USA Politics

That is different, I do not think there should be no regulations .. just fewer and smarter ones.

But stuff like prisons, drug laws, mandatory sentences, etc that is 100% government control ...
 
Here, I think our thoughts align. Mandatory minimums, strict drug control, and other prohibition-style things haven't helped, and it's only smart to re-evaluate what we are doing here. When it comes to unions, what I want is a set of regulations as to what they can and cannot do. For example, unions shouldn't be able to protect people from being dismissed in cases like sexual harassment cases. Perhaps there is a way to handle the overtime/sick leave problem.
 
Public unions bother me a great deal, they make massive campaign contributions directly to the people they negotiate their contracts with. it is to the point even some Dems are starting to turn on them, which is good. They make up this fallacy that public unions are there to protect students (teachers unions), us in general (fire and cops), safety (sanitation, etc). No, they are there to get as much as they can for themselves. Part of the last negotiations with the city of Chicago and one of the transit unions dealt with how many no-show jobs they would get .. insanity.

You are going to see more and more cities/states do what Walker did in WI, which was 100% the right approach.
 
It sounds like unions are a very different kettle of fish in the US. They have real power. I'm in a union, but the only activity it's ever involved in is sending representatives to employment tribunals and going through the legal details when staff are made redundant. They send a letter every year about annual pay increases and it gets a sarcastic reply.
 
You've got Maggie to thank for that, I suppose. The unions are still comparatively powerful in Germany.
 
Brigantium said:
It sounds like unions are a very different kettle of fish in the US. They have real power. I'm in a union, but the only activity it's ever involved in is sending representatives to employment tribunals and going through the legal details when staff are made redundant. They send a letter every year about annual pay increases and it gets a sarcastic reply.
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It depends on the union and the location .. it varies greatly from state to state, even city to city in some cases.


I was speaking more of public unions, private unions are a different matter.
 
bearfan said:
which was 100% the right approach.
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Walker is trying to bust unions, not lower their powers.

Unions are businesses whose business is keeping their constituents employed. They weren't always, but that's what a hell of a lot of them are. That's why I keep saying regulate them like they are businesses.
 
Wisconsin's laws were aimed squarely at public unions and how they dealt with contracts and their effect on the budget (here is ton of money for your campaign, now let's negotiate our contract)... also it eased mandatory membership, which has always been a horrible idea. If you consider that busting unions, I guess that is what he did

Teachers unions in particular are just horrible organizations and I am glad to see tide is turning a bit and more people are seeing that they are a net detriment to education
 
I don't think unions in general are a detriment - unions as they currently operate are. Teachers, like all other workers, are entitled to negotiate things like contracts and benefits en masse to avoid cronyism within the system. The problem is that unions have internal cronyism that is allowed to run rampant.

I think nobody other than individuals should be allowed to donate to campaigns - unions, corporations, you name it - the PACs and Super PACs scare the crap out of me.
 
Of course I am focused on unions and how they operate now. If you are talking about an organization that is there to bulk negotiate deals, maybe represent members in a dispute, and hold an annual picnic or something like that ... no problem, I think people should have an opt-out if they do not want to be in a union, but in general they are fine

But, as they operate now, they do more harm than good for the education of children and the communities they are supposed to be serving. We have seen a few cities go bankrupt and union pensions (being over promised and under funded) has been the main cause ... a lot of other cities are on that trajectory and/or having to cut other areas of service.

It has been a harmful relationship to everyone but the union bosses and inner city politicians for decades.
 
Which is why reform is necessary. I think most people who are anti-union want to kill them altogether.
 
bearfan said:
If you eliminate what most see as the problems with unions, the desire to kill them probably diminishes quite a bit as well.
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I think that we can keep what made unions great and get rid of what made unions over-reach with a few simple regulations and rules.
 
Two men in a vehicle pulled up and opened fire at an anti-Islam event outside Dallas on Sunday, according to police. The men shot a security guard for Garland's Curtis Culwell Center where a right-wing group was hosting an event to draw Muhammad. Both gunman were killed, police said, and the security guard was wounded and taken to the hospital. The gunmen's identities and motives are not yet known. A bomb squad has arrived on the scene after reports of an explosive device, which have not been confirmed.The "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" was hosted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by blogger and anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller. The event gave a $10,000 prize to Bosch Fawstin for his depiction of Muhammad, The Daily Beast's Randy Potts reports. The event also featured Dutch politican Geert Wilders, who's Freedom Party campaigns against Muslim immigration.
 
One more asshole in heaven

ABC News reports a senior FBI official says one of the gunmen killed during an apparent attack on a Draw Muhammad event in Texas is Elton Simpson, who was previously under investigation for charges related to terrorism. ABC News also reports that Simpson is believed by authorities to have sent the #texasattack tweet before opening fire Sunday night. (An ABC affiliate in Phoenix quotes the FBI saying both attackers were from Phoenix.) In 2010, a federal judge ruled Simpson made false statements about plans to travel to Africa but also that the government didn’t prove he was going to join a terrorist group there. Thanks to his work with an informant, Simpson was accused of planning to set up a terrorist cell in Arizona. “If you get shot, or you get killed, it’s [heaven] straight away,” the FBI quoted Simpson as saying. “[Heaven] that’s what we here for... so why not take that route?”
 
  • Two suspects were gunned down after shooting a guard in the leg outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland
  • The FBI has named one of the gunmen as Elton Simpson, who was convicted of lying to federal agents about traveling to Africa five years ago - but a judge ruled it could not be proved that he was going to join a terror group
  • Simpson's Phoenix, Arizona home has been surrounded and a bomb squad is carrying out a search
  • The American Freedom Defense Initiative event had offered a $10,000 prize for the best caricature of the prophet; local residents had expressed their concerns about the event but organizers said they were exercising free speech
  • The security guard who was shot, Bruce Joiner, was taken to hospital in stable condition and has been released
  • One traffic officer shot both men dead and has been praised by cops for potentially saving many lives
  • ISIS fighter claimed on Twitter that the shooting was carried out by two pro-ISIS individuals
 
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