Posted on 10/10/2009 5:00:52 PM PDT by Graybeard58
No you're a communist agitator ;) Now that we have that out of the way....
Ok look, I agree that we have a higher quality of life. But, the government's intervention and expansion HINDERS our quality of life.
If the free market was allowed to dictate wages and price, goods and service would cost less. Fuel taxes do not increase your standard of living. Legislation and political antics preventing the building of a clean coal power plant do not raise your standard of living....especially (using Arizona for example) when political pressure is applied to build solar power plants.... then after wasting money on a 2 year environmental impact study it is determined solar plants CANNOT be built. Rather this makes electricity costs higher; not only for a homeowner but also for a factory owner.... how does this raise your standard of living?
How does a 55% death tax on properties over $500,000 raise your standard of living? Seems to me this would ruin someone's living if they inherited a family farm and had to sell it in order to pay these taxes.
How does paying someone $7.25/hr reward good work ethic when they can't even remember "no pickles" contribute to the overall standard of living? Sure it makes a hamburger cost $5+ but I would rather pay to be based on performance.
How does GE lobbying to MANDATE BY LAW the ban of incandescent lightbulbs raise the standard of living? It seems to me GE is one of the only companies currently capable of producing these new lightbulbs. So now, instead of paying $.96 for a box of 4 incandescent lightbulbs from a competitor GE has managed to legislate the death of their competitors; or at the very least legislate them a large debt load to re-tool. And we get to pay $7.98 for TWO crappy lightbulbs... yes, that raises our standard of living. How about those that lose their jobs because the factory has to re-tool to compete with GE and they have to cut labor costs? Or worse the companies that move off shore?
Protectionist tarrifs....Smoot-Hawley... how did that work out again?
How does paying through the nose in income taxes increase the standard of living? God help you if you are self-employed? Oh sure the standard of living is increased if you're a parasite (by this I mean habitual offenders) and collect WIC, Food Stamps, Welfare, Section8 Housing etc etc. Yes, then the standard of living is raised because you live off the toils of another.
If you are 35, have the IQ of a turnip and can't remember to put a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom you are assigned to clean ----this raises your standard of living because your employer is forced to pay you $7.25/hr vice "forget" to pay you for the tasks you forgot to do. Of course firing you would somehow be discriminatory....
Yes, paying property taxes on VEHICLES year after year raises the standard of living..... ever increasing sales taxes, vehicle registration fees, dog registration fees.... I am so happy I get to pay all of these taxes and fees instead of buying new clothes for my kids vice hand-me-downs. I am so happpy to contribute to the overall greater good and standard of living all the while using a 6 year old laptop that stinks. I am happy to pay all of these fees/taxes in order to subsidize public transportation for those not willing to work hard enough to own their own vehicles.
I am happy to contribute to the standard of living of UAW folks that now own a commanding share of GM thanks to my tax dollars. I am so happy all of the taxes in play that kept Fannie and Freddie afloat so people can continue to believ credit is a civil right that is doled out to illegal immigrants.
The average American’s utility bill is higher than wages in Mexico.
I agree..... lets make the minimum wage $50/hr.... heck why not $1000/hr? And if tarrifs are so great, why don't we set them to 1000%? Why, golly I bet our standard of living will go through the roof and we'll all live like kings.... kings I tell ya.
"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - you may know that your society is doomed. Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand
My grammar skills seem to go to pot after 10pm.
Problem is not everyone can afford college at $40k a year and community college is not exactly going to land you that ultimate job.
We need high paid consumers to sustain the ecomony. Whether we like it or not those overpaid union members made enough to buy plasma TV’s and iPods. We are a consumer society and without signficant consumption the boys on Wall Street get cold feet about investing in America.
The Free Trade geniuses keep going on about how jobs will be created but they fail to account for many dynamics like retiring boomers “cashing out” at the expense of the next generation. Large companies need to bring on the next gen soon and put them to work instead of crushing the little newcomers as they appear.
High tech has created a significant barrier to entry both economically and from a intellectual standpoint when it comes to creating new product. When was the last time you saw the advent of a “garage” computer company like Apple?
I certainly don’t have the answers and I doubt anyone else does either when it comes to understanding how it will play out.
Not all colleges cost $40K per year, and community college is a low-cost way to get the general ed requirements out of the way. There’s no reason to pay $10K to 40K per year for English 101 and Math 112 classes at a university when you can do it for $4k at a CC.
You don’t have to go to MIT to get a good job. You just have to work hard and be serious about learning. I know this first hand.
One thing for people to ponder. I read every year the local paper profiles of the soon to be high school graduates.
In the past ten years I can’t recall a single graduate future plans was to work in a factory. It is also becoming more and more apparent that around this area which is fairly rural that the numbers of future farmers is going to crash because it don’t seem like anyone want to spend their future farming either.
Pretending to be a Republican so that it won't be noticed that you are a free enterprise hating Communists, eh parsy?
It is not JUST the unions but the union work rules plus, taxes, regulations, and all other government interference legislated by the union loving Democrats. Why is it the unonized industries are the first to fail or move off shore?
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
By the time Obozo and the communist democrats are done, no company will be hanging around in the US.
Employers sometimes require college degrees (or say they do) as nothing more than a check box for HR. Industry experience should ALWAYS be the determining factor in hiring and if it isn't it's probably because they have too many applicants. It's unfortunate there is no way to quantify experience objectively and rely on a persons education last (especially when you are talking about Sr. level applicants).
I can tell you a degree in comp sci from 20 years ago would be worthless without a distinguished list of accomplishments to back it up. When it comes to the “noobs” out of college, with no experience, it becomes “who went to the best college” and that smacks of elitist privilege.
As for job creators, there needs to be a method of incubation that shields investors and entrepreneurs from predatory corporations who use lawyers as a weapon. Tax incentives should be liberal in their application for start ups unaffiliated with established market leaders. Corporations that spin off units as start ups should also get some kind of preferential tax treatment but not to the level of the individual risk takers (their funds are not limitless).
I love the idea of unions! But, unions usually shoot themselves in the foot by overdoing things. Things not related to wages and benefits as much as by the stupid rules they try to put in. I was actually a scab once and the guys at the plant were telling me that certain people could not switch more than 440 volts without being a something or another second class. Which means some people could not turn on a multiple set of lights and an engine at the same time.
That being said, for most industries there is not much regulation. There are safety rules. There are certain engineering standards. I have seen some pretty stupid regulations but most of the time most businesses don’t encounter them.
parsy, who thinks greed and a poor national policy are to blame
I bought an Estate refrigerator by Whirlpool a 2 years ago. It was made in Canada which I like second to being made in USA. I laughed because it has exposed rear mounted coils. I thought that went out the collapse of USSR. But rear is better for a few reasons
I would not buy a major appliance made in Mexico
What do you think of the "job banks?" In case you don't know, that is where a union member goes when he is no longer needed on a particular job. The company still pays him 85% - 95% of his pay while he does nothing. If he is offered another job he doesn't have to take it and can remain in the job bank, meaning idle, as long as he wants while still being paid.
Regulations? What about affirmative action, minority set asides, can't fire a person without going through a detailed, painstaking process of building a paper trail of violations and short comings, a 'hostile work environment", sexual harassment, and all the other nonsense HR requirements? What about having to evacuate and destroy minor fume emissions from printing inks, having to capture and evacuate minor ozone emissions?
There are many, many more and we haven't even gotten to corporate taxes.
parsy, who thinks greed and a poor national policy are to blame
When you make money or earn a bonus it is only fair; when someone else does it is greed.
Like I said, unions do stupid things sometimes. I am not for getting paid to sit there idle. If the type of work has minor time offs from time to time that is one thing, but overall, the union risks the company up and moving to the South if it is too often and too costly.
As far as the HR stuff I have seen companies do bad things to workers and usually get away with it. Unless a protected class, most hiring is at will and most courts are dead set against getting involved. Courts even throw out good cases.
I still think wage differentials are main reason jobs leave. If “crap and played” passes, then you will see an exodus like you never seen.
parsy, who thinks it will not pass
Communists, socialists, unions, “capitalists” as I mention above, politicians, government officials, and on and on all have a self interest that is detrimental to the other groups. They all go about their destruction in a different way and they are all fighting for the same slice of pie. Unfortunately we are all caught in the middle of these power battles.
Excess in all things leads to misery and even capitalism has its extremes. That said I still agree with Friedman that its the best of all the choices in terms of a model for society.
Well, it beats the heck out of being a commie. If I had to wait in line 8 hours for a tube of toothpaste, I probably wouldn’t.
parsy, who brushes twice a day, and 19 times on each side
In ar-KIN-saw? That’s a lot of brushing for three toofs.
They, the commies, believe they are doing good by looking out for the great unwashed and uneducated (in their minds). They don't see what they do as evil like you and I do, just another point of view.
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