Dear PrezBO,
I understand that you are very, very busy these days. Getting ready to deal with the flaming bag of dog pooh that W has left on your front doorstep is a big job. There's the war, the occupation, the recession (or the depression if you're one of the more than 25 MILLION people using food stamps these days), and the stock market crash. Oh, and what to do about the failing US auto industry?
As with most start-ups, the key to future success is the foundation you are laying before your operation goes 'live'. Foreign relations: Secty of State, National Security Advisor, Secty of Defense - check! Law enforcement: Attorney General, Secty of Homeland Defense - check! Economy: Treasury Secretary, Economics Advisor, Secty of Commerce - check??? Hmmm...what's missing from this picture? Oh yeah, the frickin' workers!!!!! Hello? President-elect Obama, where is your nominee for Labor Secretary? Remember labor? The workers who are the backbone of the economy, and therefore key to it's recovery???
With all due respect, sir, the US has barely survived 20 plus years of administrations that have put corporations before citizens, and I had hoped to see some movement in this area by you before now. Especially considering all that labor did on behalf of your election efforts. You say you want to help re-build the middle class, how about looking out for their interests in the marketplace? Labor is the driving force behind a healthy economy - workers that earn a reasonable living should be the desired market for goods and services here in the US. Employed laborers create the demand for goods, thereby sparking life into manufacturing, creating the need for more workers, who in turn, make their own purchases, etc.
Surely, if I understand this, a man of your considerable intelligence does. So, why not show that your pledge to 'main street' wasn't just lip service, and make your selection of Labor Secretary a priority - and, it really, really should be someone from organized labor, in my most humble opinion. As a member of the progressive community, I have been quite understanding that you are going to govern as the centrist you truly are. But, unless you want to bring your honeymoon period to a premature end, it's time to show the working poor some love through action - or the next flaming bag of pooh on your porch may bear the Union label!
Respectfully yours,
JM Ferretti
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22 comments:
Obama's appointments thus far would barely raise an eyebrow if they were McCain's choices. As has been pointed out by others, notably Robert Scheer, he's put the foxes in charge of the henhouse with his economic team. Very disappointing medicine from Dr. Change.
God, ferret, what are you hoping for? More union control? Don't you see any connection between union demands for higher wages and the rise in outsourcing?
Actually, gina, what I see is a higher demand for profits leading to outsourcing. Has the decrease in wages related to outsourcing lead to lower prices for the consumers? Noooo, they charge the same prices for goods, and pocket the difference.
What surprises me is why big business isn't supporting universal or single-payer healthcare. GM is reportedly the single biggest consumer of healthcare & pharmaceuticals. It would save them boatloads of money if we had - dare I say it? - socialized medicine.
gina - do you work a 40 hour work week? Have health benefits from your employer? Get paid sick and vacation time? Thank a union...
Jean the Miner is correct on all acounts. Reagan's trickle-down theory has been proven false. Maybe this would be a good time to establish a worldwide minimum wage and let a genuine free market flourish.
WV: Bunteria, the Giants' shortstop for 2009
yogi - no way! Was that really your word verification? Classic!
FH, yes and no. To be perfectly cantudd, I clicked onto the comments before reading your post and it was bunteria, the wv for my actual comment wasn't as interesting.
wv- cantudd
As long as it was a real wv, it counts in my book. I appreciate your cantuddness...
I don't know, Ms. F.
The organized labor leaders I know in Calif. have spent their careers fighting bitter battles with the NLRB, the employers and the left wings in their unions. They're career advocates. They see a lot from a narrow perspective. They're mainstream zealots.
I have to admit, however, that a startling appointment to Sec. of Labor would send a message. But the real work that needs to get done is on the NLRB, I think.
Disclaimer. I am not a labor lawyer.
I have no idea how to fix this economy and increased unemployment but I *do* know one of the problems is corporate slanted attitudes towards what can be defined as income. I've seen first hand a controller make a multi-million dollar investment at 4.5% return and be derided by the company's president for not holding out for 5.5%. He didn't see a profit of 4.5%. He saw a loss of 1%.
It's this thought process that enough is never good enough that abets job losses and cutbacks.
**
And I am not a labor lawyer. though i play one on T.V.
;)
WV: pasubair. Buckwheat asking Alfalfa for the oleo
BTW, J.M.
PrezBO?
The B O part has a...connotation
:)
WV:priesses. female clergy who don't cross their t's
Hey Ferret, will you admit that you were ecstatic to see the filthy animal Simpson get what he deserved 13 years later? Or did you actually respect the verdict in 1995?
--
BTW, the "WV" jokes are getting a bit tedious.
Ferret: I'm a private contractor between jobs. Waitng to sign release papers any day now and have been offered a new contract early next year. All bennies, etc, included. Not really the usual union job you seem to have.
That must be one hell of a contract you and your cohorts have...if I had known about finding a well-paid job as a professionall blogger, I would have done it years ago.
Sorry for posting without logging in, but my wv was too appropriate for our multiple personality posters - elsibi
DJ - actually, I thought the verdict in 1995 was a horrible miscarriage of justice, more of an indictment of the LAPD than an acquittal of Simpson. So, while I am not ecstatic about the verdict, there does seem to be a cruel irony about it. (Cruel for the loved ones of Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson, that is.)
gina - I don't have a union job. Not too many accountants do, since it's considered 'management' by some folks - especially when you're the controller. However, I know this country's history, and have been brought up in a union household, so my respect runs pretty deep for what those who came before us have sacrificed for our benefit. I'm glad you have such a good job lined up - congratulations. But, you are ignorant of your history if you don't think that unions are the reason that you're getting those great 'bennies'...what is considered commonplace today was won with hard work, bloodshed, and even death by union workers.
I have real mixed feelings about unions. In some ways, they're important and in some ways, they're superfluous.
My mom was in the hotel worker's union in San Francisco for a number of years. She's retired now. Never had a real great salary but has health insurance for life and a pretty good pension on top of her social security. But there's no guarantee the funds will always be there.
And I was in a union for a couple of years (with a really impressive name: "International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers-Peninsula Auto Mechanics Lodge #1414"). Basically, it was a service department at a car dealership. I couldn't negotiate my pay when I went there because I had to take or leave whatever the contract already stated. There was an apprentice auto-mechanic who was only allowed to do oil/fluid changes and such who wanted to move up. A senior mechanic decided to give the kid a break and showed him how to change spark-plugs. Someone, anonymously, told the union and they came in and shut down the shop for a week and audited the working practices. Who the hell did that help? Whoever squealed didn't do so because money came out of his pocket. He was just upset that "union rules" were being violated.
And with talking with the men and women who worked there, the majority felt the only real benefit over a union and non-union shop was you couldn't be let go without cause. And as a lovely coda, the owners of the dealership got so fed up with dealing with the union, they simply sold the place and the new owners simply decided to go non-union.
So I respect and appreciate the historical significance of what a union was and could be, but, and just playing devil's advocate here, are they really relevant in today's society with federal minimum wages, OSHA and legal protections? I'm not saying labor advocacy is insignificant, but are unions the answer?
Why, Ted, I have a new-founded respect for you.
And, in addition, why do unions have to take all members dues and support--always--democrats? There is so much that seems unfair with unions.
gina - because the Democratic Party is the party of labor. Just like the Republican Party is the party of business...
FH, you deleted my dyslexic midget joke. F&@k that,I'm out of here.
yogi - it was posted under 'anonymous', and I thought you were a different anonymous poster who was being kind of bitchy. It seemed like an attack on another poster...which you know is a no-no here. If I was mistaken, I apologize. I don't want you to leave, but just play nicely with the other bloggers.
Had I known it was you, I probably would have just given you a 'tsk-tsk', but since I didn't know I chose to play reluctant blog Nazi...
Blog Nazi.
NO POST FOR YOU!!!
And thanks, Gina, but I'm keeping an open mind and am willing to read counterpoints. There could be something here I don't know. My opinions are based on my own experiences and those of my union co-workers along with just general labor relations stuff I read about in the papers.
The main problems I see stem directly from the executive acts of the larger corporations and I don't see how any union machinations can do anything about it. It seems either a new attitude is required (which I don't see happening)or stronger regulations. In a free market world, I'd hate to see ceilings on profits or earning power but the pervasive greed as evidenced in today's world is a Frankenstein's monster.
I just don't know the solution. Realistically
BTW, dear hostess, I do very much appreciate the PrezBO reference.
dsg - my friend and I were just talking about "The Wire"...she thinks she might be getting all 5 seasons for Xmas. She also likes the PrezBO moniker...
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