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Nobody's going to get you kicked off this blog, Kend. Your posts are not bullying or offensive, nor are they abusive in any way. But they are annoying.
What seems glaringly obvious to Marc, Mark S, Palin and me is that when you don't know an answer or fact, you simply make one up. Sorry pal, but that just doesn't fly on this blog! "Okay DAnne", you concede; "I overstepped on the pension thing but I was trying to make a point." Kend, I hate breaking this to ya, but when you're making up "facts" your point is bogus.
If you want to get away with that ficticious bull crap, get yourself booked for an "interview" on FOX. I'm sure Rupert Murdock would love how you twist and mutilate facts to make a bogus point. Hell, they do it all the time! It's their trademark! But if you continue playing that game here, you won't get away with it. All you'll be proving is that Kend is a glutton for punishment. Because if I'm not here to call you out on your B$ and pop your balloon, there's several other regulars on this blog who are more than happy to do the honors, any one of whom could be available at any given time. So have at it, Kend, if you like getting beat up on Thom's blog!
And on another note, you don't know doodily-do about the U.S. Postal Service. You either are completely clueless about the source of their financial crisis or you choose to ignore it. Should that vital part of our commons get caught in the clutches of private profiteers, it'll be the same disaster we've had with healthcare: prohibitively high prices, resulting in too many struggling too hard to access a simple necessity once accessible to all. Given the hogwash gushing through your posts of late, it's unlikely any of us will be seeking your prediction as to the outcome of this charade, or how many days of the week you think USPS will be open for business twenty years from now.
Reaganomics got us into this mess, Kend. Keep denying it all you want if it makes you happy. You can trivialize it with comments like: "Why don't you blame Lincoln or Washington" and "That was decades ago. Get over it." Yeah Kend, we'll get over it... but not 'til after Reagan's policies are nullified, at least enough to begin repairing the damage they caused to our infrastructure, our environment, our economy, our safety net... yep, ole Reagan de-regulated and privatized us right into the ditch!
It's got nothing remotely to do with Washington or Lincoln. If they've witnessed this freak show from the "other side", those guys are probably writhing in their graves right now. Because when capitalism is unregulated, it grows malignant; then there's no democracy anymore. And then you've got corporate fascism to deal with. That's when we've lost our commons. It's when everything we depend on just to function has been privatized, held as ransom, while these klepto-turds pick our pockets with impunity.
If you're so certain we're trying to rip you off for everything you've worked for, what's keeping you here anyway? You can always take your business back to Canada. No skin off my nose. Life will continue here, with or without your regal presence. - Aliceinwonderland
I am not going anywhere. I am a old hockey player we are used to getting beat up but we never quit. Sorry. I bet if you all got together you could get Thom or Lousie to kick me off.
Ok there will be some need for the postal service but nothing like it is today. Once or twice a week delivery maybe.
Reagon again. Why don't you blame Lincoln or Washington well your at it. That was decades ago. get over it. There was plenty of time for your guys to fix whatever it is that you think Reagon did.
Ok DAnne I over stepped on the pension thing but I was trying to make a point. I think alot of people are getting sucked in by the investors that manage these pensions. The only one who is going to retire well is them.
I hope I never have to retire on $300 a week. I guess thats why I am the only one in my company working today. If you get your way I will have to give up everything I worked for so we can all retire the same.
And a big KMRA to Senator Thune from me too!
DAnneMarc & Aliceinwonderland: Great points! And I agree...you are beating the pants off of kend and akunard. No wonder they are beginning to retreat with their tails between their legs.
By the way, DAnneMarc, it's off topic...but when did that ever stop me ;-}...I thought of you today when I watched one of
Abby Martin's Breaking the Set show re-aired from Oct 2 (which I missed then). She interviewed Joe Rogan who has a very popular podcast called the Joe Rogan Experience and they discuss everything from DMT to Psychedelics to God.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8JgSuaFh5M
The only people who should be working on Thankgiving are those whose work is essential for public health, safety, and security.
Kend- if you don't like getting beat up, stop making these ridiculous assertions based on nothing but your imagination. And have a lovely weekend. - AIW
Kend ~ As long as people live there will be a need for the post office. There are signed documents that have to be delivered over distance. There are packages that have to be delivered at the smallest fees possible. Who in their right mind is going to pay a $5.00 minimum fee to buy a $3.50 product? There are also written statements that people have to have physical copies of to pay their taxes and protect their assets. There are court summons and legal documents that need a post mark to be legal. Let's not forget about absantee ballots. They are sure to be the wave of the future. There are also forms that have to be filled out and mailed in with signatures, signiture gaurantees, and notarys. Some things can't be done over the internet. Though internet signature work in some cases nothing will ever replace the real thing.
Anytime you order anything over the internet you get a choice as to how it is delivered. If you have the time to wait the USPS is, and will always be, the cheapest; in fact, most shippers offer it for free; which, makes it invaluable to both the seller and the buyer. The USPS is critical in keeping many web retailers business lucrative.
As far as the ridiculous statement that Postal workers receive $4K/mo pension payments I know for a fact that you pulled that figure out of your {pants}. FYI depending on whether or not the employee was hired before or after 1984 they would be enrolled in the CSRS or the FERS. That means that with at least 27 years a worker can retire at age 58 with either $1,215/mo or a maximum of $2,216/mo. There is a big difference on trying to live on that fixed income then the ridiculous amount you've mentioned. The fact of the matter is that the lower amount is the new amount. That's right older employees get much more money than newer ones for doing the same work and now, contributing more. Sounds fair? How would you like to work most of your life and retire on about $303/week?
http://work.chron.com/much-postal-workers-paid-retire-22117.html
The fact of the matter is, Kend that ever since the Administration of Ronald Wilson (666) Reagan almost every aspect of our society has been robbed by Reaganomics and has not kept up to the cost of living or even kept up with production. Reaganomics has ruined this nation and that man will always be remembered as an anti-Christ in the future.
Alice you will be one of the few who would like to still use it. Your right though what do I know. Maybe most people would rather pay for there mail to take days to get to its destination. Instead of clicking a button and for free it takes a few seconds for it to get there At no cost or subsidy from the tax payer at all. Do you use a cell phone or a couple of cans and a string. Sorry that was mean But couldn't Help it I have been getting beat up here lately.
Baloney, Kend. The internet will never replace the post office. Packages are not the only kind of mail the internet isn't suited for. Some people - like me - refuse to pay their bills online, because of online piracy and security issues. As Marc has explained, workers pay into their own pensions, and the post office is no exception. Last I heard, the post office was entirely self sufficient, needing no taxpayer or government funding to remain solvent. As always, your numbers are not adding up. - AIW
"The only element in the mail industry that has changed for the USPS is that now they have commercial competition" DAnne , I guess you haven't heard about the internet. the need for the post office is slowly fading away. within 20 years everyone will receive all there mail via email which leaves only packages. We have plently of companies who do that very well.
USPS pensions are funded by both the employee and the tax payer. The one thing I could never under stand is how the employee can contribute only $300 or $400 dollars a month for 25 years and then receive $3,000 or $4,000 a month for 30 years. The math doesn't and up So that's why the pensions have to be topped up or they will not be able to keep up with there obligations
I would strongly suggest if you have a pension plan to check into it. Most of them are in big trouble. You my want to get what you can Out now.
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I do believe that you need to write more about this subject, it may not be a taboo subject but generally folks don't discuss these subjects. To the next! Many thanks!! turbotax free
Kend ~ Yes, you are wrong. The USPS was under funding their pensions? Underfunding pensions for employees that aren't even born yet let alone hired or retired? The "idea" that the USPS was in trouble and "running out of funds", was a myth. The postal service has been solvent for two centuries. You kindly explain to me exactly how with today's automations and computer systems that make the task of the USPS so much easier and efficient that suddenly they are going to have financial problems that they never had before? It was a lie. 70 years of future pensions is a ridiculous OVER funding that is totally unnecessary and ridiculous. Postal employees pay into their own pensions when they work. That is how pensions work. You pay as you go. You don't try to pay down a debt for something that doesn't yet exist. Do you?
This notion was obviously hatched by commercial lobbyists working for the competitors of the USPS who knew that they could never compete with the government and wanted to sabotage them from within so that they could monopolize mail and drive the prices as high as they want without having to worry about competing with cheap government mail. Realize that within the last two centuries the only element in the mail industry that has changed for the USPS is that now they have commercial competition. That competition knows that it can't compete fairly; so, it wants to buy out the service. It is a scheme that is blatantly obvious to the average American. Corporations here buy out their competition all the time. Its nothing new to want to get rid of competition and buy their customers away from them. It's a far easier way to get new customers than it is to win them over. It's good for business but bad for the customers because now they have lost their freedom of choice and are dependent on the new supplier. The new owner usually regains his loses by raising prices and laying people off. That is why it is really bad for employees too. This is the real goal behind this nonsense. The end game leaves the winner owning everything and the customers and workers screwed. Just one of the sad tragedies of unchecked Capitalism. You should know all this.
Kend ~ The same people who pay for everything right now--everybody else.
The problem with the "CONservative" mentality is that they think that because they pay some tax that they pay all tax. The reality is that the working class people pay most of the taxes and carry most of the burden. The truly wealthy are really parasites that aren't really needed. The Bush tax cuts showed that we don't need you. If you don't want to contribute your fair share we are better off without you. Adios Compadre!
Good luck finding another nation that will put up with that nonsense and provide you with the resources you have here. Let the Exodus begin!
DAnne. The USPS and it's employees where under funding there pensions all the government did was asked them to catch up. If they don't they will run out of funds. Seems reasonable to me. Please correct me if I am wrong. I was wrong once before.
Kend ~???????????????????????
Are you trying to imply that the USPS caused this debacle of their own accord?? You're actually blaming this law on the USPS and not Congress and Bush who wrote it, voted for it, and signed it into law. The last time I looked Congress and The President didn't work for the Post Office. Good thing too, they're way too incompetent for that challenge.
akunard ~ Please, don't leave us alone with Kend!
Gimmie a break. Hey, you're not even a yankee! Take your money back to Canada. We don't need your friggin' money. - AIW
Be careful AIW, you don't want to chase all the conservatives away who is going to pay for everything .
"Akunard," pleads Kend, "please don't leave me here all alone!" Where's my violin? Nothing like a musical refrain for a firmer tug on the heartstrings! (tsk)
Whenever I take on these conservative guys' arguments, they pack up their toys and leave, or have a hissy fit, or both. Gee, I must be doing something right! - AIW
DAnne UPS and FedEx didnt over promise on there retirement fund like the USPS. There is a huge difference. If the USPS runs out of money the tax payer gets stuck with the bill. if the others do the share holders lose. I just read that over 70% of pension funds are under funded. That is scary.
On the post office there is a couple of things I noticed when I go to the US. Saturday delivery? Who the hell needs Saturday delivery. The line ups. What the hell. we have post offices at every 7/11 And drug store. We never wait. Canada post owns a courier company that competes with UPS and FedEx. They honestly are not as reliable but they are the cheapest.
Akundard please don't leave me here all alone. you make interesting points like your point on the Dr's we lose thousands of them to higher paying US jobs. It is almost impossible to get a family Dr here In Canada I don't blame them after 10 years of school and hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt go to the best place to improve your families life. Isn't that why millions swim across rivers and float miles on tire tubes to get to the US.
akunard ~ "Brain farts" were brought up by you first. By the way, in my opinion, I've been as cool and respectful as can be. I've tried to address the issues; and, only resorted to the "brain fart" meme as a response to an uncool nonsensical rant that I respectfully "quoted" above to be sure that everyone know why I said it. Sorry if it offended you.
akunard ~ When you stop laughing why don't you ponder this... How long would UPS or FedEX stay in business if the Federal government passed some silly law saying that they needed to fund the retirement of all employees they now have and will have for the next 70 years in addition to all other operating costs? A month? Two weeks? Maybe till the end of the day?
When I see UPS and FedEX shoulder that preposterous burden as long as the USPS has then maybe I might stop laughing at your ridiculous response. (By the way, 10 X more efficient is a very conservative estimate. I'm quite sure the actual factor is much higher.)
In case you don't already know, this new postal law was sponsored and written by UPS and FedEX in order to destroy their major competition, the USPS. So far it has failed because they underestimated the power of the federal government... Just like you.
You can dish it out, "akunard", but you can't take it. You laugh just as readily at Marc's posts. If you don't like being laughed at, try treating others as you wish to be treated; with respect. What you dish out comes back to you. - AIW
It no longer amuses me to be your punching bag while trying to give a different point of view. I will leave you all to your little world of " It would nice if every one thought the same and were equal." While patting each other on the back and feeling all warm and fuzzy.
My final message. As the Reverend Ike liked to say, "The best thing you can do for the poor is not to be one of them"
So line up and sling your best for this the last evening I will monitor this group.
Another little nudge from the National Republican Senate Committee:
"We're down to the final hours. There is only one day left to add your contribution to our November fundraising push to win the Senate majority in 2014. To help us build an even stronger election effort, don't forget that I am triple matching every donation - giving your donation three times the power. Will you chip in $100, $50, or $25 to win control of the Senate majority? Thanks, - Senator John Thune"
Senator Thune, you're asking me to contribute to the party that wants to deny me things like healthcare and social security. What is it about "kiss my royal ass" you guys can't understand? - Aliceinwonderland
If you have to rely on UPS and FedX to mail your letters, bills, etc. you won't be laughing anymore "akunard". Especially with the sticker shock you're gonna have once you've paid them for these services.
Oh yeah... government, BAD! Government, EVIL! Privatize everything! Right, "akunard"?
As to what can be characterized as "brain farts", it's not only your sta[te]ments; it's your misspellings and so forth. Your posts look like they're from someone who's barely literate. And I'm supposed to take your opinions seriously, no matter how unintelligibly they are written? Ha-ha-ha-ha-hahahahhaha! - AIW
The USPS is 10X better than UPS and FedX thank you for the best laugh so far today.
Fact- Drs.are dropping out of Medicare. So, fewer Drs. seeing more patients will improve what we have now??? And you call my staments "brain farts".