REALITY CHECK

The government cannot guarantee you any benefits
or services
WITHOUT FIRST TAKING IT AWAY FROM SOMEONE ELSE.

Plain and simple. It is a zero sum game.
The government has only the money it can take from citizens.

And the debt is just an elaborate way to to pretend the government has money.

That is the basis of socialism. Socialism takes from some to give to other.
But as we saw in the brief history of communist Russia, some people get more than others.

Socialism can be seen as the plunder from some to give to others. But the others usually are not the productive citizens. They are the takers of the system. They offer nothing in return for their taking.

Maybe it would be a great time to read ANIMAL FARM.
A short, great book that is fun to read and has a deep meaning - specially now.

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

Proofs Unions do NOT care about its menbers

Boeing7,000 technicians have voted to strike because they do not want to have their pension funds transferred to an IRA - just like most other wage earners. OK - I can se the self interest in their wishes.
But the other 15,000 Boeing workers who voted for the plan will also be hurt if the 7,000 techs strike.

Then there is the ability of Boeing to become profitable. This is absolutely important. If Boeing goes out of business than all 22,000 Boeing workers will be out of work.

By striking, these 7,000 Boeing union workers will cause financial problem for Boeing. And Brazil's luxury jets or France's Air Bus will replace the orders that were given to Boeing. Gone will be the profits for Boeing. So even if the 7,000 tech union workers win and keep their pensions, they will not get anything contributed into the pensions because there will be no Boeing profits for several years.

The 7,000 tech workers and the 15,000 other Boeing workers would be better served if they just accept what almost all workers (including office workers) have for their retirement savings - the IRA.

 I also believe that as part of the negotiated package, that executives making more than 100,000 have their salaries cut by 5%; and those making over 175,000 have their salaries cut by 10%; and everyone making more than 250,000 have their salaries cut by 15%; And everyone making more than 500,000 have their salaries cut by 20%. Now something like this would be fair to all since it is the company that needs bailing out and "sacrifice should be shared by all workers - union members and executives alike."

Additionally, The executive pensions need to be converted to IRAs at the same time all the other workers have their pensions transferred to IRAs.

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

Union's dis0incentive to work

Let's say you want to build something. If the unions get involved, you have to buy materials from
union companies. When hiring, you have to hire union workers. If a worker is a specific tradesman
such as carpenter or plumber or electrician, you can't ask them to do something easily done if it is
outside their "trade". So you have to WAIT for a particular TRADESMAN to show up and do the simple job. You can't even do the job yourself and save the money. That is not the union way.

The
union way demands featherbedding. That means having more people to do the job then is necessary.
And you can't have anyone on the job that is not  union worker - even though they might be better at their work than any union worker and faster at their work than any union worker.  And even though you are financing the project, you can't fix a problem yourself. Your have to again WAIT for a specific tradesman to arrive and do the simple work for which they get paid a rich wage and then the
project they were pulled from has to wait until that tradesman gets back to their area.

And have you ever travelled on the highway during construction season. You will see groups of construction workers standing about doing nothing while one or two other union people are doing the work. That is what unions are about too.

Unions have outgrown todays world where there are too many people for two few jobs. The law of supply and demand needs to be at work and that means unions must accept lower expectations. It is the union pensions that are bankrupting almost all the states and many of the cities in the USA. Take away
the union pensions and all the states have a balanced budget and the same foe all the cities.

And I have to remind you once again who pay for these pensions. It is you and me in our Federal,
State and sales taxes.

 The solution is easy. Let the States go bankrupt and dissolve the union pensions at 10¢ to maybe 25¢ on the dollar. By the way, that would still give union workers over 50% return on the money they contributed.

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

More Union Logic

Today, I saw a picket of three men on a small building project.
There are usually never more than 4 or 5 people on the job.
it is a slow project with limited funds.

But these three men were stopping deliveries of building supplies.
So the building supplies were never delivered. The company that
delivered the supplies could not make any money but cost them
money for the deliver. - money lost.

The workers could not get paid because they had nothing to work
with and were sent home. - money lost

But the union continued to stop deliveries to this small project.

WHY? I ask. What harm does this one small non-union project
cause to the unions? It's about power, leverage and payoffs. OK,
when I say payoffs, I mean union dues. Money the union can use
to do whatever it wants - usually to bribe congresspeople to vote
in favor of union wants.

This is a cycle that has to stop. It does not help anyone. The 4 or 5
workers will not get any better wages. They are already paid more
then union wages. They are all part-time workers - like most
construction workers. And they are skilled in more than one function,

Therefore, one week a laborer might be installing iron and the next week
 they might be installing dry wall and the next month electricity. All
certified by city officials as "up to code."

But in a union workplace, the iron workers would get one wage and only
work for a few days. They would be replaced by dry wall labors and
the electricians would do their work as the dry wall persons go home.

That to me does not make sense. I would rather have a few good all around
workers on the job from start to finish when doing a small project like
the one I'm talking about. Then use those same workers on the next project.

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

More Union Logic

Remember Hostess?

I have loved their chocolate cupcakes for decades.
And don't forget about twinkies.

The unions demanded a wage increase that the company
could not afford. So what Happened? The company
went out of business and all the workers were laid-off.

But the unions believes they won. They showed the
company that they had the power. And at what price?

So many union workers out of work with no prospects.

Now some companies want to buy the guts of Hostess.

And what is the union doing?

They are demanding that the new company hire the
old workers and re-instate all their pensions. But it was the
high wages and the excessive pensions that put the company
 out of business. So what happened???

The new company backed out of the deal and the
workers are still unemployed. And the Cupcakes with
the cream centers will not be baked.

Union logic at work at its best.

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

Union Logic

The Chicago Teacher's Union demanded more money. And oh yeah, they
wanted something intangible for the students. BUT they wanted more money.

So the City of Chicago finally agreed. The union had won the first round.

Now Chicago is closing schools in order to pay for the salary increases.
That is the only way to pay for the increases. The city is billions in debt and
owes more for city and teach workers' pensions.

How does closing schools pay for the teachers' salary increase.

Simple. The city gets to 'lay-off'' teachers. That saves salaries and
saves pension money.

So who really won? The teachers or the unions?
Neither won. Many teachers will lose their jobs.
The union will lose the month union dues.

That's union logic.

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

Unions and Marijuana

Marijuana is becoming legal in 17 states so far. And the unions are stepping in.
The unions want to organize the workers of these medical marijuana stores. But
what I think they really want is control over the distribution channels. The unions,
just like the mafia, wants to control marijuana distribution.

There is so many ways to hide money or laundry money in these stores.  That
has to be a major draw for the unions and the marijuana cartels. It's like 'prohibition'
all over again. And history tells us that it was a bloody time. It was also a time for
crime syndicates to grow and prosper. Plus the corruption of out police and courts
caused a major problem that still exists today in many cities.

The camel's toes is in the tent. Now we need to keep the unions out of the
marijuana business.

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

Unions have OUTLIVED their days

Why should the majority of taxpayers have to pay
for the union's pensions while the majority of taxpayers
do not even have a pension.

It's usually ugly when the union guys show up at a rally.
They bring out the bullies and thugs. Who are these big,
ugly bullies?
Do they work for the union or are they union members?

It's time to stop unions being able to negotiate with "public"
funds. Public finds come from you and me in the form of
taxes - state taxes and/or real estate taxes and/or sales taxes.

Taxes nene-the-less.

I would rather have my taxes go towards helping all the citizens
and to balance budgets - not for union pensions.

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