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I totally agree with you that he's a joke... All he's basically done is hit the accelerator as the nation heads towards the cliff. I *wish* there was a good reason to believe Romney could turn this around, but I'm not seeing it. That being said, I respect your difference of opinion, and quite frankly, I hope you're right. If Romney somehow became one of the best presidents we ever had and the jobs flooded back here and the nation entered a new golden age, I'd be grateful... I don't see it happening, but hey, maybe someday something will end up in favor of the working class in this nation.
I'm giving Romney a chance, BUT if Christie runs in 2016, lets just say Mittens better have a A+++ record.
As for the UAW, I'm no fan of them, either. But let's not kid ourselves - the survival of the Detroit Three is far better than putting hundreds of thousands more people of out work if they had failed... and no, I don't believe for a moment that some wonderful corporation would have swooped in, bought them up, and kept on employing Americans... after all, we're apparently "too expensive" to employ, and the failure of the Detroit Three would have been a perfect opportunity to send more jobs overseas, which has been an ongoing theme in all adminstrations for decades now.
The problem with the big 3 is not the current workforce. It's the older, much more sizable workforce that drastically outnumbers the current workforce. Automated processes have greatly reduced the number of workers required. The big 3 still have a huge quantity of retired workers, who were doing much of this currently automated work by manual means. One can blame the union. I blame them quite a bit for many mistakes made. This problem I speak of though is the most significant, and there is really no way around it. There is no mathematical solution. As time progresses, even more workers are going to be replaced by robots, who do not pay union dues. The union model is simply not sustainable under such conditions.
What is the answer??? Well, your guess is as good as mine. The first company I worked for, where I served my apprenticeship, declare bankruptcy. Even still, they were not able to rid themselves of the obligation to UAW pensions. White collar workers were not so lucky, and they got shafted big time. The companies sinking was largely perpetrated by the white collar, in the know crowd, but every white collar worker suffered just the same. I have no idea what will happen with the big three and their union, and offer no solution. The union will fight for what they feel is right, and the companies will do what they can to keep them at bay.
Yes, that was stupid, but you could write a book on the stupid government backing of bad financial decisions that happened under the last Republican adminstration... Housing Bubble, anyone? And is Obama a socialist if he's trying to help a business? Or is it only socialist when a Democrat spends government money on businesses, but it's okay when a Republican does it (trillion dollar Bailout, Detroit Three Bailout - that started under Bush, etc.)
Keep swapping puppets all you want... as long as the same puppetmasters remain, nothing will change.
I'm giving Romney a chance, BUT if Christie runs in 2016, lets just say Mittens better have a A+++ record.
Mittens won't offer anything to this country. He doesn't seem to have much idea of what he is planning to offer now. He is running as the candidate opposite the guy in now. Nothing of material worth, but his slogan might as well be "I'm not that guy". Might as well be Homer Simpson, and he would still get my vote.
And this is why I complain... This election is a battle of which turd smells the least. And I vote we flush what's in the toilet now. I'm not going to fool myself into believing anything will change though. Nobody has the brains or guts to address the systemic, structural problems actually facing this country today. Either that, or people are too stupid to even realize what they are.
Andy I could not agree more with your post. I have pointed out many times in my posts. There are systemic structural problems in this country. Many go back 30 years in the making no one fixed them. Romney has no plan or guts to fix anything. We need less labor then years ago we will need even less in future. Our population keeps growing our jobs do not. Our future is low growth we are on a race to the bottom. Do I have the answers no but we better work something out. Otherwise the US will be Spain in 20 years. What do you do when you produce everything you need with only half of your population working? What do you do with the other half? People may need to work but it will not be there.
Andy I could not agree more with your post. I have pointed out many times in my posts. There are systemic structural problems in this country. Many go back 30 years in the making no one fixed them. Romney has no plan or guts to fix anything. We need less labor then years ago we will need even less in future. Our population keeps growing our jobs do not. Our future is low growth we are on a race to the bottom. Do I have the answers no but we better work something out. Otherwise the US will be Spain in 20 years. What do you do when you produce everything you need with only half of your population working? What do you do with the other half? People may need to work but it will not be there.
You're looking at it from a simple labor model though. It's also an issue of debt (on previous purchases going back years) hampering short term consumption and spending. This is going to hurt everything. There is nothing any president can do about this. Ultimately, we face a situation of dismal short term earning potential, from the large crops down to the little workers, while trying to pay the drinking tab from previous years up until now. It's a 2 pronged attack, and it's not going away. If we had more spending going on, the job problem wouldn't be quite such a big problem. Yes, labor requirements are going to continue to shrink as time goes on. I think the U.S. is in the best position to gain from this, along with much of Europe and Japan. The problem is, there is not enough consumer demand to even support the would be benefactors of technological advancements in the workplace.
Either way, this problem is here to stay, unless all debt was magically wiped clean. Of course, this would only go to reinforce and reward further reckless behavior. Bubbles have happened before, particularly in oil towns and such. I think we have seen some of the largest bubbles to date over the past 30 years. You don't go through the bursting of such massive bubbles without saying "ouch"...
Andy I agree with you about debt. I have talked about the issues of debt in my other posts. We have too debt at every level state local fed. I feel 100's of cities and few states will go under in the next 20 years. There is no tax base left in many cities to even cover the debts on a good day. Yes they can file and get from under those debts but it means millions of layoffs over 15 to 20 years. There will be nowhere for these workers to go. I have no idea what happens to millions of other state and local workers when their health benefits and pensions check end. Many will be too old no one will want to hire them to start with. Consumer debt is way to high at all levels credit cards student loans car loans houses. This will be a drag on the economy at least 15 years. They will be paying back old debts not new spending. I understand not wanting to reward bad behavior. But alot of this debt is not going to get paid paid back simple as that. They may wipe it clean or settle for 30 cents on dollar. We are moving to a time of lower wages temp work and fewer jobs all around. As well as a large part of the population being permanently underemployed. We have bubbles in health care student loans the list goes on. The bubbles will pop and hit a very weak economy to start with.
Andy I agree with you about debt. I have talked about the issues of debt in my other posts. We have too debt at every level state local fed. I feel 100's of cities and few states will go under in the next 20 years. There is no tax base left in many cities to even cover the debts on a good day. Yes they can file and get from under those debts but it means millions of layoffs over 15 to 20 years. There will be nowhere for these workers to go. I have no idea what happens to millions of other state and local workers when their health benefits and pensions check end. Many will be too old no one will want to hire them to start with. Consumer debt is way to high at all levels credit cards student loans car loans houses. This will be a drag on the economy at least 15 years. They will be paying back old debts not new spending. I understand not wanting to reward bad behavior. But alot of this debt is not going to get paid paid back simple as that. They may wipe it clean or settle for 30 cents on dollar. We are moving to a time of lower wages temp work and fewer jobs all around. As well as a large part of the population being permanently underemployed. We have bubbles in health care student loans the list goes on. The bubbles will pop and hit a very weak economy to start with.
And a lot of what you are talking about is based on what consumers demanded. Chiefly, they demanded cheaper. How does one accommodate that? Well, labor has traditionally held a strong position in total cost to produce or provide services. Hence, we get a job market offering low wage jobs, once all the bubbles burst and the financial games fizzle. Everything happens for a reason...
Andy I could not agree more with your post. I have pointed out many times in my posts. There are systemic structural problems in this country. Many go back 30 years in the making no one fixed them. Romney has no plan or guts to fix anything. We need less labor then years ago we will need even less in future. Our population keeps growing our jobs do not. Our future is low growth we are on a race to the bottom. Do I have the answers no but we better work something out. Otherwise the US will be Spain in 20 years. What do you do when you produce everything you need with only half of your population working? What do you do with the other half? People may need to work but it will not be there.
I completely agree. We are headed for armageddon. A ticking time bomb. Some of these issues have in fact been in the making for decades. But seeing as how americans are always looking out for numero uno they just decided to turn the other cheek and shrug. I don't see how you can have an economy with a population of poor people.
I completely agree. We are headed for armageddon. A ticking time bomb. Some of these issues have in fact been in the making for decades. But seeing as how americans are always looking out for numero uno they just decided to turn the other cheek and shrug. I don't see how you can have an economy with a population of poor people.
I agree. The signs of decay of Western Civilization are right there. Yet, people pull that spread the sunshine stuff and insist on being hopeful and positive.
Without a substantial plan and the ability to turn things around, it will tank. Just like all great civilizations do. Overpopulation, working class upholding the poor and the rich...
[SIZE=+1]"...keep them down by hard labor, poverty and ignorance, and... take from them, as from bees, so much of their earnings, as that unremitting labor shall be necessary to obtain a sufficient surplus to sustain a scanty and miserable life." --Thomas Jefferson to W. Johnson, 1823[/SIZE]
I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.- Thomas Jefferson
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