"We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They've got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're going to win that war," Jimmy Hoffa Jr. said to a heavily union crowd.
"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa added.
In yet another example of how unions and the world of academia endear themselves to the taxpayers of this country we have this story of a "custodial engineer" in of course New York who managed to bilk the taxpayers out of thousands of dollars. And will continue to do so.
The new probe found that Radef also profited from a no-show gig that paid him at least $70,000 between 2007 and 2010 for more than 3,000 hours when he clearly wasn’t at work, judging from E-Z pass records obtained by Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon.
"To me what stands out is the length of time and the number of people [implicated] and the various ways in which Radef profited," Condon told The Post. "You wonder why no supervisor ever picked up on this."
If you read the article you will see no mention of unions, but even though I am government school educated I have learned how to add 2 + 2. You see in NYC you don't get the job unless you join the union and the union for "custodial engineers" is Local 891. Their web site proudly proclaims they put children first.
The taxpayers of NYC are not off the hook either if what we have learned about public sector unions because of the fiasco in Wisconsin is any indicator. You see the guy who perpetrated the fraud retired. That probably means the taxpayers will continue to pay his cadillac retirement benefits even if he goes to jail.
The report says Truman HS custodial engineer Nicanor "Nick" Fernandez signed the bogus work checks but it wasn’t clear if he pocketed any of the profits. He retired in December.
Jammie posted the video earlier of the union loving folks using a war memorial as a post-it notes bulletin board as part of a larger post and I just couldn't let it rest there, so forgive me putting down my thoughts on the matter.
First off I actually saw the video after Instapundit linked to Ann Althouse's blog about the matter. I wish to commend the people who confronted the folks manning the booth for remaining so civil, but something inside of me just went dead while watching that. I don't know if is because of the cumulative effect of having to wage verbal and written jujitsu with so many liberals of all stripes for the last ten years or if it was the introspection I underwent in wondering what my 20 years of service meant and how things haven't changed in this country with respect to our military and an appreciation of their sacrifices.
I remember back to when I enlisted, I was working full time for a printing company doing photographic screening and setup for the guys working the printing presses. Upon hearing I had enlisted in the Army, much to my surprise they weren't like other folks who went about tsk-tsking, instead they chided me for not going into the Marines. It was then I found out that a good many of them had prior military service and I had been working there over a year. They hid their service either out of shame or fear or because maybe to them it wasn't any big deal. They had done their time and moved on.
Flash forward about six months and it was me walking through the Atlanta airport with my parents headed to catch a plane for the first 3 year tour in Germany. A young man, my age, maybe a little older veers over in our direction, calls me a baby killer and attempts to spit on me. Discipline instilled by drill instructors took hold and my normal personality of being a smart ass took over and I quipped something about how he must have me confused with an abortion doctor and we continued on our way. I can't forget the look of hurt on my parents face however while I was reassuring them that it was alright and to forget about it. That was 1978.
In the ensuing decades the military went through periods of ups and downs. Shame while Carter was president to chest bursting pride when Reagan was, and just a gallows humor sort of mentality while Clinton held the office. The one constant however was a downplaying of being a member of military, just as our young men and women today do. Just like those guys I worked with, it was a sense of just doing your job.
Now here we are in 2011 and while some of the more blatant personal attacks on service members seem to have waned, the general atmosphere concerning the military seems to have not changed much. Hollywood still portrays military members as some sort of redneck buffoon with a propensity for violence, living on a mental razor's edge with some sort of substance abuse or dependency problem just one step away from flying into some sort of PTSD fueled rage. Think of every television show, movie, or special and try to recall when the military member or veteran was ever depicted as normal, even in shows which are willing to show the military in a positive light.
Let me apologize for the rambling but I can't muster the emotion to rant. That video, for me encapsulated for me how little progress we really have made to show just the least little bit of respect for those who have worn the uniform. I kept waiting for someone from the group to apologize and make a move to remove the notes and stickers, but no one did. They didn't even flinch in that direction. Ponytail guy was living out his vision of what life must have been like in the heyday of the hippies in the 60's and the young woman merely seemed clueless as to why someone would be upset over using that memorial as anything other then a display stand.
I am tired of fighting but beyond that I am just tired. Maybe I am getting old. Maybe it is just finally giving in to the inevitable. Maybe it is because what somebody who is much better with words then me said once. Something like freedom has a taste that those which have fought for it is so sweet and the protected will never know.
Final random thought for you to chew on. You know how on those reality shows they every so often reunite the contestants with their loved ones after 15 or 30 days of separation and there is all the tears and hugging. Yeah, me and the wife have a good laugh over those. You see 23 days after we got married I shipped off to Korea for a year by myself. I have spent more time on little field exercises then these shows actually last. And now today the wife says she misses those separations. You see for her the biggest adjustment to civilian life has been having me around all the time.
UPDATE: The plot thickens! Breitbart has been diagnosed with "Walker Pneumonia" - an affliction for which the only known cure is to go back to work and quit moanin'.
Unfortunately, the doctors do not appear to be prescribing the antidote.
Let me make it clear from the start that I do not like unions. They are nothing more then bloated little fiefdoms where the leadership pull down million dollar salaries on the backs of their members while driving the cost of business through the roof and at the same stifling personal responsibility and initiative. They are a parasite on the taxpayers with their ability to get generous compensation and retirement packages that are bankrupting local and state budgets while at the same time giving a big middle finger salute to anybody who dares to challenge them. They are a relic of a bygone era, who while at one time served a purpose, are no longer relevant and merely a pox upon the economy.
With that being said I thought all of you union members would like to know that you will shelling out about $390 per person this year to fund the campaigns of various Democrat candidates, in what for a lot of them, is going to be a futile attempt to hold onto power. I know those on the left coast will view this as money well spent but I wonder how the laid off auto worker in Michigan feels about it.
Previously, most labor-sponsored campaign ads had to be funded by volunteer donations. Now, however, AFSCME can pay for ads using annual dues from members, which amount to about $390 per person. AFSCME said it will tap membership dues to pay for $17 million of ads backing Democrats this election.
The unions are able to do this in the aftermath of a decision made by the Supreme Court regarding part of the campaign finance rules. You know the one the Dems loudly protested.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is now the biggest outside spender of the 2010 elections, thanks to an 11th-hour effort to boost Democrats that has vaulted the public-sector union ahead of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO and a flock of new Republican groups in campaign spending. The 1.6 million-member AFSCME is spending a total of $87.5 million on the elections after tapping into a $16 million emergency account to help fortify the Democrats' hold on Congress. Last week, AFSCME dug deeper, taking out a $2 million loan to fund its push.
For everybody else out there, remember this sort of spending when you are forced, forced, to hire union workers at sky high prices in order to do a job.
No, really. Government Motors had to issue a recall today for 1.5 million vehicles because their heated windshield washer system could cause a fire. I wonder if they will draw as much heat as Toyota did? Surely the Democrats in congress will call for the head of Obama's appointee to head to GM to come sit in the hot seat for a grilling by a suitable panel of outrageously outraged and indignant lawmakers. Whose ass will Barry O look to kick over this, since he runs the company now?
General Motors is recalling 1.5 million Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, Saturn and GMC sport-utility vehicles, pickups and cars from 2006 to 2009 because a heated washer fluid system module could pose a fire risk, the company said moments ago.
It's all about the kids. I just do not get the union mentality. In Boston, a teacher's union is blocking the awarding of some bonuses to some teachers, instead demanding that the bonus money be divvied up among all the teachers.
The Boston Teachers Union staunchly opposes a performance bonus plan for top teachers - launched at the John D. O’Bryant School in 2008 and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates and Exxon Mobil foundations - insisting the dough be divvied up among all of a school’s teachers, good and bad.
Unions are just like our socialist-leaning Congress in that they don't want to reward achievement, but rather you have to fit into the group they designate for you, assume the mantle of victimhood that is appropriate for that group, and then just sit down and shut up. The union decides what is best for you, tells you that it is best for you, and crushes any dissenting opinion.
Welcome to the Borg Collective.
I hate to be the one to rain on their little liberal academic institution but Boston teachers are discovering what Tea Party protesters have known for a long time.
This is like the Crips and Bloods: You just can't root for either side. Oh wait, I can't use that analogy, right? Our moral superiors have said mentioning the Crips and Bloods is raaaaacist. Sorry.
Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, the detestable goons from AFSCME, big Obama supporters that they are, have finally snapped out of it and realize that ObamaCare is going to cost their members a bundle. Just like the rest of us. And the head thug isn't happy.
Here's a new one: a union sounding the alarm about high taxes.
Even stranger: The union's target is President Obama and his health-care overhaul -- specifically Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus' bill.
Now, when a union complains about taxes, you just know they must be over the top. Indeed, they are.
Gerald McEntee, president of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees warns that the Baucus bill's tax hikes will hit the middle class hard.
Specifically, he argues that the bill's tax on medical-insurance plans amounts to "asking the middle class to pay for the health care of those who are currently uninsured."
And he vows that unless the bill is substantially altered, "we will oppose it."
Well, it's not often that we find ourselves saying this to labor -- but, hey: "Go for it!"
Unions are supposed to be a key Obama ally. But McEntee is surely right to be concerned.
Not surprisingly, the White House is privately blasting his "gratuitous slaps" and calling his language "outrageous and unacceptable."
But Obama's aides would do better to forget the Chicago-style political street-fighting and take note of the labor leader's objections -- and the fact that opposition to ObamaCare now clearly crosses partisan and ideological lines.
As McEntee said last week, "We would love to be on the exact same page as the White House, but we see ourselves as fighting for our members."
yes, and usually fighting for their members means fighting against taxpayers. Surprisingly they've now realized they too pay taxes. Welcome to the real work, Mr. McEntee.
Speaking of the real world, support for this monstrosity is down to 42% and dwindling. Just imagine how low support would be if the media wasn't hiding socialized healthcare horror stories like those in other countries?
The European Union's highest court has backed the right of companies to move to another EU state to cut costs.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) was ruling on a Finnish ferry company, Viking, which replaced the crew on one of its ships with Estonian workers.
Trade unions intervened, preventing Estonian union members from negotiating with the company.
In economics there is a well know concept called "the law of substitutability". In short, it means that where an option exists, you will substitute a lower cost option for a higher cost option. The Estonian workers were a lower cost option and so were used.
The point to be learned here is that you can price yourself out of your market. And if your price is higher, you darn well better be providing a much higher value/productivity to make it worth it.
The Finnish workers were not.
This is nothing more than the "invisible hand" concept that Adam Smith talked about way back in 1776 in his incredible work Wealth of Nations, which some people apparently never learn.
