Friday, March 4, 2011

5 Steps for Destroying the American Dream

Highboldltage, a Humboldt County political blog has the following labor reforms:
The following labor reforms will create millions of jobs!

1. NO ONE may work more than 40 hours per week, unless it is a truly emergency situation. This will create a MILLION NEW JOBS.

2. EVERYONE may start enjoying non-mandatory retirement benefits at age 55. This will create a MILLION NEW JOBS.

3. EVERYONE will get 6 weeks paid vacation every year. This will create a MILLION NEW JOBS.

4. EVERYONE will receive very low cost health care . This will create a MILLION NEW JOBS.

5. EVERYONE will have access to free public education from kindergarten to post-graduate level. This will create a MILLION NEW JOBS.

Five Labor Reforms, Five Million New Jobs!
Ok, when you're done snickering at the ignorance behind these reforms just remember this is the perfect utopia for socialists who want to reward laziness and punish hard work. 

Let's do a play by play analysis:

1) If NO ONE worked more than 40 hours per week, some Fullerton fire fighters wouldn't able to DOUBLE their salary.  Hmm, maybe that's not so bad.  But seriously, if we all SHARED the work, we would all SHARE the profit.  In this case, some would profit because others would loose. And neither person would have a choice.  No, if I want to work my ass off for extra money, I should be able to. 

2) If everyone got paid to stay home or go fishing at age 55 and they got "non-mandatory benefits" (not sure what those would entail), we would have some of our smartest, brightest, and skillful people not contributing to the work load.  Few people retire at 55 without re-entering the workforce.  This is where the double-dippers are born. 

3) This is great.  If EVERYONE got 6 weeks of paid vacation we would be even LESS productive than we are now.  This reform would mean I couldn't cash out the accrued time to buy a new car because I would be forced and paid not to work.  That would lead to a loss of MY productivity.

4) Obamacare.  We see what that did for us.  For this first time in 30+ years my private employer has to pass along the cost of insurance in order to maintain the same basic policy we've had for years.  On top of that, if I canceled the insurance, I would be arrested and imprisoned!  Not to mention that under these suggested reforms, the doctors and nurses would all be on vacation.  And for that matter, who would want to go into medicine if you can't earn a high salary.  If healthcare is CHEAP, I mean "low cost", how will they pay off there student debt?  Oh but they wouldn't have any student debt, thanks to reform #5.

5) FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION!  If you can't beat 'em, give'em the store.  So, how do we pay the teachers???  How would we pay for the classrooms and books???

These are all nice pipe dreams but unfortunately, they only work for awhile.  Once people see that they can't get ahead in life and that there is no hope, no American dream, no reward for hard work and effort, the party is over and the wall comes down.  People need to believe that they can have whatever they want if they work hard enough and smart enough.  Without that hope, there is nothing. 

5 comments:

  1. What was left of the American Dream was flushed down the toilet by that senile old fool Ronald Reagan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Point one: Firefighters are called Emergency personnel. By nature they and other emergency workers would be somewhat exempt. The self employed would also have to be exempt.

    Point two: Not everyone just sits around or goes fishing. Some invent things in their garage or start some other sort of business. Others would be available to help watch the kids when the get home from school and the parents are still at work. They can help with the family or neighborhood garden and would be there when the cable guy or gas company says they will be there between 9 am and 5 pm.

    Point 3: The US workforce is more productive than they have ever been. Look up the numbers. They would be even more productive if they had more time off to recharge and spend time with their families.

    Point 4: Obamacare as you call it is not low cost health care. You just said so yourself that your boss now has to make you contribute just like the unions are being asked to do. True low cost health care like a Medicare part E for All single payer system would take the burden off the backs of business and would spur growth in every industry except the health insurance industry. This would allow people to choose a job that they would be good at instead of staying in a job where they are only there for the insurance. This would spur growth.

    Point 5: California used to have free college before Ronald Reagan was Governor. We used to train our own engineers and scientists, now we import them from India. We would import them from European countries but they wouldn't want to take a pay cut and less vacations. Also that point about how the doctor is going to pay back his absurd school loans would be a moot point. You could allow people to pay but those that don't have the money could volunteer or intern for two years in their professions after they graduate to have their loans forgiven. This would actually help create more doctors because they wouldn't have to worry about going bankrupt before they get their practice started.

    You and I have different dreams.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That being said, we should probably talk more on the phone. Both you and I seem to be a bit too far to one side or the other for the average, not so informed public. Somewhere between your thinking and mine is a formadable candidate for any office.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1) Emergency workers (first-responders) could work 40-hr work weeks like everyone else except that they would have the opportunity (unlike everyone else) to earn overtime and potentially double their salary as one firefighter in Fullerton did last year.

    2) Others would not be "available" to watch the children since that would be a job and entitle them to just compensation. Surely a union would be formed to "protect the rights" of the workers.

    3) Tom, the difference between me paying more or the public employees paying ANYTHGING has one, yet huge, distinction. Public employees and nearly all of their benefits are paid for by taxpayers, not a for-profit company like the one I work for. My employer chooses to protect corporate profits and in turn the likelihood of my continued employment.

    And then we have to consider who would be paying the subsidy on the "low cost" medical insurance. The doctors won't cut any further and why should they?
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    cont.
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    ReplyDelete
  5. Under current law, emergency rooms cannot deny treating any emergency patient regardless of their ability to pay.

    I do not see any growth accept in government workers managing health care.

    HOWEVER, if you want to talk regulating health care providers and insurance companies (two different entities), then perhaps you might have something. California has a great and little-known agency named the Department of Managed Health Care. They do a fantastic job of being advocates for patients and forcing providers and insurance companies to follow through with care that may be deemed costly by the company but necessary for treatment.

    5) We have to import scientifically inclined people because we continually dumb-down education. We, and I do mean me and the education community, allow the social re-engineering of academia to the detriment of our nation. We force students to be "global citizens" and marginalize the three "Rs". I have watched it happening even in the short 5+ years that I have been teaching. Students do not want to become engineers because they struggle with math (marginalized in middle school and high school) and do not want to spend 5-6 years earning the engineering and science degrees. Most job requirements require degrees but few require them in specific areas. So, we have a an abundance of liberal arts majors with very few in sciences.

    All that said, most can agree that a "well rounded student" is one that has had a little arts and science, depending on their major. Unfortunately, the sociology requirements continue to grow and add semesters to to the students graduation (and marketability) timetable.

    The reality is that a 2 year degree is cheap and a 4-year degree not much more. I'm not saying it is good or cannot be improved but if we apply the same logic to tuition that public employee unions apply to taxpayers, tuition at a university would be $20,000 per semester. That figure would be on par with private universities like Chapman University. Obviously that would force a majority of students out of school and would create a much larger problem.

    Loans are made between two parties and are an agreement. I suppose if the lender chose to LOSE money, that would be their prerogative. But lenders would not be able to stay in business long if they were to practice forgiving loans. Further, how would BofA make money if an engineer interned at Boeing for 2 years? Not sure I follow that money trail.

    Yes, we are at opposite ends of the spectrum on these issues. however, if you and I can find some perspective that falls somewhere in the middle, we both might be closer to the answer to all of the problems that we and future generations will face.

    With all of that said, the original suggestions made will not create the utopia you seek. Communism and socialism, much like democracy, has a finite future. Needless to say, capitalism calls to the human spirit. Remember, under socialism if an inventor came up with a new product ALL of the profit would have to be shared with everyone else, even those who do nothing by choice. That does not sound remotely fair.

    ReplyDelete

Greg Sebourn

The Beauty of a Storm

The Beauty of a Storm
Orange County, Ca.

My Grandma - A Eulogy

LET'S TALK ABOUT 1914 FOR A MOMENT.



FOR STARTERS, GRANDMA WAS BORN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1914 IN HER FAMILY'S ATWOOD RANCH HOUSE.



IT IS WORTH NOTING THOSE ALSO BORN IN 1914:

JACK LALANNE

JOE DIMAGGIO

DANNY THOMAS



AND WHO DIED IN 1914:

JOHN MUIR, THE FAMOUS NATURALIST FOR WHICH NUMEROUS ROADS, PARKS, HOTELS, AND NATURE RESERVES ARE NAMED.



IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT IN 1914 WOODROW WILSON SIGNS MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION AND BABE RUTH MAKES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT WITH THE RED SOX. MOTHER'S DAY AND BASEBALL- TWO OF MY FAVORITES!! (PERHAPS HER NICKNAME "BABE" CAME FROM BABE RUTH???)



GRANDMA WAS BORN INTO A PERIOD OF TIME FILLED WITH TURMOIL. IN JUNE OF 1914 ARCHDUKE FRANZS FERDINAND WAS ASSASSINATED. WITHIN ONE MONTH WORLD WAR I RAGED ACROSS EUROPE. TWO DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH HOWEVER, GERMAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INTERRUPTED WWI TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. (PERHAPS THEY PAUSE KNOWING THAT A GREAT WOMAN WAS BORNE) WORLD WAR I CONTINUED UNTIL THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES IN 1919.



ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SHE SAW THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED AND THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS APPROVED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS GUARANTEEING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN TO VOTE.



SHE LIVED THROUGH MANY NOTABLE EVENTS. LIKE THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE OR WHEN ATWOOD FLOODED ALONG WITH MOST OF ORANGE COUNTY IN 1938 AND THE FLOOD-WATERS CLAIMED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE, 43 OF WHICH WERE FROM ATWOOD! ALL OF THIS DURING A TIME THAT WE READ ABOUT IN SCHOOL AND KNOWN AS "THE GREAT DEPRESSION". SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT SHE FOUND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, GRANDPA LEO, GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GOT MARRIED, AND HAD KIDS!



THEN THERE WAS WORLD WAR II. FROM PEARL HARBOR TO HIROSHIMA, GRANDMA WAS RAISING MY UNCLE BOB AND MOM ARLINE. WITH AIR-RAID SIRENS AND BLACKOUTS SHE WAS A WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT A TIME TO RAISE CHILDREN! I BET GRANDMA'S PARENTS WERE ABEL TO TELL HER A THING OR TWO ABOUT RAISING KIDS IN WARTIME.



GRANDMA WAS THERE WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA HELD THEIR 3RD ANNUAL NATIONAL JAMBOREE IN 1953. SHE SAW AIRBASES OPEN IN '42 AND CLOSE IN '99. SHE WATCHED WALTER KNOTT START UP HIS BERRY FARM AND WALT DISNEY TURN ORANGE GROVES AND STRAWBERRY PATCHES INTO DISNEYLAND!



SHE SAW THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE FADE AWAY INTO HISTORY AND SPACE TRAVEL EXPLODE BEFORE HER WITH THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. FROM TUBE RECTIFIERS TO SUPERCONDUCTORS; FROM TRANS-ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES TO SATELLITE TV.



SHE SAW MORE IN HER 93 YEARS THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER READ ABOUT, LET ALONE LIVE THROUGH!



OF THOSE 93 YEARS IT IS MY HONOR TO HAVE BEEN HER GRANDSON FOR 35 OF THEM. SHE WAS MY MOTHER WHEN MOM HAD TO WORK. SHE WIPED MY NOSE AND PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH. SHE LET ME PLAY WITH GRANDPA EVEN THOUGH SHE NEEDED HIM TO TAKE HER TO THE STORE. SHE WAS MY GRANDMA AND I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY.



JUST LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM; SHE DID THIS. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE INTO THIS WORLD AND TOGETHER TODAY. THIS IS HER LEGACY.



A Dedication To My Loving Wife, Stacey. Thank you for all you do for me!

Brad Paisley - I Thought I Loved You Then


I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight
I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then

Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.

I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then

Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.

I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more
But I’ve said that before.

Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in
And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then...