The organized and socialized better realize

author — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:44:42 +0000

I should not take a genius to realize why Unions have been losing their grip over the last several decades, it just happens to line up nicely with the increase of foreign presence in our markets. This phenomenon has not been a friendly trend for Unions because it has brought inexpensive alternatives courtesy of lower-cost manufacturing. Prior to this happening, our mostly unionized manufacturing base with its embedded high-cost structure was able to pass along their inefficiencies to an unsuspecting market here in America. Now the choices have been greatly expanded thus providing options to consumers resulting in competition that has been exposing the cost structure and quality control issues of U.S. manufacturers. The world has definitely changed in this regard, the paradigm has been shifted and any manufacturer that will not compete with the smallest of competitors from anywhere globally will either perish or be a zombie subsidized by an inept Government with taxpayer money – talk about socializing loses. The later just happens to be the course chosen by our fine Government, but this practice will fail miserably in due time.

Unions in a nutshell are simply nothing more than labor socialism, and being such makes it very difficult for them to be competitive. In a Union, as in any large group, there are going to be highly productive individuals as well as the average and below average people with protected jobs and pay based on seniority. Not using performance based criteria results in the best performers having to cover for the performance of the laggards which results in the collective being average at best. The optimal method would be to reward the highly productive, purge the laggards, and motivate the average workers to become better, only this will ensure an improved workforce and higher productivity. Union members also must pay dues for the privilege of being a part of this created and protected “average” collective. It exists by building worker dependency that will ensure those dues will continue to roll in for management so they can keep cashing their nice paychecks. The strategy employed is to keep the workers subjugated so they can be used as pawns for the ultimate goal of securing money and power for the privileged few. This sounds precisely like another institution we are all familiar with as citizens known as our Government. Hmm!

It is easy to see why the Union model is failing in this country and it will continue to do so unless it can begin to seriously focus itself to compete with the intention of winning in the marketplace and not just surviving for maximum entitlement. In the absence of this kind of motivation, the more ambitious, focused, and disciplined competitors around the world will be happy to bury them. Competing in the marketplace is crucial because it determines success and failure, and it will be very hard for them to accomplish considering the entitled environment created by the Union mindset. This labor socialism is obviously going to be at a major disadvantage because it does not motivate its workers to excel and there is little individual responsibility expected. The marketplace will continue to require more efficiency from the producers that are willing and able to deliver it, and the rest will slowly erode away. Extorting a mediocre manufacturer for better pay and benefits while ignoring global competition is destined to fail, instead maybe they should focus on why they are “mediocre” to begin with and be more proactive with that issue than with demanding any more concessions.

A creditor’s rights are the same as our own

author — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:19:42 +0000

Every American should be extremely disgusted with the tyrannical actions that have transpired regarding Chrysler with our Government browbeating some of its creditors into submission. They publicly chastised a group of creditors that had a right, in fact a fiduciary duty, to protect the value of their investments in Chrysler for the benefit of their shareholders. These assets were senior to all other claims in the capital structure thus giving them the right to the company assets before any junior creditor is to be paid. However, the Obama administration was more interested in the company quickly reorganizing to protect the union, thus embarking on a plan to hand Chrysler over to the union as the majority shareholder under reorganization and upon doing so they offered the senior creditors what they thought was deserved in this restructuring. Four major banks that held about 70% of the debt quickly agreed to the terms, and to no surprise it just happens that they are all TARP-recipient banks. How peculiar it is that these banks thought the deal was equitable and voluntarily consented, I wonder if the fact that they received TARP money from the Government had anything to do with such consent, it indicates just how much our banks are merely Government-controlled puppets. The remaining senior creditors held out to exercise their rights and thus forced Chrysler into bankruptcy in an attempt to have the law applied as written and practiced through the years of legal history in this nation. Instead of this Administration respecting the law and allowing due process, they chose the course of expediency by publicly castigating the creditors for merely exercising their property rights. Obama used his political capital to influence public opinion against these firms, isolating them, and creating an atmosphere that will prove unreceptive to their legal rights in court. This is absolutely an abuse of power, Obama and his administration are blatantly wrong with this action, but that will prove little comfort to the creditors as the deck is stacked against anyone not falling in line with the plan thus fighting the case becomes futile. We live in a country where “ruler’s law” just stomped on the “rule of law” by coercing certain citizens into conceding their property rights so the benefit can be transferred to another. Sound familiar?

There certainly will be a tendency to disregard this case and its outcome as something that happened to rich people, hedge funds, or money managers, hence making it no big deal for common Americans. If the Government just trampled on legally protected rights for one set of Americans because it favored their agenda to do so, who and what are next? Maybe a family that has more than one car will have to give one up for 33 cents on the dollar so the car can be provided to someone who does not have one. What about your home, can the Government arbitrarily decide to exercise control over your residence if it suits their agenda much like we know they can if you miss your tax payment? This argument can extend to anything that you own, any property that you should have the rights to buy, use, or sell at your discretion. This can be in the form of a physical possessions or paper investments such as stocks, bonds or contractual rights of ownership etc. It should be very disturbing to every citizen that individual legal rights were just brushed aside in favor of the agenda of another. It does not matter if it was for a company or an individual, for the wealthy or not so wealthy, this is an assault on all of our rights. Every time citizens relinquish any of their rights, they are then absorbed into the power of our controlling Government. It will become the new reality and will be relied upon to serve as precedence for any future tyranny our Government cares to administer on our population in its ever persistent march to expand its scope. Our Government and its union-protecting agenda won the day, but unfortunately America and its citizens lost. Where does it go from here, and where does it end?

P.S. What are the chances of success for what is likely to be a 65% Government and union-dominated Chrysler post bankruptcy? Be sure to rush right over to your nearest Chrysler dealer, Fiat will be depending on it.

Dose of Clarity » unions

The organized and socialized better realize

A creditor’s rights are the same as our own