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Chi Matt -- I seem to be completely ignored. A whole lot more police on the beat would solve a lot of the problems.
Almost every problem you describe can be attributed to economic inequality. You really need to watch that TED talk on inequality. There is a direct correlation between the growing economic inequality and reaganomics. Every problem I hear the right blame on the left seems to be caused by the economic inequality.
Don't get me wrong - I am all for unionization at private companies. If those employees negotiate a better wage or benefits, then those costs get passed on to the consumer. I can always choose not to consume from that company if it's too expensive. The public-sector unions are entirely different. If they convince a politician to give them a raise, in exchange for votes usually, the politician doesn't have to care about the cost.
A few years ago we had a 66% increase in the IL Income Tax, to help cover a shortfall in union pensions. Or, to look at it another way, we're paying 66% more, yet not getting any better services, because we're paying for people who aren't even working any more. I know those people need those pensions. I know they were promised that money. But who promised it to them? The politicians. Who has to pay for it now? The taxpayers. Hell, I'd go around promising people money from other people if it got them to like me too.
I hope the garbage men get paid well. I really do. If they aren't making at least $80,000 a year, they're being underpaid. My problem is when there are four of them doing the job that one person could do. I'd rather see one person making $150,000 a year in that case.
And, sadly, we aren't allowed to dispose of our own garbage or burn it in our backyards here. We get charged for the haul-away no matter what.
Same thing with sewer - you're charged wether or not you use it.
And, off topic but interesting - if you buy a house, and the previous owner owed on the water bill, you have to pay the balance before they turn on your water. The building gets the bill, not the person. My neighbor bought a foreclosed house and had to pay a $2,000 water bill balance left from the previous owner before they turned it on for him.
AIW -- Speaking of Karma, did you notice that a tornado wiped out a oil production field in North Dakota?
Swell.
It's hopeless. I don't know how to get the 99% interested in the problem.
Sometime during the administration of Bush 41, Richard Slocum moved into Ronald Reagan's Bel Air, California home. So what! Richard Slocum, a down an out actor with few assets and no relatives had found a home. Perhaps the greatest asset Mr. Slocum possessed is a striking resemblance to the ex-president.
At the same time Richard Slocum arrived in Bel Air, the 40th President of the USA secretly took up residence in Grenada. Where he remains.
Richard Slocum played the role of his lifetime. Through indoctrination by US intelligence agencies, plus some chemical assistance to produce memory loss, convinced all but those closest to the 40th President, that Richard Slocum was Ronald Reagan.
On June 5, 2004, Richard Slocum died. He is buried in the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, CA. The inscription on the grave stone reads; Ronald Reagan, "I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life".
So what happened to Ronald Wilson Reagan? To the best of my knowledge, he is alive and living in Greneda, where he controls the Presidents and congress of the USA. Because of the marvels of modern medicine afforded to an Ex-President of Reagan's stature, he is alive and healthy at 103 years old.
For your information, Kend, presidents can't spend money without Congressional cooperation.
With so many bogus, fictitious arguments you keep conjuring up, look who's talking about glass houses! - AIW
DEA helicopter crashes- WOO-HOO! I love it when karma does the dirty work.
UNC Tarheels ~ All drug dealers have a violent history? Most drug dealers have military training? Dude, again I ask you, where are you getting your facts? I think you are living in a fantasy world. Here are some facts that might help enlighten you to the real world.
First, below you will find a link to the DEA Hall of Fame. It is a government website dedicated to honoring fallen DEA agents. Take some time to read about all the agents who died since 2000. You will find one who was killed in a raid. The rest died in none raid activities. The activity that leads the list in DEA agent deaths is helicopter crashes.
As far as local law enforcement is concerned here is a clip from an article that describes real statistics in casualties from the war on drugs.
The simple facts do not support your claim that these drug offenders are indeed dangerous enough to warrant not only deadly force but military grade deadly force. In fact, nonviolent drug offenders are the true victims in this senseless war.
As someone who has been active in the community to get dangerous drug houses out of the neighborhood I can tell you that the best way to do it doesn't involve violence of any kind. Most cities have nuisance and blight ordinances on the books that enable them to put liens against the homes of troublesome drug houses. Landlords usually don't really care how some tenants earn their money to pay the rent, however, if the city places a lien against the house and notifies the owner that everyday that the house fails to comply with the cities demands that the owner will be fined $2K then you would not believe how fast that house gets cleaned up. Problem solved! Door and civil liberties still intact!
You need to stop watching movies. They have a vested interest in selling you on violence. Violence in the theatre is more addictive than drugs.
http://www.justice.gov/dea/about/wall-honor/wall-of-honor_bios.shtml
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/may/14/feature_police_officer_deaths_us
DAnne yes I am with you on tariffs. The Chinese are keeping there dollar artificially low and it has to be corrected. I will be the first to admit I don't know much about free trade agreements I think the governments like it that way.
Child labour come on Marc. I pay $12.00 CAN / hr (Alberta's min wage $9.95) to some one who is worth $6.00. Think think its worth it to help them get experience. They are high school students Far from a child. I had one two years ago that his Mom would come in and tell me what to do all the time. That poor kid. He was so embrassarrassed. The first 5 times I just sat there and smiled. Then I locked her out and banned her from coming in the shop. You should of seen the smile on that kids face. He completely changed. Kinda became a man. Instead of a mommies boy After that. He probaly never seen anyone stand up to his mom before.
Alice your guy is spending a trillion a year more than he brings in. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
C
Again you are all missing the point! THE POLICE DID NOT KNOW that a baby was in a crack house and again what kind of mother is she to bring her child there! Again SWAT was not told that a baby was there! I guess you all think that all police agencies should be disbanded. While we are at it why don't we just disband government and all laws and have total anarchy. Since you all think the police are gestapo don't call them to report anything no matter what the problem is!
Marc says "Republicans don't want the economy to function when they are not in power." No argument there! But I think you'll agree, it wasn't functioning that great when they were in power either. Everytime one of those big-ass elephants gets into the White House, we sink way deeper in the ole debt hole. We have geniuses like Dubaya starting all these wars while simultaneously, lowering corporate taxes and taxes on the rich... and those wars still aren't paid for! (Let alone all the carnage and ruined lives...) - AIW
Kend ~ One thing we could probably agree on is that if we were to repeal free trade and institute huge import tariffs on imported goods we could bring back our manufacturing base of good paying jobs. That would increase the number of jobs and also demand. The main problem with that is that neither side of the isle here is even mentioning that. Which is why I'm through with the Democratic party. This should be the ball they take and run with. It is time for some new blood in Washington.
However, barring that solution, raising wages is the only other way to save the economy; and, it appears that saving the economy simply isn't on the agenda of either side.
I just thought I would mention that little tidbit before it gets too late because I'm almost sure you won't bring it up. Republicans never bring that up.
Kend ~ So your suggestion is to bring back child labor? Maybe sweatshops? I still don't hear any reasonable logical ideas that make any sense coming out of your mouth. I hear a lot of critical rhetoric and skepticism about what will work.
Certainly you are aware the the law of supply and demand is one of the simplest equations there is. Imagine a see saw with supply on one side and demand (cash in people's pockets) on the other. If that demand gets too light the see saw comes crashing down and you can't get your supply of the ground. That is the economy crashing. It crashes because production goes up and wages don't. The only way to balance the see saw is to put more cash on the demand side; or, remove the quantity on the supply side. If you remove supply you lose jobs. The only way to balance out the see saw so that swings is to perfectly balance both sides. The only solution that saves business is to raise wages.
Republicans don't want to allow the economy to function when they are not in power. That is what this is all about. Making Democrats take the blame for their lame policies hoping Americans will be in so much pain in the next election they will vote Republican. The only blame I place on the Democrats is allowing the Republicans to get away with it so easily. Personally, I think they allow it too easily to not share the blame. However, don't tell me the Republicans have any other idea up there sleeve that is better than what the Democrats are doing. And please don't even mention lowering taxes. That cup of kool aid has come and gone a long time ago and just makes us nauseous to hear it again. There is only one solution that will work and that is raising wages. Every other plan is a pipe dream on acid.
Seriously, I want to hear your idea before you say another word about against raising wages. No more hot air Mr. Hairdryer.
Matt, have you ever collected garbage for a living? Because if you haven't, you don't know what you're talking about. If you don't like paying for the service, take your own shit to the dump.
If it wasn't for unions, there would be no weekends and no holidays for workers; we'd still have little kids slaving away in places like factories and coal mines, instead of in school where they belong; and in place of a forty-hour work week, we'd have an eighty-hour work week.
You seem to have no clue what unions are about and how they've impacted our lives. I hope I'm long dead before your generation is running the country, because if what you've said about them is true, they don't seem to understand much of anything. This country has deteriorated enough already in the decades since I came of age. That was when fuel became "scarce" and we had long lines at every gas station! It's gone steadily downhill ever since. - AIW
P.S. Maybe I'm being too harsh about young folks in general. Maybe I oughta question your generalities about up-and-coming generations. I've seen some mighty awesome climate activists profiled on Democracy Now, much younger than you, in their early 20s or thereabouts. Maybe there still is hope for humanity...
Kend, the market only takes care of itself. (Duh.)
It never ceases to amaze me how consistently you make up "facts" to support your bogus arguments. We never let you get away with it on this forum, yet you persist in doing it anyway. It's gotten to be the Canuck Kend trademark! You must be a glutton for punishment. If you enjoy getting verbally spanked, you've come to the right place. - AIW
ok thom knows more than me but Obama's record speaks for itself. Still after six years one in five out of work and all you talk about is raising the min wage. Alice I am just saying. aim higher. America is better than this.
Einstein what does he know. LOL just kidding.
if you have more jobs then people wages go up. The market takes care of it But if you have to borrow the money from China to create those jobs they are fake, not real jobs. You should know you have a business I believe. If you take your savings and hire yourself you are no better off. Government jobs are no different.
Kend, do you honestly believe your knowledge of history or economics would rival Thom's? Frankly, I find it laughable that you'd take it upon yourself to "correct" Thom's assessment of anything in those areas. Far as the "new world" is concerned, we've already been left behind! (Hello…)
Yes Reagan has been dead a number of years now. But unfortunately, his disastrous policies and their consequences live on. Rest in peace?! It is my most fervent hope that there's a special place in Hell reserved just for him.
I blame Obama for many things. Not waving a magic wand to instantly "fix" our economy isn't one of them, especially with the Grand Obstructionist Party dominating the House!
By the way, fourteen years ago is when Baby Bush first stole the presidency. He remained in the Oval Office until 2008. We've only had a Democrat president for five years since "Dubaya". So much for your version of the "facts"! Here's just one more example to illustrate why I never take your posts that seriously.
"Demand" without sufficient wages to back it up equals zero stimulus, Einstein.
Have a lovely week. - AIW
Tarheels asks rhetorically: "...if the suspect has a violent history which all drug dealers do then instead of SWAT lets send the meter maids into arrest them or would you prefer that people that have been SWAT trained make the arrests and clear the house so the detectives can look for evidence to find where the drugs are coming in and who is bringing them in[?]"
What Marc & I would prefer is to end all drug prohibition. Period. And send those gestapo thugs back to bootcamp or wherever the hell they came from! Because they don't belong in our neighborhoods. We definitely don't need them terrorizing us in our own homes, whether we use drugs or not.
This bullshit has got to stop. END PROHIBITION NOW!!! The remedy is worse than the "disease". ENOUGH already. - AIW
Marc, this is it. You are going to save America by raising he min wage. This is Obama's plan. That's it. Please aim higher.
i hire a summer student every year. although they try It takes a lot of work to employee them. Because they have very little experience you have you hold their hand all the time. If our min wage went up $3,00 I don't think I could do it.
I am a Canadian but I know how it works Chuck. . My point is a great leader can get all to follow. What has Obama done to convince investers to spend there money to get the economy moving. everything he proposes is borrow and spend. Reagan created ways to get the money moving. Everyone will vote for good policy.
For example, our trash is picked up by unionized city workers, and our recycling is picked up by a private company. The union trash guys have a four-person crew - one driver, two people loading the garbage in the back, and one person in the passenger seat for some reason. The recycling collector, who has the same exact kind of truck, just painted green, is just one person. He drives the truck, parks it, hops out, loads the stuff, gets back in, moves the truck forward two houses, and repeats.
I look at this and think to myself: "My property taxes are already too high, and they go up every year. I'm paying for the garbage and the recycling collection. Why can't the garbage collection run like the recycling collection - a one-person show? To save costs."
And the only answer I can come up with is: The union must not allow that.
I'm trying to be more open-minded about things though.
I think unions are another topic where there is a difference in opinions between generations. I know I can't speak for all 30-somethings, but for the ones I know, the concept of a union is archaic and negative.
The bases are loaded and Bernie is up to batt!
yes the military teaches how to handle weapons and how to kill people. Secondly 44 minutes is real movie about the hollywood shootout. But since you think raids on drugs houses are unconstitutional if one crops up in your neighborhood don't report just let crime run rampant. I don't think they are unconstitutional since a narcotics detective gets a warrant from a judge and if the suspect has a violent history which all drug dealers do then instead of SWAT lets send the meter maids into arrest them or would you prefer that people that have been SWAT trained make the arrests and clear the house so the detectives can look for evidence to find where the drugs are coming in and who is bringing them in. Also uncover and evidence relating to homicides or from deaths from innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire between two rival drug pushers?
What I meant about wealthy neighborhoods and the police was this:
The wealthy, businesses, and upper-middle-class types pay the majority of property taxes, so they pay the majority of police salaries. They also have the best ability to move to a different city if they don't like what their hometown has to offer. If they move, it's a problem for the city's payroll. Just ask the mayor of Detroit.
The poor, on the other hand, can't move as easily if they don't like the services they get from the city. And they aren't putting as much into the "police salary bucket". And, even though they will never admit it, some cities officials WANT the poor to move somewhere else. They are seen as a burden.
When they began tearing down the projects in Chicago, they replaced them with HUD vouchers for private rental properties. (I think those are called "Section 8" funds.) The HUD people steered the recipients of those vouchers to the working-class suburbs.
Every now and then you'll hear a story about cities offering one-way tickets to anywhere in the country to homeless or mentally disabled people. It's cheaper to send a homeless person to Florida than it is to give that person a heated room in the winter here in the North.