Needlenose

Rank and file UAW workers not feeling the love as US car companies return to profitability – and union leaders are aligned with Management.  No mystery here, business has been using a clever tool for the last 4 decades.  When times are tough, buy off the existing union members by keeping their salaries and benefits static, while getting them to agree to screwing future workers:

The sense of grievance among autoworkers in large part stems from concessions accepted by the UAW in recent years, as the industry has grappled with declining sales and the government has stepped in to rescue major automakers. The concessions in essence created two separate classes of autoworkers via a two-tier wage system — a term now underlined by many workers as the source of enduring unhappiness.

Under the two-tier system, workers with seniority have generally been able to preserve their pay scale, with basic wages of about $28 an hour. But new hires can now be paid half as much, at a wage officially referred to as “entry rate” because workers are theoretically able to move up through the wage levels as senior workers retire.

The future of labor in America lies in organizing labor abroad.

During their 8-year Reign of Error, you’d think there wasn’t a war the Republican’s didn’t like.   However, there was much gnashing of teeth when Obama decided to join with our NATO allies and blast Qaddafi’s planes and tanks from the skies.  Now that the Libyan Action is pretty much concluded, let’s do a compare and contrast of Regime Change that Republicans like versus  what they find unacceptable:

By any measure, the Libyan Regime Change seems more effective, but there’s not a peep of support from the Wrong Wing.  Conclusion?  Republicans only like the wars they start, Democratic wars be damned!

The recession has hit everybody really hard, that:

• My neighbour got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
• Wives are having sex with their husbands because they can’t afford batteries.
• CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.
• Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.
• A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced.
• I saw a Mormon with only one wife.
• If the bank returns your check marked “Insufficient Funds,” you call them and ask if they meant you or them.
• McDonald’s is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
• Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America.
• Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children’s names.
• My cousin had an exorcism but couldn’t afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her!
• A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.
• A picture is now only worth 200 words.
• When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.
• The Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates.

I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc., I called the Suicide Hotline. I got a call centre in Pakistan, and when I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.

Tip o’ the ‘Nose to Spy Buddy!

Now that the Democrat’s 2nd Great Capitulation is complete, let’s identify $2.4 trillion in budget cuts that will actually make America a better place.  In my first attempt, I’ll try to do this without addressing tax breaks, just subsidies.

I’m going to do this over the next few days so bear with me!

*Update 8/15/11* I’m at just over a $314 billion dollars and I haven’t finished up with Pentagon boondoggles yet, much less gotten to the wars!  Note that the Super Congress is only looking to save $2 trillion over a period of 10 years –  extrapolated over ten years, we’re probably already past $3 trillion…