Ever hear the phrase: "Bulls and Bears make money - Pigs get slaughtered?"

What this means is that when negotiating, you can never expect to win all the time. You have to end the negotiations so that both sides feel good or at least not taken advantage of.
That is being a bull or a bear.

But if you always demand to win 100% and never give anything to the other side, that is described as a PIG. And no one ever helps the PIG when they are down.

You meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down. SO being kind to the people you meet in life and as you rise in life, is prudent, costs nothing or very little and offers you a safety net should you ever find yourself on the way down.

UNIONS are always demanding overly large salary increase PLUS additional excessive health and pension benefits.

These pension benefits are what is bankrupting cities and large companies all over the USA.

W,hen a company or a city bankrupts they can wipe out the excessive pension growth payouts and
re-set the pension payouts to a more "normal" expectation.

I have zero empathy for unions that demand 8% or 10% or 12% pension growth for its members. That is excessive expectations and unsustainable. But pensions never care about that. They are by definition PIGS. And what happens to PIGS??? They get slaughtered.

SO I am in favor of cities going bankrupt and for companies going bankrupt.
That does two things.

It levels the playing field for pensions between union and non-union.

It reduces real estate taxes or reduces corporate expenditures that are strangling the city or the corporation. That is good for everyone ...

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford.

OVERPAID TEACHERS WANT A 35% SALARY RAISE

When teachers in the teacher's union say they will strike because  it is about the students - who are they kidding. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE STUDENTS. IT IS ABOUT AN UNREALISTIC 35% SALSRY RAISE AND IT IS ABOUT THE UNION GETTING MORE UNION DUES FROM THESE TEACHERS.

Who does the union think they are fooling? Not me. They are trying to screw you and me, the Taxpayer into believing they are in this only for the children. BUT all that is being asked of the teachers is that the teachers teach Chicago students. If they can't get a group of students to listen to their teaching, then something is wrong with the teacher's ability to manage a class.

All that is being asked is that the Chicago teachers spend a only FEW MORE MINUTES in the classroom.
And what is the Chicago teachers' response??? They want more money. Not a little bit more BUT 35% MORE OF YOURS AND MY TAXES. THEY WANT A 35% SALARY RAISE.

WILL ANYONE BE GETTING A 35% SALARY RAISE FOR DOING A MEDIOCRE JOB IN THIS ECONOMY?
OF COURSE NOT. THEN WHY ARE THEY ASKING FOR THE 35% SALARY RAISE? IT IS JUST GREED AND IT SHOWS THAT THE TEACHERS DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE STUDENTS.

These teachers should be happy they are employed in this terrible economy. BUT these 'piggy' teachers lead by a greedy union want 35% more pay. THERE IS ONLY ONE PLACE THAT 35% SALARY RAISE CAN COME FROM AND THAT IS INCREASED REAL ESTATE TAXES AND INCREASED STATE TAXES.

IN OTHER WORDS, WE ARE BEING ASKED TO SHELL OUT INCREASED REAL ESTATE TAXES AND STATE TAXES SO A FEW TEACHERS CAN MAKE AN ADDITIONAL 35% SALARY INCREASE. I SAY MAKE AND NOT EARN BECAUSE THE TEST RESULTS OF THE CHICAGO STUDENTS SHOW THEY ARE NOT LEARNING.

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford

Here we are in the second depression in 80 years with about 14.4% of total unemployment. That os about 48,000,000 people. 48,000,000 million people with a job!!!
Middle class Americans are losing their incomes and life's-savings with no jobs in sight to get these people back to work and what does the CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION DEMAND???

THE CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION WANTS 25% TO 35% RAISES.

The Chicago students are among the dumbest in the nation by test standards. The drop out rate is closing in on 35% and more. And to help these children, the Mayor has suggested that the teaching day be extended by a few minutes. A few minutes and the CHICAGO TEACHERS ARE THREATENING A STRIKE IF THEY DO NOT GET HUGE RAISES while saying it is about the students. Yeah, right!!!

THE CITY OF CHICAGO CAN NOT AFFORD THESE RAISES UNLESS THEY RAISE REAL ESTATE TAXES AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. PLUS, THEY WILL HAVE TO RAISE THE SALES TAX - ALREADY THE HIGHEST IN THE NATION.

A salary raise in these times is unAmerican. A salary raise in these time is not paying their fair share. A salary raise in these times when students are failing badly is just being piggy. A salary raise in these times would force many people out of their homes because they will not be able to pay their real estate taxes. A raise in this depression when 48,000,000 people are unemployed or under-employed is not paying their fair share.

CHICAGO TEACHERS SHOULD BE ASHAME OF THEMSELVES. THEY ARE ASKING TO BE ABLE TO GORGE THEMSELVES ON FILET MIGNON WHILE OVER A MILLION CHICAGO AREA RESIDENTS ARE WITHOUT A JOB, GOING HUNGRY AT NIGHT AND DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL.

UNIONS. WHAT GOOD ARE THEY? THEY WILL BANKRUPT THE CITY OF CHICAGO AND THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. AND FOR WHAT? THEY DO NOT NEED THE EXTRA MONEY FOR ANYTHING BUT LUXURIES.
TEACHERS ARE SERVANTS OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO AND THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.

WE NEED TO ELIMINATE THE TEACHERS RIGHT TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE GOVERNMENT.

Why should an unemployed person have to shell out their real estate tax increase so the few teachers can have a salary raise in this depression while bankrupting the city of Chicago and the State of Illinois.

THAT'S WHAT UNIONS DO!!!

Some one must stand up to these teachers. The union must learn to not always be asking for more money. The teachers are overpaid as it is with salaries reaching $75,000 to $125,000 and with a failing student learning effort.

WE NEED TO ELIMINATE THE RIGHT FOR THE UNIONS TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE CITIES AND STATE GOVERNMENTS - OR WE WILL ALL BE BANKRUPT.

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford.

Why does CA need a high speed rail?

California, prone to earthquakes, has approved a high speed rail project. Really? And how much faster will CA residents be able to travel from San Diego to San Francisco? Maybe save a few hours - at best. This looks like a highway for illegals traveling north as well.

Who really benefits from this high speed rail project? The union members who will build it and the union members who will run the trains. That means more pension expense for the state. But the towns along Highway 5 or 101 will lose all that business from drivers that would travel through these towns to gas-up and grab a bite to eat or even sleep over on their way - just like the towns along highway 66 that lose most of their business when highway 66 was replaced.

So lets look at this financially.
Less city and town sales taxes.
Less local gasoline taxes.
Small businesses that depend on the traffic from people driving up and down CA will close.
More local people will be out of jobs.
Less jobs means less Social Security and medicare taxes will be received into the US Treasury.
More unemployment means more stress on the CA's state deficit - almost as large as Greece's debt.
All this means that many CA cities and towns will have to increase real estate taxes.

And why are we building this high-speed rail system???

Because the unions want this project.

Everyone else in CA will lose.

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford

Unions and Real Estate Taxes

Just received my Real Estate taxes. They are up just over 11% WHY??? Union jobs are up. WHY??? Because the 1.4 Trillion dollar bailout to the States allowed States to keep going without making any budget cuts or enough budget cuts. And what are the biggest expenses of these States? Union pensions. And who will pay for these unfunded pensions? People who pay Real Estate taxes and State Taxes.

What can I do to relieve myself of this unfair burden? I'm looking at various States to re-locate to.
States with the lowest State Taxes, Sales Taxes and Real Estate Taxes.

In the meantime, I live in a blue state where welfare takers and unions are the majority. So there is little I can do the persuade enough voters to vote for a Change in the President this November. But as an American, I believe it is my duty to point out current administration lies and mis-directions.

One thing we need in my State and every state is to eliminate the ability of unions to negotiate their salaries and pensions with the States. This is absolutely wrong. Why should non-voting people have the power to take my money when taxes have to increase to pay for their negotiations???

Talk about paying your fair share. Unions should only get at most a modest 2.5% return per year. Not a dime more. And if the market declines their pension payout needs to decline just like my 401K. And these union workers need to reduce their expectations of their retirement pay-out in their pensions. And these union workers need to WAIT UNTIL THEY ARE 67 before they get a dime in pensions just like my social security.

Obama keeps talking about paying your fair share. Well that works for union workers as well.!!!

And that's the way I see it...
Straight Talk with Jay Clifford.

Unions are stalling jobs growth

The other day, I past a small construction site. They were rebuilding a burned out home.

There were at most 6 or 7 workers - all non-union tradesmen who were doing a job

that would have taken many more union workers to accomplish the same thing at three or 

four times the cost.

So why does having a union with more workers not make sense. Because with union workers

the owner could not afford to re-build and the property would have stayed a burned out lot 

for years. 

But there is more to this scenario. The union was picketing this small construction project.

This put these few tradesmen out of work for weeks at a time. Every now and then a cement

truck would arrive when the union picketing was absent and work would get done. 

When I asked the picketers why they are picketing, their answer was for better wages. Then I

asked why picket a non-union small personal project. Their answer was that: "They all had to 

stand together."  But I said they were not union and picketing would not affect the union's

negotiating plus stopping or delaying this project hurts other businesses that would supply the building materials for this project. Their answer; "We all have to stand together."

Then I tried another approach by asking isn't it better to have a job with current earnings than to be without a job for weeks or months because the union is picketing? They just shrugged and repeated

the party line.

What do you think? You, the readers, must have an opinion. Lets hear from you. And please be polite.

Non- polite or vulgar e-mails will be deleted. 

And that's the way I see it...

Straight Talk with Jay Clifford