BoiseBYU wrote:
I agree 275%. Govt. waste - at the Federal level is nauseating. Here's another fine example. The Hostess debacle.
Remember when Hostess was driven out of business? Hostess was unprofitable with their existing union contracts. They had already re-structured 2x. The Teamsters Union guys were willing to re-negotiate their contract and make concessions - to keep Hostess alive and save their jobs.
But, the other Union - the AFL-CIO Bakers, Confectionary, Tobacco, blah - blah Union would NOT re-negotiate and make concessions. Of note, the average baker in the USA makes $11 an hr. These "BCTGM" Hostess bakers were making DOUBLE the national average, plus benefits, plus pensions. Get the picture? Yet, the Baker Union folks refused to make any concessions. Hostess closed their doors and was liquidated. The Teamster Union folks lost their jobs because of the Bakers inflexibility. 18,500 total lost their jobs.
But - and here's the Federal govt. waste - the Labor Dept. decided to take care of the Baker's Union and all the Union folks at Hostess with a multi-billion dollar pork barrel program called the TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance).v
If the Labor Dept. concludes you have lost your job because of "foreign global trade" pressures - you are in. These 18,500 Hostess workers that destroyed their company have been qualified for the TAA assistance.
They get re-trained for another job, plus moving expenses, plus baby sitting expenses, 2 years unemployment pay, and if your new job pays you less than what you were making at Hostess - the Fed. govt. will make up 50% of the difference.
To top it off - there is zero evidence foreign baked goods put hostess out of business. It was Union intransigence.
What's behind this? In 2012 liberal Democrats blocked 3 free trade treatises in Congress. It's part of a deal between the Dem's and Unions. It's wasteful to the tune of billions of dollars. It's our liberal Federal govt. at work.
Bottom line - you and other honest Federal workers are paying the price through the furlough program so the liberal Dem's can continue shoring up their base and buying loyalty with the tax payer pie. It's very wrong.
Ddawg your last statement is incomplete. It is not just liberal dems who are the cause of our friend's furloughs (of which I've experienced to the tune of 20 plus days myself over the past couple of years) but a completely broken system in DC. Conservative republicans demanding unneeded exorbitant weapons systems are just one of many examples from that side of the aisle to note. DC is full of ideologues who do not seek common sense and compromise. With the current group of intransigents we'd never gotten a Constitution, which is full of compromise and problem solving......
Not meaning to hi-jack the thread, but the fact is that many GOP voters are far more moderate than the media would have you believe (eg 'Lower taxes, yes, but give my @#$%&!@# govt benefits!').
I said the same thing during the election and after. There are enough Republicans who are conservative on social issues and talk the talk on fiscal issues, but who are so vested in getting theirs from the community chest that they get scared by any discussion about smaller government. I believe this is why fewer Republicans voted for Romney in 2012 than McCain in 2008. Romney had an established history of fiscal responsibility through aggressive budget management. That scared the "pork" out of some GOP voters.
Fact is, there are lots of conservatives who we go to church with who pay almost no federal taxes after their mortgage deduction, charitable contributions, and child credits. But these same folks talk about lowering taxes and then argue for flat taxes which would almost certainly increase their tax burden.
I just finalized my taxes and I'm going to owe about $6K in addition to what was withheld (due to a one-time stock bonus from my employer). Makes me angry at any and all waste, because I can't justify deficit spending in my own life.
