Charlotte gets 2012 Dem Convention (St. Louis, St. Peters: appointed, hotel, new home)

[Cakalac81]

Got to give it up to the Queen of the South. About time they had the DNC in a new town. Barrack has a soft spot for NC partly because of our Carolina Barbecue. Much love for St. Louis. You Guys tried very hard to land this but you were up against the largest town/economic hub in between ATL and DC.

[Brickmama]

There isn't anything else between DC and ATL.

[urbancharlotte]

Originally Posted by Brickmama

Define "New South" and what makes you think it will continue to prosper?

The original use of the term "New South" was an attempt to describe the rise of a modern, industrial South that had abandoned the plantation ethos. The antebellum South was largely agrarian and sought to preserve its cultural identity in departing from the Union, which led to the irrepressible conflict. After the war, the South was impoverished and seemed to be in great need of an alternative economy. The New South was no longer to be dependent on banned slave labor or predominantly upon the raising of cotton, but rather industrialized and part of a modern national economy.
New South - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Got it? Good!

Originally Posted by Brickmama

Why have people suddenly put on the brakes moving to the South and actually start migrating back into the Midwest?

Why did the president suddenly put on the brakes moving his convention to three Midwestern cities and actually moved it to one southern city instead? I guess we'll never know.

[Brickmama]

Because as it currently stands NC has more electoral votes than the others. It has less to do with Charlotte's growth in the recent decade. If it had to do with any related to attractiveness Charlotte would be 4th.

Again define "New South" in your own terms, not wiki's def.

[aragx6]

Man, the unions really don't have the power they used to.

[Brickmama]

In 10 years they will be close to worthless. MO needs to enact the " right to work" bill and move away from unions.

[aragx6]

I very much hope that doesn't happen.

[urbancharlotte]

Originally Posted by Brickmama

Because as it currently stands NC has more electoral votes than the others.

False. Ohio has the most electoral votes.

Originally Posted by Brickmama

It has less to do with Charlotte's growth in the recent decade.

Charlotte has been growing strong for the past 16 consecutive decades.

Originally Posted by Brickmama

If it had to do with any related to attractiveness Charlotte would be 4th.

Take a good look at the aerial shots of Charlotte in this news report. Charlotte is worthy of hosting an event like this whether you agree with it or not.
Charlotte Chosen For 2012 DNC - Video - WXII The Triad (http://www.wxii12.com/video/26699787/detail.html - broken link)

Originally Posted by Brickmama

Again define "New South" in your own terms, not wiki's def.

Newer southern cities that can compete against older midwestern cities for a National political convention and win.

[flynavyj]

as a former union employee, i believe they have served a purpose...but in many cases, i believe they have out lived their original intent. Unions fight tooth and nail for better wages, work rules, and fair business practices...The biggest problem i have with unions typically is the lengths they will go through to ensure an employee isn't fired. In my previous job, it was pretty well certain that if you were off probation, and screwed up, you could let the company fire you and the union would get your job back (so long as the FAA didn't revoke your pilot's license). Sometimes that's justified, and sometimes not, unfortunately you have a hard time differentiating between what's justified and what's not and the union will typically win...If the unions were really pushing what was needed (renegotiate work rules, safety concerns, and illigitimate terminations) and would get out of the "politics" things might be better off.

PS, i also think that unions often do a dis-service to the individual employees. Negotiating general pay rates and raises keeps the employee from negotiating their own contract and rates based on their personal experience...Along with often implementing senority systems which doesn't reward success or talent, instead rewarding only experience (and even worse, simply time) which can hurt not only the employees but the customers (i.e. students with union faculty).

[MUTGR]

I wish I could find the link, but Unions keep shrinking. I think the last figure I saw was that they only represent 7% of all workers.

Politically, however, they remain amazingly strong.

And here's a link:

Waivers for Favors - Avik Roy - The Apothecary - Forbes

Only 7% of the private sector workforce belongs to unions, but they did receive 40% of the waivers issued by HHS. Not to get political or anything.