Ken Nelson

 
Gang Assault proposed as new sport for Chicago Olympics

I wish the SEIU would order Obama to defeat Islamic terrorists, or something worthy. Instead he just wanders about the world trying to get the Olympics to Chicago. Well, actually I don’t know that the SEIU ordered him to Copenhagen, but it isn’t implausible is it??

If ONLY he would limit his other stupid ideas to Chicago.

I decided this summer that I positively hate Chicago. They hit me with toll booths every quarter mile, the toll money obviously wasn’t being put back into the roads, and they inflicted Barack Obama on the rest of us.

It almost makes me wish Chicago would have to suffer through an Olympics, except I know that Obama would shovel them money.

Please go away Chicago. And take Obama with you.

Trade war hurts millions, less imports helps 10,000 or so union thugs and 1 politician

I bet if the President of the SEIU or UAW called and wanted a massage that Obama would oblige. Well, not him personally, but he would gladly tax me to fund it.

The latest union favor, a 35% import tax on tires from China, has started a trade war with China. Gosh, isn’t that what a recession racked world needs now?

I hope our next President is interested in helping all of us, not just his union buddies.

You hear that a lot from various parts of government. In fact, I’m hearing just that now from the Utah legislature and educational bureaucracy.

Then you read about New York’s “rubber room” and you know, just know, that there is plenty of room to cut before hitting the tax well again:

The teachers have been in the Rubber Room for an average of about three years, doing the same thing every day—which is pretty much nothing at all. Watched over by two private security guards and two city Department of Education supervisors, they punch a time clock for the same hours that they would have kept at school—typically, eight-fifteen to three-fifteen. Like all teachers, they have the summer off. The city’s contract with their union, the United Federation of Teachers, requires that charges against them be heard by an arbitrator, and until the charges are resolved—the process is often endless—they will continue to draw their salaries and accrue pensions and other benefits.

That’s right – an AVERAGE of 3 years drawing pay, pensions and benefits.

If I were New York City I’d break the contract. Let them strike.  Start again with volunteers, parents and non-union teachers – including former ones that are delighted to be out from under the yoke. It would be an ugly couple months, but worth it in the long term.

Unions are a monopoly that is just as bad as a corporate monopoly. Teachers unions compound that by being attached to the public checkbook. Public sector unions have ruined many states, NY and California being notable examples.

Saving unions from their health care obligations…

The health care debate roiling the nation promises an even greater impact in Michigan: It could determine whether the UAW’s gamble that it can insure 850,000 retirees from Detroit’s automakers pays off or goes bust.

Experts say they could collapse fast:

Outside experts estimate the funds have about 30 cents in cash for every dollar of future claims, with no guarantee of what its stock assets will be worth. Lance Wallach, a New York-based VEBA expert, says if the funds "don’t get something, they’re out of business in 12 years."

So if anybody asks “why the rush”… its because they want to lock in this sort of stuff before 2010 knocks the Democrats out of power.

The right answer, of course, is for the unions to meet their obligations. They own most of GM now. Make it worth more, and focus that money on meeting your obligations.

Unfortunately, a few million to Senators is cheaper than doing the right thing.

 
Reform means more than paying SEIU’s bills

The Democrats consistent strategy is to take a pertinent issue of the day, say rising health care costs, and then pass a law that channels money to their constituency groups.

The stimulus bill used the economic catastrophe as a means to stuff the UAW, SEIU, Acorn, and blue state governments full of our cash.

Cap & Trade, nominally for “global warming”, was really “thank you General Electric”.

And now Health Care….  The bill is Stimulus 2 – the main beneficiaries are the unions and blue state governments that are scared of their health care obligations.

REAL health insurance reform would start by focusing on making health insurance like other insurance.

My home insurance doesn’t cover repainting. My car insurance doesn’t cover oil changes, or even severe mechanical failures. My dental insurance covers dental disasters, not cleaning, toothpaste and floss.

REAL health insurance reform would return insurance to covering things you can’t afford to pay for yourself BUT that you need to replace. Like your health, your house, totaling of your car, and a tooth that is knocked out by angry SEIU thugs at a town hall.

The Democrat bill does nothing to address this. It only shifts around costs from one constituency to another non-constituency.  Reform, not really. Theft, closer to the mark.

The government shuts down a stupid program that gives my money to people with old cars so they can buy new cars and thus helping the UAW’s inefficient labor model:

"If they can’t administer a program like this, I’d be a little concerned about my health insurance," car salesman Rob Bojaryn said.

Is there no limit to how stupid the UAW wants the government to be?

We own politicians (Democrats)

You may not know of the SEIU (Service Employees International Union), but they are actively out there trying to ruin your life.

Carpe Diem covers the case of a proposed WalMart in south Chicago. 500 new good jobs for the area + a grocery store and shopping in an otherwise blighted area.

The SEIU doesn’t like it:

It seems that many members of that august body are terrified of labor unions like the Service Employees International Union, which charges that Wal-Mart underpays and disrespects workers. Vote for a Wal-Mart, the unions warn, and we’ll run you out of office. Our jobs or no jobs, they proclaim

I dislike unions. I think if a monopoly is bad for employers then it is also bad for workers. Everybody needs to compete.  If workers had options of what union to join, or to not join a union then I’d be more open to them. But these days I view big unions like the SEIU and especially the public sector unions as threats to our Democracy and our nation. 

Unions are unfair to young people, drive away jobs and add to political corruption. We need to reform them, not health care.

It seems that the government task force running Chrysler has shut down only Chrysler dealerships whose owners donated to Republicans. Only one (of 800!) that donated to Obama has been shut down.

Gosh… what would Sonia Sotomayor say about this disparate impact?

The Democrats and Obama in particular are taking this country where we DO NOT WANT TO GO. Political theft of business for supporting another candidate or party is the kind of thing that, justifiably, leads citizens to feel that only taking up arms is the path forward.

H/T: Instapundit

 
The UAW will soon learn what the NEA knows
Money is best, direct from the source. Making
quality products is unnecessary.

It seems to be a bad idea to loan money to a politically protected class. Like unions or extremely irresponsible home purchasers.  Their big uncle visits and forces you to not get  your money back.  Hence, a lesson is learned:

The obvious one is: Don’t lend to a company with big legacy liabilities or demand a much higher rate of interest because you may be leapfrogged in a bankruptcy.

The author of the piece linked above rightly suggests that this will make unionized businesses much less likely to get loans.

So, yes, creditors will learn their lesson.

But so will the unions….

Do not doubt for a second that the unions won’t try to get your money through other political means. Their political dogs are on the hunt, and they smell your money.

Greg Mankiw is buying a car for his teenage daughter. So he picked up a copy of Consumer Reports and read their recommendations:

Dead last was Chrysler. CU recommended zero percent of the Chrysler vehicles they tested. That’s right–zero. Second to last was General Motors. CU recommended 17 percent of GM models. By contrast, most other companies had half or more of their models get the thumbs up. Honda was the top ranked brand; CU recommended 95 percent of its models.

He then asks:

Is it any surprise that Chrysler and GM are now in the process of going out of business?

Another question… Is it any surprise that union powered work forces created the world’s worst cars?

Here is a list of the top 5 rates 2009 small cars.  I’m pleased to see the the Mini Cooper that we are considering for my daughter (a while off, but it is fun to speculate) is #3.

Unsurprising… nothing from Ford, Chrysler or GM in the top 5.

One example of what happens to a company’s stock after unionization.

How? Just have Wal-Mart employees elect to be unionized. Studies show that immediately following union elections, market capitalization of the company’s affected drops by 10%.  With Wal-Mart currently market capped at around $200 billion, that means $20 billion dollars. Yippee!  Let’s do it!

How about you work on that, while I scout out some other really bad ideas? Deal!

H/T: Freakonomics and Carpe Diem

 
Utah Governor Jon Huntsman. PSU Appeaser

Public Service Unions are a threat to all of our freedom and finances.

Who am I talking about here?  Teachers. Fireman. Police. State workers. City workers. Nice folks individually. Dangerous when traveling in packs.

They who vote in blocks and are paid by the government. They use their voting power to force us to pay them more.

They have too much power now and the are busy like bees adding to it.

The latest example, here in Utah, is the mandatory 4 day work week for state employees. Utah wanted to save costs. Rather than trimming dead weight from a bloated state staff, they cut public access to services like the DMV.  This “saves” money on energy, worker commuting and the state “carbon footprint”.  They claim it “improves” customer service, and they also said the that we “the public” love the idea.

Well, we the public don’t love the idea. It sucks. It is just another perk given to people who force money from us.

Our Governor, Jon Huntsman, is popular. But he is a facade. His Dad is an awesome dude who does much good.  Like Jim Matheson, Jon Jr. rode his papa’s name to office.  Now he seems to desire an office in Washington, so he does Democrat popular stuff like “reducing carbon footprint”, forcing me to honor gay marriages, and appeasing PSUs.

Well, I can’t wait to see you leave for that DC office in the sky Jon. You spend too much. You appease PSUs and you are stupid on energy policy (which should focus on nuclear and coal, not wind and not ready for prime time solar).

in the cosmic scale of political stupidity, Jon Jr. is a lightweight. He’s no Barney Frank. But this is Utah, the reddest state of the red. That we have such a fluff piece as our governor is testament to the power of PSUs, even in a state whose population fundamentally rejects what they stand for.