New Bailout?!?

[Kathi OD]

First, let me say that I'm not for bailouts of any kind, but some things are just not as black and white as they seem.

I'm not anti union. After all, it is the union system that created safe business practices. But the contracts that are negotiated when times are good seem set in stone even in bad times. Some unions strangle the industries they depend upon.

I'll agree and I'm a union member. Our contract is up in June. The district has asked us to consider changing our insurance provider and entering the state employees insurance pool. It will save our school district a minimum of $1 million per year. The insurances are comparable, so most members have agreed, in principle to this change. However, our business administrator has decided that all supplies must be ordered from a specific vendor. This vendor does not necessarily provide the best prices for the supplies that we use. However, using just one or two vendors makes it easier for the BA to do her job since she only has to deal with a couple of vendors. Additionally, she wants an assistant at a cost to the district of about $140K/annually. So in exchange the union has suggested that this practice of using one and only one supply vendor be changed so that we can get the best prices available. The give backs have to go both ways.

As for CEO's etc, I don't think you can limit how much they make. However, I do think that taxpayers can demand stipulations be attached to OUR tax money. Once public funds are tapped all other free market rules regarding freedom with in-house money must be suspended.

Maybe you can't limit the salary, but you can limit the bonuses. It is crazy that some of these people are getting huge bonuses for doing a lousy job. There has to be some corporate responsibility too.

Unions serve a purpose but when auto line workers are making $42/hour to tighten bolts on a car, something is wrong there. Yes, at the turn of the century when labor laws were non-existent, unions provided FAIR pay and safe working conditions. Now, they make sure that the US auto industry bankrupts itself because they would NEVER consider a pay decrease like airline employees have been asked to take year after year. Again, I am NOT anti-union, just the autoworkers union has gone overboard with their 'fair pay'.

Maybe the UAW has gone overboard with their idea of "fair pay," but one of the things that has helped bankrupt the industry is the high tariffs placed on US autos by other nations compared with the tariffs our country places on their autos. Hard to compete in a global market when the other guy has a fairly big advantage.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So today it looks like we have at least one huge city, Detroit, looking for a bailout too.

How exactly are we, and I say we because it's my money and taxes on the block, supposed to pay for all this while funding a war overseas AND picking up the tab for all the American's out of work who need care?

There just aren't enough of us making money at this point to fund all this, or hasn't anyone in DC bothered to do the math on lost businesses, job loss and the effect that will have on tax revenues?

Another thorn in my side is the refusal of our Treasury to fully disclose where our money is going. I really can't believe that Bloomberg has had to sue our Government to get to the bottom of where MY tax money has gone.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axpH4Qil0NT8&refer=worldwide

Oh, and I would think that Congress would be paying a little more attention to what the world thinks of their brainstorms considering the fact that the Stock Market has lost 1 Trillion dollars in 3 days. We are hemorrhaging International Investors. We can't do this alone. We need to re instill confidence and get those major players back on board. Let foreign companies buy and turn around our failing businesses, not only would they absorb the risk but they'd also generate tax revenue via the sale. Then we could we spend our own tax money helping our population, because heaven knows no foreign country will do for us what we've been doing for the rest of the world for decades.

It's only 9:30 and I already have a headache.