craig really didn't wreck the whole Bond franchise.

I might also stop by Wal-Mart and see if any of those union flunkies are protesting in front of it, just so I can cross their little picket line and buy something. It's pathetic to think that most of them aren't even Wal-Mart employees but merely shills and paid slugs holding up signs on behalf of unions that want to force their way into Wal-Mart. I'll support any business that keeps unions out just on principle, especially a business that by necessity only hires people to do unskilled drone labor that was never supposed to be career employment in the first place. Big-box store labor jobs are pretty much by definition intended to provide part-time work for people who either want a second income or who are just starting out in the working world. If the people who do work there want more money, they are free to go to school and better themselves or establish themselves there as a good employee and then move on, using Wal-Mart as a positive reference. So to have some fat SEIU toad telling me that I need to pay more for everything at Wal-Mart so that the people who stock shelves, mop floors or stand in front of a cash register can make more money (most of which the union will skim off as "dues") is offensive to me, especially as the union will turn around and use much of that money to buy influence with the Democrats, the political party working to destroy the American way of life as most of us knew it.

Anyway, gotta go. Back later. Have a good "Day after Thanksgiving". And if you're bored, click on the link above and watch the movie.

Got popcorn?

In Chicago, the Chicago Teachers Union, one of Barack Obama's most loyal Brownshirt organizations, just went on strike against the taxpayers and Obama's buddy and former Chief of Staff, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.

357,000 kids are not in school today, which might be a bad thing if Chicago didn't have one of the worst school systems in urban America. But the union drones that were hired to babysit teach the kids are instead forsaking the jobs that they once begged for and just standing around in new union-purchased T-shirts and carrying union-purchased picket signs. Their grievances? The want more money, more contributions from the taxpayers into their pension fund, and an end to the new teacher evaluation program that could result in the termination of under-performing teachers after a couple of years of sub-standard evaluations and attempts at remediation.

In other words, they want more money for doing the same bad job, and an assurance that the bad ones won't be fired no matter how poor their work performance is.

Oh, and did I mention that Chicago teachers are the second-highest paid in the country, averaging $76,000 a year for a 180-day work-year, and that this week-end they just turned down an offer of a sixteen percent raise over the next four years because it wasn't "good enough?"


Screw them. each and every one of them. For every one of these losers out there on a picket line eating union-purchased hot dogs instead of working, there are several other teachers out there across America who would love to have those jobs. What we need here is a Reagan-style leader who will say to the union stooges: "Get back in those classrooms right now, or new non-union teachers will be hired and you can stay out there for good." And the next morning, pink slips should begin flowing, going first and foremost to those teachers involved in union leadership. I predict that that strike would be over that very day.

But the city won't do that. Emmanuel is too scared of the unions to stand that tall on his own, and Obama isn't going to support him because he wants the votes of every union cheese-eater in the country and if he even appears to side with his former side-kick, he'll be toast in November. So the kids in Chicago are roaming the streets today instead of sitting in classrooms. Extra police have been called in to supervise them (because in the Obamanation, we can't insist that the parents supervise their own kids) and the property owners who pay the taxes for those schools are looking down the barrel of another massive increase all due to this war between the union and the Dem leaders who over-promised and under-delivered. No matter which way this goes, at least one voting bloc is going to be butt-hurt and angry going into the November elections. But that's ok, because when the Democrats are upset with one another, that's usually good for productive America.

Meanwhile, in other Chicago news, the non-union charter schools are open and teaching, and Democrat Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is still not back to work, but is reportedly grateful for the paychecks that keep arriving every two weeks and he looks forward to being re-elected in November.

Walker Wins Wisconsin! America Wins Overall!

The election has been called for Governor Walker in Wisconsin.

The recall attempt put forth by bitter union goons trying to bite the hands of the taxpayers that feed them has failed. There are unconfirmed reports that Leftist talking head Ed "Special Ed" Schultz has been hospitalized for trying to commit suicide in his bathroom by slamming the toilet seat on his own head until he lost consciousness. All across America, conservatives and fans of smaller government are cheering, while union thugs and their puppets in the Obama administration are still trying to figure out what just happened to their 50-state effort to defeat an elected official from a Blue State who dared try to force public employees in that state to pay for just a small part of their own pensions and health benefits. The hope of much of America--and fear of useless union drones everywhere--is that other governors and state legislatures may now feel emboldened enough to try to cut back the lavish lifestyles of their own civil servant class or even take steps to end the corrupt bargains between unionized government workers, their money-raisers and the legislators who take that money and then vote to raise the wages of those unionized government workers.

Heck, even Liberal standard-bearer and union icon Franklin D. Roosevelt was opposed to collective bargaining for public employees. So how can anyone, least of all today's union drones, hate on Governor Walker for working to carry out FDR's ideals?

But the public employee unions lost today and lost big. They spent millions of dollars trying to sway voters and turn out their base, only to have the educated, informed working people of Wisconsin turn out in even larger numbers and slap them down.

I'm happy tonight. Even Murphy is doing a happy dance. Tomorrow's dawn will shine bright on a new and improved day for the American taxpayer. Today Wisconsin, tomorrow the rest of America!

My visit to Occupy DC

I had today off, and as luck would have it, personal business took me downtown Washington DC close to Freedom Plaza where one of the two Occupy Wall Street / Occupy DC groups is infesting a park. So I wandered around a bit and took a few pictures, just so that everyone could see how these animals really live.Notice how empty it is? Very few occupods around. Interestingly enough, the ones that were there told me that most of the rest of them move into hotel rooms when the weather gets cold like it did last night. There aren't any cheap hotels near here. Wonder who pays for these, eh?
And they obviously aren't over-spending on trash removal. Just look what they've done to this formerly beautiful park.
All the bare ground you see used to be nice, neat grass. It's ruined.I did see one young girl walking around here and she was pretty cute, but every time I got within ten feet of her, the smell of her B.O. was a real turn-off.Oh, and rats. I saw three of them scurrying around just during my brief visit. They're apparently thriving in this unsanitary mess.

What a disgusting mess.


As I was coming back, I saw the most amazing thing. A truck pulled up and guys in matching jackets opened up the trailer and began handing food and cases of water to the Occupods. I wandered close and saw that it was a trailer from the United Mine Workers. Obviously this labor union is subsidizing these bums big time. One of the occupods standing with me told me that they come by "every day or two" to hand out supplies. What's that all about, and why?I heard one of the guys in the UMW jackets yell out "Merry Christmas from Cecil Roberts!" as he was taking CAKES from the pick-up truck and handing those to the occupods, including stinky girl. If I was a miner, I'd be pissed as hell to see my dues going to support a bunch of non-working maggots, especially ones working to carry the water for Barack Obama, a President who said that bankrupting the coal industry was one of his priorities.

Here's the truck that was pulling the trailer. And it's license plate.

Residents of Washington, DC should be pissed at the United Mine Workers, too. This used to be such a nice park. Look at it now.That grass and those shrubs won't just grow back when these cockroaches roll out.

Maybe the unions will pay for the damage?

Oh--and the worst part is that the other bunch in McPherson Square is much, much messier and more disgusting. I'll try to get those pictures in the near future.

California Teachers Union worried about Pennsylvania Cop Killer

Yeah, that's right. Instead of focusing on how to better do their jobs (they get paid to educate the public's kids), the wanna-be agents of world change that make of the membership of the California Federation of Teachers is devoting their time and energy towards advocating for convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, the ghetto hood who murdered Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in cold blood back in 1981.

Frankly I tire of hearing fools claim that this hood was "set up" and that he's really innocent. The facts in this case are about as cut-and-dried as any criminal murder case in history.

At roughly 3:50 a.m. on December 9, 1981, Officer Daniel Faulkner stopped the car of William Cook [corrected] on a street in Philadelphia. Cook is the brother of Abu-Jamal. Coincidentally, Abu-Jamal was parked nearby in a taxi he was driving. Upon seeing an altercation between Faulkner and Cook, Abu-Jamal ran across the street and shot Faulkner in the back. Faulkner was able to get a shot off at Abu-Jamal, seriously wounding him. With the wounded Faulkner on the ground, Abu-Jamal shot him in the head, killing him instantly.

At the time there were only three people in the immediate area of the crime: Faulkner, Abu-Jamal, and Cook. But others were nearby. Within minutes there were statements taken by separate police officers from several different witnesses who identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter. There were only two guns on the scene, Faulkner's and Abu-Jamal's. Ballistics show that the bullet in Abu-Jamal came from Faulkner's gun, and that those in Faulkner came from a gun like Abu-Jamal's. In the presence of a hospital security guard, Abu-Jamal shouted "I shot the m__f__r, and I hope the m__f__r dies."

Witnesses, physical evidence, his own statements...that's why he was sentenced to death and why no one but the American leftist subculture has ever doubted his guilt.

And by joining in that fight--and using union dues to do it--this bunch of teachers has declared themselves to be too stupid and too un-American to ever be allowed in a classroom with anybody's children.

But these retards go even further. They're actually lionizing Abu-Jamal as a "civil rights hero". Seriously.

Fred Glass, CFT spokesman, told TheDC that the even though the case is 30 years old, since Abu-Jamal is still going through appeals, the issue remains relevant.

“The delegates decided it was time to reiterate that they supported him due to the irregularities that they felt had taken place during his case,” said Glass. “They see this as a civil liberties issue, it is quite common for the CFT to take positions on broad social matters like this.”

Well I suppose that it's more satisfying than trying to, you know...teach, I guess.

Where else but in California do you have public servant school teachers calling the murderer of a public servant police officer a "hero", civil-rights or otherwise?

And the Democrats are only was too happy to keep accepting their campaign funds and passing laws that help them get more money while offering the taxpayers less in the form of competent teaching.

We really need to give Southern California back to Mexico with the express provisions that they move all of their illegals back into it and that they also have to keep all of the liberals, union members and common criminals who live there. Then we wall it off once and for all.

And the rest of our public schools need to be purged of unions ASAP. Let's do it for common sense, and let's do it for the children. Scott Walker for President in 2012!

Oh--and Fry Mumia!

REAL Leadership: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

Sometimes one man can make a difference.

Newly elected based in large part on his promise to get Wisconsin's bloated budget under control, Wisconsin's Governor, Scott Walker, stood up to the over-paid public employees of that state and told them that they were going to have to pay part of their own retirement (like most Americans do) and play by a new set of rules designed to stop their annual shakedowns of the public for more loot from the treasury by refusing en masse to do the jobs that they applied for and agreed to do.

Now the unions are powerful in that state. They own the Democrat Party both locally and nationally. (Actually they split it with the trial lawyers like some sort of corruption time-share.) So when Walker proposed these new rules for public employees--our employees--and when it appeared that they were going to pass through the new post-Obama, Republican-majority legislature, the unions told their Dem lackeys to abandon their posts and shirk their obligations and run off to hide, basically stopping ALL of the people's business until pressure could be brought to bear to force the governor and others to give them their way.

Well Governor Walker held fast. He wasn't swayed by protests made up of teachers who were fraudulently calling in sick to picket on the people's dime. He wasn't swayed by busload after busload of union thugs from other states showing up to scream, or college kids who don't even have jobs arrogantly telling reporters that this is their fight too. He ordered the Democrats to return to work, and when they refused, he had the bills that they were trying to block re-written so as to not require a full quorum and passed them without those work-skipping union sock-puppets even being there.

Hoo-RAH! Now that's leadership--doing the right thing even when it's hard, just because it's right.

Wisconsin won yesterday, and all of America wins as well. Anything that takes smacks union hands out of the public cookie jar is good for the country. If you want to be in a union and threaten strikes and slowdowns to extort more money from your employers even though you do crap work, then go to one of the Big Three auto companies. But if you want the security and stability of a government job, then you need to take what's offered to you by the people who pay the taxes and their elected officials and be grateful for what you're handed.

The unions and the Democrats both got their asses handed to them by Governor Walker, and life is better for everyone else as a result.

Oh no he didn't....

I was driving into town to take care of a couple of small errands, and they were playing a bit of Barak Obama's lastest speech. It was just a snippet, but damned if he didn't say this:

Everyone should be prepared to give up something in order to solve our budget challenges...

Oh, HELL NO! I almost drove into a pole when I heard that.

First off, Barry, there would not be "budget challenges" today had you not recklessly spent so much more money than we had in our public treasury that our great grandkids will still be working on paying down that debt in addition to their own tax burdens. I had nothing to do with our present federal debt--in fact, I spoke out against every one of your spending plans and your election itself. It's not MY fault and I shouldn't have to sacrifice a damned thing. You're the one who caused the budget crisis, Barry, by jamming through an unaffordable health insurance scheme that most of the country did not want when you did it (one which even more oppose now) and by your so-called "stimulus" packages, which basically stimulated nothing except the bank accounts of the labor unions that supported you. So if anyone needs to be "sacrificing", Barry, it's YOU. How about we start by putting an end to all of these lavish family vacations every couple of months. You don't need to be taking all of these trips, particularly the ones to places outside our country where the money spent doesn't even trickle down to Americans.

I'd also say that the Democrats who were complicit in your wealth redistribution stunts should sacrifice too, but many of them did this past election because America was pissed and took the first opportunity to remove them from control of the House, a prelude of things to come when you run for re-election in 2012.

Aside from that, the only other parties who should sacrifice anything at all to atone for your actions are those union members who supported you and your party and who got so much of our money in return. Personally I'm thinking that we need legislation to bar labor unions from spending a single penny on public elections or campaigns, and I hope that the newly-elected representatives of the American people across this great nation continue to work to restrict collective bargaining and reduce the ability of these greedy organizations to extort money from businesses, the public treasury, and every worker across this land who doesn't want to be a union member but has been forced to pay dues by "closed shop" rules which mandate it. I also want to see the repeal of the Davis Bacon Act which mandates that non-union employees be paid at the prevailing wage (read: union scale) if they work on government jobs. In fact, I want to see the ability of government workers or contractors on union jobs to unionize abolished completely. You want to work for us (We, the People.) then you need to give up some of that high-wage pie and and associated right to strike. (That'd be a "sacrifice", so Barry undoubtedly approves.)

Frankly, a lot of other people are starting to get these ideas too, and with any luck--and a stronger non-Democrat majority in 2013, we can make some of all of it happen.

I'm thinking that the abolition of public-sector unions, the elimination of the "closed shop" and the prohibition against remaining unions like the UAW or AFL-CIO and SEIU engaging in any political activity aimed at electing legislators or passing/blocking legislation might be a good down-payment on the debt owed to the American public courtesy of the actions of Barack Obama and his band of constitutional scofflaw cronies.

Overheard at the Sheriff's office today...

So I'm standing in the lobby, waiting to talk to a friend of mine who works there, when this large old man (LOM) walks in. He strides up to the counter. and the ever-cheerful, always helpful receptionist (ECAHR) asks in she can help him.

LOM: "Yeah. I work for the Post Office, and yesterday I didn't go into work because it snowed...I don't do that...nope...don't do it. So now I need a letter from you all because they say that they're going to mark me as AWOL for the day unless you give me a letter that say that the roads were impassable."

(By way of background, we'd gotten a little bit of snow the day before that one. It had stopped by 8PM, it was only an inch or so, and the roads were all perfectly clear by the next morning.)

ECAHR: "I'm sorry, sir. We don't do that."

LOM: "Oh yes you do."

ECAHR: "No, sir. We don't."

LOM: (wagging his finger at her) Now before we get to arguing over this, let me set you straight right now. You people have done it before for me, twice!"

ECAHR: "Who did that, sir?"

LOM: (Gives last name of the previous sheriff...the one who left office a year ago.)

ECAHR: "Well he's not the Sheriff any more, sir. And I'm not doing it."

LOM: (turns around and stomps towards the door.) "You can go to Hell then!"

ECAHR: (waving.) "Have a nice day."

Whatever happened to "Neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night..."? I'm thinking that Benjamin Franklin would be disappointed in this guy. But then Dr. Franklin never had to deal with parasitical unions like this guy undoubtedly belongs to.

Such is life in Dueling Banjo country.

Where's President Reagan when America needs him?

In 1981, a bunch of malcontent Air Traffic Controllers staged an illegal walk-out, essentially grounding much of America's air traffic. President Reagan, having warned them in advance of what he'd do if they did it, kept his word and fired every last one of them, sending a message to unions everywhere--don't try to hold the country hostage.

We need Ronald Regan today more than ever. Today, every commercial port on the West Coast shut down as the unionized longshoremen staged an illegal one-day strike to protest the war in Iraq. They did this after an arbitrator ruled that such an act would be illegal and after their unions promised not to go ahead with it. However it was clearly organized at some level and the unions need to be held responsible, if not replaced outright with new nonunion workers who actually love this country and appreciate being paid an exorbitant amount of money to do relatively little work.
(The average union dockworker today easily makes six figures, and most all of the work is done by machines so no one sweats or gets dirty any more.)

This isn't the first time that we've seen an astounding lack of patriotism and virtue on behalf of these dockworkers. They struck at the height of World War Two, denying our troops much-needed food, ammunition and medical supplies, and they did it again during the Korean War. Seldom in the history of America have we seen a group act so selfishly, putting better Americans than themselves at risk simply to line their own pockets. Well today's west coast Longshoremen are no different and if President Bush were to do as Reagan did, or Harry Truman when he nationalized the steel industry to keep the unions from striking and shutting off the flow of war material, he'd win back my full support in an instant, especially if he moved every one of those unpatriotic Al Qaeda-aiding dock monkeys into the unemployment lines. Better yet: They should be nationalized and sent overseas to move cargo in Iraq and Afghanistan, and paid the same rate as the military personnel now doing those jobs. That'd sure free up a lot of better people to do more important work as well as making room here for a number of people who might even be grateful to get a nice new non-union dockworker job.

With citizens like these longshoremen in America, who really needs foreign enemies?

I'm just saying...

FULL ARTICLE HERE

PACIFIC MARITIME ASSOCIATION PRESS RELEASE HERE

Hillary does Michigan

Apparently Hillary Clinton traveled to Michigan the other day and spoke to United Auto Workers members, promising to spend more of America's money on manufacturing, whatever that means. Granted, anyone (with the possible exception of the average auto worker) realizes that the federal government really doesn't have the ability or the right to buy the massive quantity of Michigan-manufactured goods that would be needed to prop up that state's sad economy, but then she was talking to union auto workers, and all they really care about is keeping their cushy overpaid assembly-line jobs so that they can keep buying boats and plasma TVs and spending like there's no tomorrow right up until they get laid off due to lack of domestic auto sales, at which time they get all shocked and surprised despite the fact that even Helen Keller could have seen it coming.
But the union workers showed that they're still clueless by voicing their support for Hillary. Apparently they've missed the fact that Hillary is a staunch supporter of amnesty for the illegal aliens that are rapidly grabbing up formerly-unionized jobs in other sectors simply by undercutting union workers when it comes to negotiating for pay. Anyone else remember when the construction field used to be predominantly unionized? Well now it's mostly illegal alien and many former union construction workers are sitting around on unemployment or doing something else for a lot less money. But I guess that Michigan's union workers think that the illegals that Hillary (and Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin) support won't ever take their jobs. Uh, ok.

Domestic auto sales are in the toilet and have been for several years basically for two reasons:
1. The UAW demands such high wages for even the lowliest broom-pusher that American cars cost much more than foreign cars, and:
2. The average union worker here knows that he/she has a job for life no matter how poor their work because the union won't let them get fired for any reason so many of them don't bother to do that good of a job. They make crappy cars because they'll never be suspended or fired and thus have no incentive to build the things right, and the crappy cars cost more than the foreign cars made by cheaper-working non-union workers at other plants run by the Japanese and other foreign companies.

Believe me, the US auto industry execs know this too, and if they could shut down the unionized plants tomorrow and re-open new plants with much cheaper immigrant non-union labor that actually cared about building good cars because they didn't want to lose their jobs, they'd do it. And they'd probably wind up turning out better cars that are much cheaper than those available from the Big Three today.

Hillary and Dems like Levin and Stabenow play to the union workers for votes and money, but the union workers who support them apparently aren't watching as they work with the other hand to legalize millions of current illegal aliens and open the door for the admission of millions more--all of whom will shortly be potential competition for the jobs currently held by the union workers. And the union workers just don't get it. They'll just keep propping up the very politicians who are bringing about their eventual vocational demise and blowing their cash on toys right up until they get the layoff notices in the mail. And then they'll have the nerve to act surprised.

Very sad.

Unionizing Starbucks? Get a life.

So here we go again, with another episode of "As the Attention Whore Turns". This one comes from the Washington Post and it's about a wanna-be Socialist law student named Daniel Gross who is so invested in showing everyone how smart and important that he is (one might call him a typical law student in that regard)that he's waging a jihad against Starbucks, claiming that the coffee shops are too repressive for the workers. He brags of organizing pickets against the chain because they fired or threatened to fire his co-workers for whatever reason. Not surprisingly, they fired him too.

Now anyone else who doesn't truly believe that the world owes him a living would get up and move on, hopefully learning from his mistakes as he gets another job or goes back to the parents that are undoubtedly paying his tuition and begs for a raise in his allowance. But law schools are chock full of self-aggrandizing spoiled kids who really think that they matter and that they can change the world. And Danny here is no exception. Rather than accept the consequences of his actions, he starts a campaign to unionize Starbucks--a place where he doesn't even work or have a stake any more--complaining that they have "too many rules" that cover how employees have to perform their jobs. And instead of teaming up with a real union, he runs off and finds some remnants of the International Workers of the World (IWW)--a purely Socialist organization that realistically ceased to be taken seriously in the 1920's.

I'm laughing at the little goober for a number of reasons.

I remember when I was a mere law student. I thought that I was an awesome power too. But really all I managed to do was annoy a couple of landlords, UPS and a car rental company. And I learned that judges and court staff aren't impressed by law students on crusades--even third-year law students. I also got fired from a job for trying to unionize a factory once. But at least it wasn't some coffee shop built around serving coffee with part-time labor. It was a real factory where people did real work and had a chance of riding it our for thirty years to a pension. I learned real quick how the union organizers are your best friends until the actual vote goes south, at which time they drop you like a hot rock, wish you good luck in your next job, and stop taking your phone calls. (I haven't forgotten, United Auto Workers!) But looking back, I can say with pride that I learned quite a bit about business and unions, and I moved on and upwards to better jobs as a result of my firing. Maybe someday Danny will look back on this too, and kick himself in the ass sfor looking like such a public bozo in the Post. IWW? Come on, kid. But in the meantime, I'll pass on a bit of sage advice to him and anyone else who thinks that just because you fill out a job application for a menial part-time spot in a national chain, that somehow the Corporate Board of Directors owes you somethingmore than $9.00 and hour:

1. If you don't like the rules that your employer sets down, quit and go start your own place just like they once did. Open your own coffee shop. Then you can be the boss and make the rules.

2. Remember that Starbucks did not approach you and beg you to work in their store. You asked them for a job, and they gave you one. Be grateful for what you get and if you don't like it, see #1.

3. The world's not impressed with smarmy brat kids who agitate against their employers. You may not believe this now, but wait until you start applying for real jobs and prospective employers start to Google your name. You'll see.

Danny says that he's fighting to get his Starbucks job back. Well keep trying, son. Because with this stunt on your resume, you'll be lucky to get anything much more impressive for a while.