Let’s take a moment on Labor Day, 2007 to remember that America was built into the great nation it is today on the sweat and blood of no-bid contractors.
And now, a Labor Day message from our President:
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
Might we also take a moment to think about the men and women(fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters) who are laboring in the most unselfish way in foreign lands. These men and women deserve our respect and our thanks.
They also deserve to come home. Now!
We must continue to vote for change and insist on accountability for our leadership.
We are taking our damn country back!!!
Darryl, I think you meant to say America was built on the sweat and blood of no-bid contractors’ employees.
And, you could add, workers have seen their wages stagnate and labor’s share of GDP drop even as productivity soared.
Meanwhile, hedge fund managers get to pay capital gains taxes on their multi-billion-dollar salaries.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention those hedge fund managers financed the mortgage bandits who raped the economy. The billions they get in salary is nothing compared to the hundreds of billions they’re going to cost consumers and taxpayers.
The main reason housing prices shot up so much is because flippers bought 25% of the homes sold during the “housing boom.” Lowdown no-down lending made this possible, which in turn was made possible by the laissez-faire economic policies of Republican government. Middle class wage earners will end up paying for it in multiple ways. Once again, the laboring classes get screwed.
Republicanism, and the pirate capitalism that Republican troglodytes love (because it enriches the predatory classes), have brought misery to America’s working classes time and time again. How many times does this cycle have to repeat itself before workers understand that all this talk about “free markets” and government regulation being “socialism” are a gigantic scam designed to separate them from their hard-earned wages?
Republicans just don’t use wedge issues like abortion and gays to separate neighbors from each other. Primarily, they use them to separate workers from their cash.
don’t just
Happy Labor Day? I’ll tell you what makes a happy labor day: Unions. We need more unions. It’s no accident that wages of American workers have declined in tandem with the decline in union membership. There’s a cause-and-effect relationship there. Now, for the first time in living memory, labor’s share — that is, ALL wages paid to ALL employees — of GDP is less than 50%. LESS THAN HALF the money goes to workers, even though workers comprise most of the population and do ALL of the work! Things are out of whack! The Owner Class gets too much, the working class not enough. Another fucking failure of the so-called “market economy,” which in reality is a rigged economy. Hillary Clinton won’t change this; there’s a reason why she’s raking in campaign dollars from corporate PACs and CEOs who gave money to Bush in the last two election cycles! If you’re a worker who’s tired of getting fucked over by a government in bed with bosses, you need to support John Edwards. Make this a real Labor Day by voting for labor instead of the capital-owning class! It’s not enough to throw out the Republicans; you have to throw out the sellout Democrats, too.
Bush is spending Labor Day in Iraq.
Happy labor day to the laborers. Management can kiss my ass.
@7 He’s probably giving Gen. Petraeus pointers on how to write h is report.
I am Republican – I believe the beginning starts at inception and the end starts with Birth.
Happy Labor Day fellow progressives. You may have heard this story before. My wife right now is a member of SEIU. In her last job she could almost never take a break, her lunch was interrupted. Everyone in this shop worked 3/4 time with benefits. Why? They wanted to minimize overtime. But there was so much work, overtime was inevitable. Of course, management busted a gut every time someone earned overtime. Management was so cheap they hired unqualified foreign help who could hardly speak English and this was a medical clinic where communication skills are critical!
And the benefits? The typical 60/40 split for the medical plan you find in non-union shops.
Now she works in a union shop. She gets her breaks and lunch. She leaves work on time. The shop is well-run – it has to be – when you pay more for labor, you don’t take it for granted as much. The medical plan is affordable. She brings home more money.
So Happy Labor Day to everybody even to you bottom-feeding, Limbaugh-addled, Union-hating wingnuts. Enjoy the day off brought to you courtesy of generations of laborers who fought for it.
UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION, UNION!!!!
I will be working today, and I’m grateful to have a job and am certainly not complaining, so that MTR and Marvin can have their mail tomorrow, government leach and inefficient slime that I am.
I realize that Republicans, like those mentioned, should be treated much better by we serfs who so poorly execute our trivial occupations so that they might enjoy their well-deserved privileges.
They might give some thought, however, to the aristocrats of the French Revolution, who never thought their exalted positions could come to an end. I’m unaware if any of Louis XVI’s court spent too much time in the public commodes at the carriage depots, but perhaps…..
Union Leaders are compensated in much the same way as corporate bosses – they receive many times the base pay of the entry level worker. They live high, have private jets, a big expense account, and are pictured with all the rich and famous.
When they push for a strike, the union boss continues to receive all these benefits, never missing a pay check or a free lunch. The worker loses pay and benefits and will never make it up, no matter what the settlement.
To make it better, the Union Bosses take large chunks of union dues and spread it around to their favorite Politicians. Those contributing their hard earned dues to this corruption have no say, and probably don’t vote for the slimes accepting the graft. Together the Union Bosses and Politicians manipulate the system to preserve their positions and keep out any kind of threat that might come from a competitor.
Happy Labor Day.
Open Letter To Puddypud:
Is there some reason that you continually refer to Goldy as assie voiced?
I am wondering has happened in your life, how your parents raised you, how you were accepted (or not accepted) in school, at work or by your peers that you continually use the term assie voiced.
What in your experience leads you to believe that this is an acceptable and mature way to make a point? Because you are black, Republican and loud you seen to believe that you are smarter, entitled and superior to the rest of us. Unfortunately for you, you are sadly mistakin’.
What you are is a common variety ignoramus. Your arguments, which you believe to be intelligent and thought provoking are nothing more than the inane ramblings of a sad, pathetic black man who needs this board to garner the attention that is otherwise so obviously missing in your life. You are like a five year old, acting out to get the adults attention. You get all the attention that you so desperately crave without ever realizing that it is not the brand of attention that you need or really want.
There is not one person here, I promise, who is impressed with the defecations that you leave scattered on these threads. Yourself excepted of course.
Puddy, it is time for you to look inside yourself, find the man you are supposed to become and not the one you erroneously believe yourself be.
A few days ago, Tony Dungy, the Indianapolis Colts head coach, called on Michael Vick to stand up and be a positive role model, to put and end to the image of black men being sent to jail.
Puddy, I am calling on you to step up and lose the name calling, lose the snide remarks, lose the childish attitude and conduct yourself here with respect and honor.
Anything less is unacceptable.
Janet S @ 14:
Janet,I am not sure what planet you are from but most “union bosses” forgo their pay when the rank and file go out on strike. It is done as a show of solidarity.
I would like you to cite one article, one creditable source to back up the fiction in your post. Just one, Janet S.
As for spreading around the dues to their favorite politicians, bullpuckey. Any union member may at his request reduce the amount of dues he pays by the amount of his dues that would go to political causes. Look it up, Janet S. It is federal law.
15 – Yeah Puddy. MLF is right. What the fuck is wrong with you wandering off the plantation.
Get back where you belong bruthah…
Hey Moonbats – Your razor sharp political instincts are right on this time. Surrender and Socialism are surefire winners.
Go for it…
As SJ, I am especially proud of the role my people have played in the American Labor Movement. As we brought our ethical traditions to a free society, the emergence of Jews as labor leaders was a natural outcome.
My own grandfather, a rabbi, chose to work as a roofer because he felt the Jewish tradition of the community supporting students of Torah was not fair to workers.
I have posted a brief tribute to some of these Americans at SeattleJew.
Damn if it’s not happening AGAIN. This time with the articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking african american.
Obama insisted it was a “moral responsibility” to fight against wal-mart while his wife is being paid more than the average american makes in a year on the dime of wal-mart.
Yet, while her style and performance are winning plaudits on the campaign trail, a little-reported business interest of Mrs Obama’s has opened her husband up to one of the criticisms that politicians fear most – the taint of hypocrisy.
She is taking a break from her main job, as a well-remunerated Chicago hospital executive, to campaign for her husband. But she has just been re-elected to the board of an Illinois food-processing company, a position she took up two years ago to gain experience of the private sector.
And the biggest customer for the pickles and peppers produced by Treehouse Foods is the retail giant Wal-Mart, the world’s largest corporation and the bête noire of American liberals, including Sen Obama, for its employment practices, most notably its refusal to recognise trade unions.
As the Illinois senator prepared to join the presidential fray late last year, he threw his weight behind the union-backed campaign against Wal-Mart. He declared that there was a “moral responsibility to stand up and fight” the company and “force them to examine their own corporate values”.
According to the couple’s tax returns, Mrs Obama earned $51,200 (£25,700) for her work as a non-executive director on Treehouse’s board last year, on top of the $271,618 salary she was paid as a vice-president of the University of Chicago Hospitals.
She also received 7,500 Treehouse stock options, worth a further $72,375, as she did the previous year, when she banked a $45,000 salary from the company.
Earlier this year, in response to a newspaper investigation, he said he was unaware that his broker had bought $50,000 worth of stock in two speculative companies whose leading investors included some of his biggest political donors.
He has also apologised for his “boneheaded error” in striking a property deal with Tony Rezko, a Chicago Democrat operative facing a federal indictment.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....bama13.xml
It’s a shame that the american liberal biassed media doesn’t report on democrat hypocrisy on a daily basis. Although I will admit, the MSM is just
panderingmaximizing their profits by giving their liberal/democrat viewers what they want.(this is on topic, it’s about obama talking about sticking up for those that aren’t union employees while he is profiting on the backs of the people he is supposedly standing up for)
My challenge, is there a democrat candidate that ISN’T a hypocrite?
20:
Is there Republican candidate who is not a child molester, gay, both or criminal?
Mark:
Your defecation here is legendary. Your mindless rants are infamous (that’s not the good kind of famous).
I would have addressed you, but like my post to Puddy did, it would sail clean over your head.
Pay your debt. Or even better, disappear.
MLF – you have no documentation that shows union bosses forgo their pay. Why do I have to prove they collected their money, as is their legal right to do? If they want to forgo their pay, that is their perogative, but it isn’t required and it is subject to their whim. They legally have nothing at stake in a strike.
Many polls have shown that the political donations made by unions is not in proportion to the political leanings of its membership. But it is a difficult and tedious process to get the union to stop using your personal dues for political action. That’s because the union writes the rules on what is “political” and what is “advancing the worker’s cause”. Big money to Hillary is seen as supporting the working guy, because she always votes for Big Labor. But it is a political vote, and I shouldn’t have to support it. But I do, through my union dues.
As for the latest travesty going through congress, where a union shop is established if a majority sign a card: we might as well just decree we are a communist country and move on. My uncle was a goon for a union and bragged about beating up and threatening those who didn’t want to sign that card. Times haven’t changed so much. Why do workers have to sacrifice a secret vote, so Hillary and her friends continue to receive the AFL-CIO largesse?
@20 If this be the hypocrisy of Democrats, wow ..
Yeh, Ms. Obama should take an oath of poverty. Like Gandhi, and like the Mahatma wear home spun wool and leave her family penniless.
You need to try harder.
How about the hypocrisy of someone like yourself who snipes from his closet? Are you ever going to respond to Harvey’s gentle posts? I ‘spect not.
Sp while you want to pee on Ms. Obama for collecting a few dollars as a board member, we imagine you sitting ion the toilet. notebook at hand trying SO hard to find an issue that turns you on. Gad… what an image!
Here is an idea, take a walk. Find a mem day picnic someplace. Share a brat and beer with your fellow workers. It will do you some good.
@20
Oh my god!!!! Are you the dumbest fucking person on earth?!?!
So, Barack Obama’s wife works for a company that does business with Wal-Mart, while Senator Obama criticizes Wal-Mart’s labor practices, and this is supposed to be an example of hypocrisy?!?
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
Marvin, you are the dumbest person on the planet. I have some oceanfront property in Iowa I want you to check out.
Hahahahahaha!!
Hey guys, for all you Stamn fans out there, highlight reel #2 should be up fairly soon (possibly tonight, depending on how my day goes). It includes the fun and excitement from the Larry Craig thread where Stamn finally stepped out of the closet.
Happy Labor Day!
Janet S.,
Janet S, I too can bang away on my computer and make wild statements. I choose to disagree with you because you are wrong. Union leaders are there to lead. Just as an example, the local leader of one of the grocery unions in WA state has a take home pay equal to the highest union wage earner in his bargaining group PLUS one dollar. This is excessive in your eyes? Again, almost to a man the union leaders at the union local level forgo their pay when the rank and file is on strike. Solidarity. Something you know nothing about.
Goon beating up people who don’t sign cards? This is not the 1920’s. How is that any different that Walmart firing anyone who even looks at a union print out.
Tedious process? You are too lazy to make a call, sign a statement? You are full of excuses. Long on words. Short on commitment.
Is it true that Marvin and Puddy are married now?
And MTR was the best, er, man? Or,maybe MTR is actually Marvy’s father.
Or is it that we get more horseflies on holidays?
Lee, Marvy is not the dumbest person on the planet, he’s about average for a Republican front man at minimum wage, so you need to make SOME allowances as to his abilities to sort out the meanings of what he reads. He probably has difficulty moving his lips fast enough in the longer documents.
Janet S,
Speaking of hypocrisy, how do you justify being a union member and paying dues? You get all the benefits of union membership all the while calling for an end to the union.
Quit your job. Find non-union employment in the same field and then come back and tell us about your pay and benefits.
Having the courage of your convictions is very sexy. Try it.
@24
SJ,
Thanks for the classy response – I can’t even respond to him as if he’s a sentient person any more. Stamn has left a trail of stupidity over this weekend that is overwhelming. I’ve tried to keep track of it all for the next highlight reel, but it’s almost too much.
If you think he’s being ridiculous in trying to paint Obama as a hypocrite, you should see what he’s trying to pull with Edwards.
chadt,
Marvin is the illegitimate love child of MTR and Janet S. They have requested Puddypud to be the God father.
@28
As I tried to explain to Marvin in another thread, he’s actually a special kind of retarded because he’s actually convinced that he’s smarter than all of us, and that we simply can’t see the light. He thinks that John Edwards should be completely aware of what every company in all his financial portfolios are doing. He thinks that if Barack Obama is not firebombing Wal-Marts, he’s not sincere in his criticism of them. The man is dumber than a metal post, and I’ve got another highlight reel to put together, so I’m signing off for now. :)
MLF, Thanks, but I can’t even begin to keep with the genealogy in here, much less the biology: I thought MTR had no dick, but Janet had a lot of balls. Am I missing something?
Marvin,
Let me make this easy for you. Who should I vote for? Who should the next POTUS be? If you can answer in a straight forward manner, without rhetoric and vile, I will consider your candidate.
For now, I am torn between Edwards and Clinton. I have reservations about Obama due to the lack of experience in foreign policy. However I am aware of the importance of change and the gift of hope. JFK gave us those, he elevated this country simply with his message. Perhaps the time is right for new blood, new hope.
Give me your candidate that meets my requirements of hope, commitment to change, the ability to lead with confidence and to speak with authority. Who among the candidates do you feel is ready to lead?
Lee:
With all of Marvy’s songs and dances, you ought to be able to work in some vaudeville.
I’m convinced that he’s being paid by the word. He’d be wealthy if he were making more than $1.98/hr.
chadt:
Apparently there was not only an exchange of bodily fluids, but they also exchanged genders in a effort to make one of them a man. The process failed.
MLF
You’re more perceptive than I; I couldn’t determine if any of them were human.
Am I the only one who is wondering what happened to Ethel, Fred’s first wife? Did she dies or did he divorce her? Or am I confusing two Freds?
After AFSCME abandoned my wife when she got sick (they decided that her case wasn’t worth defending) and was eventually forced into retirement by her superiors at WSDOT (adding insult to injury, they reclassified her retirement as ‘voluntary termination’, which made all her benefits disappear – another reason we’re suing), I find it hard to give a damn about unions any more.
Yeah, happy labor day. Whatever.
BTW … can any guru tell me how to post images here?
I suspect the bulk of the real wage loss is partly due to the blood sucking libs continual tax grabbing of your bottom line. You’d have thousands more per year in your paychecks without this current state administration.
Remember to take credit for your just part on Memorial day!
@40
I don’t know of a way to embed an image into a comment here. If anyone knows, I’d love to know how.
@24
Sorry, Steve, I’m still laughing at this and trying to put into perspective how remarkably dumb his comment is. By Marvin’s logic, if I criticized the management of my company in any way, I’d inherently be a hypocrite because I also receive money from them. Awesome, truly awesome.
Stamn: ha ha ha! You’re so funny! Do you what they jokingly call the Telegraph in Great Britain?
The “Torygraph”!
And the “Torygraph” is frequently quoted by right-wing trolls.
Once again you’ve exposed that your “independent” schtick is a scam and a fig leaf for your right-wing agenda and yes, your Republicanism.
Re 34
(sound of crickets)
Janet (you ignorant slut)-
Thanks for crapping in this thread like usual. It’s always great to have you around to make fun of.
34
Come on Maaahvan. Out yourself. Name your candidate.
Whimp!!
I find it funny that anyone would seriously consider voting for John Edwards. Did you hear his latest? That if we get his universal health plan that you are required to see a doctor once a year? Not sure what happens if you don’t, he managed to leave out that part. At least Hillary listed out fines and jail time to those who violated her health plan.
This is the same guy that takes huge speaking fees on his Poverty Tour. He also makes sure his daughter gets big royalties for a book never seen by normal people but published by Rupert Murdoch, while at the same time boycotting debates on Fox.
I actually feel sorry for him. His wife is very ill, and I think he is doing whatever he can to make her happy. It is the only rational explanation for his behavior.
Too bad not much is mentioned about Homestead, Ludlow, the Everett Massacre, the Spokane Free Speech Fights by the IWW, Haymarket, and others of the great struggles for the right to organize. Also on Labor Day, it would be nice, even if it is the Liberal Talk Show Hosts to bring up certain Organized Labor facts not getting much press. There are two reasons why Amtrak employees are not on strike despite their contract becoming amendable in the waning days of the Clinton Administration. The PATCO Precedent, and the Railway Labor Act. The former is an example of a way of keeping Labor Unions representing government employees in line, the latter is an interesting example of labor law that does
not get much press.
The RLA is a law passed during the 1920s and mainly amended in the 1930s to extend it’s provisions to the growing Airline Industry(only profitable at the time because of the Air Mail), to keep the nation moving. The Strike is the absolute last option, because as long as both sides are negotiating, they are cannot strike. Even then, there are provisions where Congress, the President, and/or a Federal Judge can impose a cooling-off period. Amtrak and the brotherhoods(the name given to railway unions, like the Brotherhood of Railway Engineers and Trainmen) have not had meaningful negotiations in 2 years, but the RLA requires small increases on terms of the contract, because contracts, unlike non-RLA contracts, are perpetual. Also, this is another thing that does not get press, Taft-Hartley does not apply to the RLA!
http://www.nmb.gov/documents/rla.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_Labor_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.....er_the_RLA
Teachers who go on strike should be fired and barred from ever working in the public schools again. Their contract states that they are not legally allowed to walk out. And yet they do. And our governor does nothing.
The teachers have nothing to lose by walking out. Every day missed will be made up, and their bank account will never feel any pain. It might mess up vacation plans, family trips, graduation, summer jobs, but hey, it’s for the children!
Oh, almost forgot about the Pullman Strike. Most around here would think about it as a strike by some company in Pullman, WA. The Pullman Strike of 1894 was over Mr. Pullman, owner of the Pullman Company cutting employees pay at the factory where the cars were assembled, and keep rates for company housing the same. It nearly brought the railway system in the US to it’s knees, as secondary boycotts of Pullman Sleeping Cars hit 29 railroads, including operations of Pullman’s few remaining competitors(they were not a monopoly yet).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike
Janet S.:
You are indeed one dumb bitch.
Let me see.
From the Chicago Tribune, what do you know, today’s edition. You just have to love “the” Google.
http://tinyurl.com/33ugmu
“As Rudolph Giuliani prepares to run for the nation’s highest public office based on his image as the heroic take-charge mayor of New York in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it may be his highly lucrative time in the private sector that invites the most scrutiny.
Since he left office, Giuliani has leveraged his image as “America’s mayor” to his decided financial advantage and in ways that belie his man-of-the-people persona.
He commands $100,000 for a speech, not including expenses, which his star-struck clients are happily willing to pay. In one speech last year at Oklahoma State University, Giuliani requested and received travel on a private Gulfstream jet that cost the school $47,000 to operate. His visit essentially wiped out the student speakers annual fund.”
Fair use doctrine, blah, blah, blah……
Tit, tat. So Rudolf takes huge speaking fees. The students have no more money for speakers, but Rudy now has the dough to cover the spousal support for his ex wives.
He has the morals of any ordinary womanizing beast. Once a cheater, always a cheater. I am sure that Janet S. will reappear and excoriate the Republican candidate. (sarcasm alert).
Shove it Janet S. Just keep posting away, this is too easy.
50:
You childless bitch. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAah!!!
I agree teachers should not be allowed to strike, but also school districts should be forbidden to take advantage of that law. Any school board member who does that should be expelled from office and barred from never running for a school board seat ever again.
Just like the New York Transit Workers strike of 2005. The MTA took advantage of the law barring such action to do illegal activity of their own, trying to mess with the pension system, which was illegal. The MTA admitted that after they had got their way with the employees back at work. Now if you have a problem with how much a subway motorman makes, try operating a 10 car train of subway cars, on a system that is pretty old. There are still portions where the interlockings are mannually operated. The reason? Shutting down a line that runs 24-7 is a bad idea. Now maybe they can automate some functions and go conductor-less(the trains operate with a crew of 2) on the new 2nd Ave Subway, but the older system would take too much time to upgrade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.....Resolution
Janet Shill @14: “Union Leaders … have private jets …”
Hey Janet, why don’t you post a list of all the union leaders who have private jets?
Then, post a list of all the bosses who have private jets.
Guess which list is longer?
Janet S. You must be laughing your ass off about now. I am voting for Edwards. Here is why:
Romney- Mormon. ‘Nuff said. (we won’t mention all the flip flopping).
Rudy- Cheating bastard, NY’ers don’t even like him. Takes credit for what he did not do. Hired Bernard Kerik. Seriously lacks good morals and judgment.
Fred Thompson- ROFLMAO……OMG……STOP……
The rest of your candidates are fringe players just upping their visibility.
No matter who the Dems run in ’08 we are going to have a Democrat administration. Be it John, Barack or Hillary or any combination therein. Enjoy the next year. It is over you and your law breaking, constitution trampling carpetbaggers.
Oops, meant barred from ever running again for school board.
Janet Shill @23: “That’s because the union writes the rules on what is ‘political’ and what is ‘advancing the worker’s cause’.”
Hey Janet, here’s a clue for you: Maybe Republicans would get more of that union ‘political’ money if voting Republican didn’t make wages go down, working conditions get worse, and benefits and pensions disappear.
@27 “Or,maybe MTR is actually Marvy’s father.”
MTR is biologically incapable of being a father.
@34 “For now, I am torn between Edwards and Clinton.”
All you have to do is look at where their money comes from.
@37 “I couldn’t determine if any of them were human.”
Understandably difficult when all they evr say is “ookle ookle.”
ever
(Hmmm … Mrs. Rabbit has been eating jelly sandwiches over the letter “e” again)
One thing that Unions are accused of, is not allowing people in the shop of doing different jobs. That is sort of true and untrue on Amtrak. Case in Point, an incident mentioned in Passenger Rail News Column of June 2007 Trains Magazine. Amtrak 7/27 leaving Chicago on Feb. 28, 2007 suffered several problems but still made the run despite being delayed by waiting for a bus with 6 passengers off a late Lake Shore Limited making a connection so Amtrak did not have to put the passengers up in a hotel to wait for the next days run. That required what is called a dog-catch crew to relieve the conductors and engineers in the middle of North Dakota as their 12 hours expired. A waiter became ill in the diner, and did the coach and sleeper attendents say Union Rules prohibited them from volunteering? No, both a coach and sleeper attendent pitched in between their normal duties. Also Amtrak has the coach attendents on the Builder being runners from the diner for a supposed at-seat dining option, they know how to do it. Also, I tried getting on with Amtrak last year the Seattle Crew Base mainly staffs the Empire Builder, as well as Amtrak Cascades. They said it is not uncommon for new hires to want to be trained to do multiple jobs to avoid being furloughed during the off season.
As for the dog-catch rule, and the Hours of Service Rule, it was the brotherhoods(Railway Unions) that helped get that going. Now there is talk about bringing that rule into the modern era, as it has not been updated in a long time. The Brotherhoods, now merged with the Teamsters in some areas, are ready to make sure that any changes do not unfairly benefit the railroads at the expense of the crews.
@41 “You’d have thousands more per year in your paychecks without this current state administration.”
Really? Let’s test this theory with some facts and figures.
The “current state administration” raised gas taxes 9 1/2 cents a gallon (to repair, replace, and expand roads and bridges so you can get to your job and commerce can flow).
“Thousands” with an “s” is plural so for GS’s statement to be true, you’d have to pay at least TWO thousand more in gas taxes, per annum.
$2,000 divided by 9 1/2 cents is 21,053 gallons of gas per year. If you’re driving a typical 12,000 miles per year, you’re getting .57 mpg. That means you’re driving one of these: http://tinyurl.com/2vmzfm
Yep, the gas taxes are a killer, alright, but think of how you can roll right through traffic jams!
My previous post ends with the word “jams.”
Janet S is crying now over post 56. She shit here and forgot to wipe up after herself. So I did it with sandpaper.
That oughta learn her good!!!
Roger has tied posts 62 and 64 together in post 65. He is one clever little bunny. He pointed that our for our troll friends who seem to have trouble laughing. Maahvan, is that you?
@41 (continued) Now let’s pretend the “current administration” enacted every state and local tax on the books, and test GS’s statement that “you’d have thousands more per year in your paychecks” against ALL state and local taxes.
(That’s nonsense, of course, as nearly all of these taxes have been around since long before Gregoire took office, but let’s play along to humor GS … )
We know from the Gates Commission report that the lowest 20% of Washington households pay 17% of their income in state and local taxes, while the highest 20% pay 4%. I’m not sure exactly what the state-local split is, so let’s just lump them together and call them all “state,” because if cities and counties didn’t pay for cops, courts, and jails, the state would have to.
Let’s say you’re a SeaTac skycap making $25,000 a year. Your “state” taxes are about $4,250. Yep, that’s thousands, all right!
Now let’s say you’re a Boeing engineer making $100,000 a year. Your “state” taxes are about $4,000. Yep, that’s thousands, too!
See the problem here? There’s just no way to get out of paying thousands in “state” taxes! Regardless of whether you make $25,000 a year or $100,000 a year, you’re going to pay about $4,000 in “state” taxes!
So, what’s the solution? Well, it ought to be obvious. Washington doesn’t tax income, only spending. If you don’t spend anything, you won’t pay any “state” taxes!
Impossible, you say? Believe me, it can be done! I’m an expert on not spending anything! I’ll even share my secrets with you:
1. Be a rabbit
2. Live in a public park
3. Housing costs nothing if you dig it yourself
4. Eat grass
5. Use your hind feet for transportation
Now, GS, show me where a rabbit living in a public park in a hole he dug himself and eating grass and hopping from one place to another pays one fucking cent of sales tax, excise tax, property tax, gas tax, or any other tax!
Clearly, paying “state” taxes is a voluntary activity. If you choose to be a human, live in a house, and drive a car — that’s your problem!! So quit complaining about it.
But, GS, if you insist on that lifestyle, and refuse to the sensible thing and live like a rabbit, maybe one thing you could do to lighten your “state” tax burden is to vote for Democrats who support a state income tax so the highest 20% pays their fair share. Redistributing the state/local tax burden in a fairer manner, which is long overdue, would lower your taxes. Why do I say that? Because I think we can be pretty sure YOU are not making $100,000 a year! And don’t drop that lady’s bags while you’re thinking about this.
@41 (continued) Even a rabbit can figure out that someone making $25,000 a year paying the same state/local taxes as someone making $100,000 a year seems a little weird.
P.S., I see in the news that Tom Stewart is moving his business to Arizona and putting his $125,000,000 Vashon Island estate up for sale to get out of paying Washington inheritance taxes.
This freeloader has spent his entire life making money in Washington. Obviously he located here because of Washington’s favorable business climate and the many business opportunities here. You can be sure that a penny pincher like Stewart wouldn’t have spent decades in this state if there wasn’t some sort of tax break involved.
Like, NO INCOME TAX.
Now that he’s at death’s door (or thinks he is), he’s picking up his whole bundle of sticks and fleeing to a tax-haven state so his bequests won’t be taxed, either.
Of course, he could achieve the same result by giving his billions to charity. Guess he doesn’t want to do that. I’m not sure what his family situation is, but I do know he has dogs and raises cattle on his 1-square-mile Vashon Island estate, so maybe he’s going to leave his pile to a favorite dog or cow. He might even throw in $100,000 for the chauffeur, too.
It would be interesting to know how much money Stewart has given to Republicans and rightwing causes over the years. In that sphere, his generosity has been unbridled. The state GOP will be losing their biggest contributor. It’s only cops, courts, and jails he doesn’t want to support.
The bright side of Stewart’s departure is (a) candidates like Carlson, Craswell, and McGavick won’t be able to tap into Stewart’s deep pockets for campaign cash anymore, and (b) the rest of us won’t have to listen to this blowhard bloviating about government oppression anymore.
For aerial photo of Stewart’s $125,000,000 530-acre Vashon Island estate, click here: http://tinyurl.com/2jah6o
@70
Roger,
A little info on Tom Stewart. You know the guy from the Tri-Cities who’s being held in Hong Kong on charges of raping his own daughter and putting the video on the internet? He was my boss, and I’ve been told by several people at my office that he’s also Tom Stewart’s brother-in-law. I haven’t written about that aspect of it because I don’t know for sure, but if anyone anywhere can confirm it, it would be pretty interesting info to get out there (both Stewart and my old boss (the rapist) had been big time GOP supporters).
@43 If you criticized the management of your company in any way, you wouldn’t receive money from then anymore. At least, that’s how it works for most of us.
@73
If you criticized the management of your company in any way, you wouldn’t receive money from then anymore. At least, that’s how it works for most of us.
It depends on how much they need you around. Microsoft employees have occasionally been critical of Microsoft on their blogs and don’t get fired.
@48 I’m sure you think Edwards’ candidacy is merely a plot to get into a position to force his insurance carrier to pay the benefits they promised when they took his premium money.
Hey Janet! Is giving 25% of your health care dollars to insurance companies whose only function is to deny claims not enough free enterprise for you? Want to try for 40%?
Hey Janet! Is A&O (administration and overhead) expenses 50 times that of government-run Medicare not enough for you? Want to try for 100 times?
Hey Janet! Is 47 million working people* without health coverage not enough for you? Want to try for 75 million?
* ALL of the 47 million are working poor; the unemployed and those on welfare qualify for government health care programs.
Janet S,
I am still waiting for your well thought out, intelligent response.
(crickets chirping)
The purpose of Labor Day, of course, is to recognize (with flowery speeches by politicians) the contribution that workers make to our economy.
For example, they produce everything that gets produced.
And we need flowery Labor Day speeches by politicians, because that’s all workers will ever get. They sure don’t get the money their labor produces, and hardly anyone gets employer-provided health care or retirement benefits anymore (workers have to buy their own health care and retirement now) — and they sure as hell don’t get to pay capital gains tax rates on their earnings, take a “business expense” deduction on their helicopter commuting expenses like Tom Stewart does, or pay a 4% state/local tax rate for police protection like our state’s upper class does.
Savor the speechifying pols’ words, workers of the world, ’cause that’s all you’re gonna get.
MLF – as soon as you write a thoughtful, meaningful post, I’ll be sure to respond. Otherwise, get over yourself.
Roger – let’s nationalize health care. Then you have full access. But not if you actually have a serious problem, like the Canadians who cross the border for major illnesses. Better not get cancer in Great Britain, they have a very low survival rate because treatement is generally delayed.
There are two ways to distribute scarce resources – by price or by edict. So either pay what it costs or stand in line. But you will never be in line with Ms Gregoire or John Edwards because they are the ones who will set the rules, and the rules will say that they go first.
Also, once the system is nationalized and the average doctor gets paid the same as a school teacher, how many of the best and brightest do you think will go through that long process? Are you then going to force people into servitude so they can take your blood pressure while you are cuffed to the table at your state-required physical?
Bonus question: where did Castro go for medical help when he was dying?
I found the way to do it!
Now can someone tell me if Ethel Mertz was Fred’s first wife?
weird it shows in the review but not here.
Janet S @ 81 – as with all the rest of your talking point repeating opinions, so much bullshit, it’s not worth commenting.
@82
Ethyl died.
But she was a gas while she was still around.
@81
Mind citing some references for those assertions?
@81
Bonus question: where did Castro go for medical help when he was dying?
Spain – where they also have socialized medicine. The reason that Cuba is a mess is not because they’re socialist, it’s because they’re not a democracy.
Happy Union Thug Day fuckers… the UNIONS are failed failed failed EXCEPT in the GOVERNMENT which is the only way the incompetent middle bureacracy can keep their do-nothing jobs.
Way to screw up auto manufacturing, way to screw up education, way to screw up Michigan, way to screw up every fucking single thing you’ve stuck your dirty fingers into. AND, isn’t it just fitting that the biggest fucker slackers get the day off!
Janet? Janet? Why is it so quiet?
Surely you can provide data?
You wouldn’t just feed us Republican talking points from a Rove pamphlet, would you?
Surely you know what the fuck you’re talking about, right?
72 How very, very sad.
I’ve been spending a fair amount of Labor Day in remediation of one of the biggest collective OSHA violations and environmental disasters in the state–I’ve been cleaning out my garage.
78 Of all the presidential candidates of both parties, I at least give Mitt Romney credit for trying to do something about the problem, at least in his own state. Of course, Massachusetts and California (where my daughter tells me Governor Muscles has been working on something similar) each have their own economies bigger than all but a few countries, so they’re both in a position to try something on their own.
Really awful video on many levels. Doesnt’ make dems look good at all. Quite the opposite.
56 The references I hear to Romney’s being a Mormon bring back some rather vivid memories of what a lot of people were saying about Catholics in 1960.
93 Huh?
Exterminating republicans should be right up there with parades on Labor Day.
#13 chadt says:
Are you saying you are a postal employee??? No wonder you’re so bitter. Hey, shot any of your co-workers lately?
Are you really working today?
2007 Postal Holidays Monday, September 3 – Labor Day
http://www.postalemployeenetwo.....ydates.htm
We are trying to reduce administrative costs with our loan program due to the large number of late and delinquent loans.
http://www.pecu24.org/ASP/home.asp
Hey chadt, are you one of those that defaults on your loans?
@93 Bill Anderson
“I had one grunch, but that eggplant over there.”
Janet S at 81:
I see you have no answer.
Figures.
@97 Dumbshit Marvin
The Seattle P&DC operates 24x7x365. Call 206-768-4424 if you don’t believe that.
What the hell are you posting a link to a New Jersey Credit Union for????
You are indeed a moron; Lee has been giving you WAY too much credit.
[Deleted — Darryl, see HA Comment Policy]
94:
Artfart:
Care to debate the intricacies of what Mormon’s believe? Care to understand about what a cult is and is not? When the plates of Moroni are produced, when the see’r stone is produced, when I am allowed to inside the secret temples to see for myself then, and only then will I consider setting aside my concern for the violent and controlling ways of the LDS.
ANY QUESTIONS ASSHOLE?
By the way, I will die not wearing the sacred garments. (you feel free to use “the Google” to figure that out.
MODERATOR
101 is unattributed cut&paste
MarrrrrrrrrrrrVinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,
Who are you recommending that I vote for? Any why? The silence is deafening.
@102
AAACK!
The Dreaded Loincloth of Enoch again!!!!
I thought we were rid of it after I lost it at the laundromat!!!
The Horror!!!
wrong again fuckhead.. it was culled from several SOURCES… you do know what those are don’t you?
That’s called a REPORT… you too can WRITE a report when you visit sites like Union Facts, Labor Pains and others.
But aren’t you just the cutest little suck up tattler: ‘Teacher teacher UB is copy/pasting’ Whaa Whaaa Whaa
grow up, little girl
#25 Lee says:
Did you miss the article, let me quote:
“…a little-reported business interest of Mrs Obama’s has opened her husband up to one of the criticisms that politicians fear most – the taint of hypocrisy.”
So it’s not just me using the word. I know it pisses you off to no end that I keep posting articles/links that go against your thoughts, wishes and beliefs. Sorry. Well, I’m not really sorry. I think it’s kinda funny watching you get so annoyed.
Hey Lee, any reason you cut & ran from soundpolitics to make your point about armitage outing the spy when you were being dissected? Why not post your reply there instead of a different blog?
Marvin,
Having trouble keeping up?
I keep posting articles/links that go against your thoughts, wishes and beliefs.
To what end? To piss people off here? Stamn, you’re no better than the next right-wing troll. The old timers here have seen loads of right wing bullshit cut and pasted from right-wing propaganda outlets for years.
Get over yourself. You’re not bringing anything new to the table.
#108 My Left Foot says:
hell ya. So many people here want me to respond to them. It’s nice feeling being so needed.
@107
Hey Lee, any reason you cut & ran from soundpolitics to make your point about armitage outing the spy when you were being dissected? Why not post your reply there instead of a different blog?
Because I wasn’t posting here yet, numbnuts. Darryl linked to it anyway:
http://www.horsesass.org/?p=2692
Highlight reel #2 will be posted in about 10 minutes!
@107
So it’s not just me using the word.
Yeah, it’s some other idiot. It’s still not hypocrisy, any more than it’s hypocrisy when I criticize how what the management of my own company does.
106 – Cut and paster. Union-hating moron.
Take any phrase from your little “report” and plug it into google.
You copied and pasted it without attribution. Nothing original. Typical wingnut.
Marvin,
Who should I vote for and why?
110
You sure that is what you are feeling? I think you are just feeling yourself.
#109 YLB says:
I never said I wasn’t a troll. And if you haven’t noticed, there’s been no fox links, no rush links, no oreilly links, no hannity links – although a lot of la times and ny times links. So your point about right-wing propaganda outlets is not so well researched.
Pissing you off too am I. Get over it. I’m not being verbally abusive (except to headless lucy the racist), and certainly not engaging in the same kind of name calling the regulars do. Let goldy ban me if he feels I’m so disruptive to your egos.
Edwards talking about MANDATORY preventative care said-
“It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care,” he told a crowd sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Cedar County Courthouse. “If you are going to be in the system, you can’t choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK.”
Edwards said his mandatory health care plan would cover preventive, chronic and long-term health care. The plan would include mental health care as well as dental and vision coverage for all Americans.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....pr/edwards
Lovely, cradle to death mandatory examinations. (just to make you haters happy) Let’s say I fail a mandatory mental health exam, what happens to me, forced into a hospital and live in the same room with headless lucy? Will refusal of mandatory exams be proof of mental health issues? Of course, the government will have to take more control of your lives, dictating what and when you can eat. Big brother.
Oh Marvin get a grip. Goldy would never ban you. You are far to entertaining, not at all disruptive to our egos.
From the tone of you post, we are getting to you.
Hate typos, so I fixed it.
Oh Marvin get a grip. Goldy would never ban you. You are far too entertaining, not at all disruptive to our egos.
From the tone of your post, we are getting to you.
@119
I’ll be pissed if Goldy bans him. He’s the best thing that’s happened to Effin’ Unsound since Lou Guzzo.
Hey Marv, got any links about John Edwards got detention in 4th grade?
@119 Goldy won’t cut the fellow off. Besides who else here feeds the pooka?
For those who do not follow, I used pookadar, a tool I shared with Mike Webb, to scan Marvin and posted some preliminary estimates of who he is. Other than being upset that the instrument gave a high reading for “gay.” Marvin has not told anyone about how close it comes.
Personally, I am not all that confident about pookadar over the web. It is much easier when you have voice tones.
For thise who missed the read out, her eits is again:
Male
47 yo
closeted gay
divorced
no children
never in military
balding
drives a Japanese car but wants a beamer..
@81 FWIW Cuban mecial care is amongst the best in the world. How a society provides fro Fidel is if anything evidence that Cuba has put its resources into ordinary folks.
#120 Lee says:
Not yet. If he rises in the polls I’m confident the hillary machine will out them.
Ted Kennedy is being called out by greenpeace over cape wind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSKEix5ssng
In his defense, he’s probably scared about crashing onto one of them.
Heh, just asking Mr Edwards for a little real true math here. This should not be rocket science for Edwards.
120 Billion dollars divided by a 300 million (and growing) population = $400 per person (and diminishing), per year.
Will $400 per person buy you a years Health, Dental, and Vision care? Nooooooo
Will $400 per person buy the average uninsured individual even a month’s health care insurance alone? Noooooo
Edwards needs to go to an elementry math class, instead of drinking too much of his own Snake Oil.
My Left Foot says: “Is there some reason that you continually refer to Goldy as assie voiced?”
Carl the Left Foot, I call Goldy ASSIE Voice because he is the voice of HorsesASS. Do you get it? Maybe subtle humor is lost on you…
Sorry for the “DeLay” Carl, I was BBQ’ing some great seasoned chicken and grilling some corn on the cob out back on the deck. I was enjoying the family again this day!
I hope you and Teresa had a great Labor Day too.
I’m still totally baffled over what Marvy thinks a credit union in New Jersey has to do with me working on Labor Day…….Talk about missing links…..
Wow the rest of post #15 cracked me up except for the part of Michael Vick. Tony Dungy is right. f Michael Vick admitted his wrongs he’d be in a much better place. If Michael Vick had taught his cousin drugs are bad he wouldn’t have been busted too. But such is life. God says that done in darkness will always see light.
Now Carl I really appreciate the pixel lashing you leveled upon me. Coming from you of all people who uses FY against anyone who disagrees with you is “enlightening” to write the least.
Regarding my “worthless” arguments I use, well lets see.
I brought up Mr Hsu and HilaryGate way before Marvin Stamn did. Now the MSM is FINALLY checking it out.
I wrote the economy is going much better than MSNBC wants you to believe.
I wrote about how the NY Times and other lib orgs are using Wikipedia as their own personal sliming source changing entries and now they have been busted.
I wrote how Cindy Sheehan was thrown to the curb by Kos
I wrote about how Mattel is a Cheap Labor Liberal org, who had to recall millions of chinese made toys so they didn’t poison our children, and how they shut down their factories in the US to move to china.
I wrote nine other comments which were “lost” by ASSIE Voice and his minions. They never showed up.
Yes, all the Liberal factoids are worthless drivel to someone such as Mr Left Foot because his left foot seems to step in the muck.
That’s OK Carl, I still like you. I also expect a big F^&% Y*$ soon!
The doctor who treated Fidel was indeed from Spain, but he was educated in the United States. That’s two countries that Fidel thought were better bets than his own doctors.
Have you seen pictures of hospitals in Cuba? I mean the ones that aren’t taken on the guided tours by the celebs from the US who are in Cuba to kiss Fidel’s ass.
It is basic economics: doctors are a resource, and a resource is allocated either by free people bargaining what they think it is worth, or by the elite deciding who should live and die. Once the elite take care of themselves, the rest of us get to stand in endless lines at “free” clinics. Why would any doctor worth going to work in conditions like that, and not compensated commensurate to his experience?
Did you hear that there are donated kidneys going unused in Great Britain because of a shortage of transplant doctors?
Look it up. I’m tired of doing your thinking for you.
Carl #16 Post: I think this is a start…
http://www.freeworkplace.org/news/fatcat.php
Post#27 chadt now batting .999 for stupid comments.
@124
Kennedy was shredded by the Daily Show over that one. That is probably the best example of Democratic hypocrisy I’ve seen in a while.
The doctor who treated Fidel was indeed from Spain, but he was educated in the United States.
Isn’t that proof that a socialist system can employ top-notch doctors?
@62 Rodent:
Yuck! Sandwiches with jam and gov’t cheese on them? Sounds nasty!