2nd Amendment rights
The bailout bill just passed has as one of its provisions an exemption of the 39 cents excise tax on wooden arrows as long as the bow draw does not exceed 30 pounds. This will enable gun owners to have affordable arms with which to defend themselves against the government thugs (led by Janet Reno?) who will be coming to confiscate their firearms once the Obama appointed Supreme Court acts. Anybody remember Waco??

Mr. Nigh,
Union workers have been given the same chances in life as everyone else. The choices they have made are what have gotten them where they are in life. If you are unhappy with the way your life is going you need to step up and make changes instead of complaining about things that others have or have not done to help you. Instead of looking for a politician who supports you as a "union workers", perhaps you need to seek one out who supports you as an individual.

And for the record, There are many of us who believe that unions are helping to ruin this country and there is absolutely no need for them in todays world. "Union people" build the cars that we cannot afford because of prices automakers much charge to pay your exorbitant wage/benefit packages. Airline "Union people" strike and put a burden on us real working people. "Union people" have some of the easiest jobs that require the least amount of education, yet they still complain constantly. I once worked a union job but I took a management position in the company as soon as I had the chance to get ut of the union. I would not vote for a union worker running for any office, regardless of what position it was.

Just another example of obama saying what people want to hear and doing something else!

I agree with you rax-since the mid 70s unions have done nothing but drag our economy down!

A union official walked in a drug store & told the pharmacist he needed something to kill head lice. When the pharmacist handed him a small container, the union man looked at it and tells the pharmacist “I can’t use this; it doesn’t have a union seal on it. Don’t you have anything made by union people?”

The pharmacist goes down an isle and comes back with another container that he hands to the man. When the man finds a union seal on the box he says to the pharmacist; “I can use this, will it kill the lice like the other one?”

The pharmacist says; “No, it’ll just make them too lazy to bite you.”

I used to work for a union company in St Joe. I had previously worked for a non-union commpany that sent its produce to the St Joe company and a union lable was inserted and the product was sold as union made. When I questioned it I was told nothing could be done. Later I found out that the co owners had co-signed for the union president's home and he would do nothing for the members! That is how that union worked!!!

I miss Ronald Reagan. He was very effective in negotiations with the unions.

Rax
I have known many who have left union positions for management. Usually at a loss in money. They generally do not leave for any other reason than they just could not cut it on the floor or wanted what they thought was a position of power. Most just could not stand to work and get dirty. You may not admit it but most management also benefits from unions bargaining for wages and benefits. Now, if you think a auto worker makes to much, how bought a CEO? How many union workers could be paid with a CEO's pay? How many of the lowly side of management could you pay with the CEO's pay, benefits, stock options, and what ever else they rape us all for? And I do believe a CEO should be compensated, but not the way they are. Unions have their problems but they still have a place for the betterment of all of us.

I used to work for a major airline, and belonged to the union. I don't care WHAT any of you say, the unions are the problem with today's workforce, and one major problem with the economy. I used to listen to some of my union "brothers" who would brag about how many weeks...sometimes months...it had been since they'd even opened their tool box! How on EARTH can a company make money when its union workforce is so lazy, and proud of it? C'mon, union members...please tell me how you can defend such people. Please don't tell me that's the exception and not the rule, because I was there, and a conservative estimate would be that at least 75% of the workers did little or nothing during their work day. There's no excuse for such behavior.

Unions actively promote laziness.

I’ve had two jobs in the past that I was required to join the union to work there. At Butternut Bread my days off were Wednesday and Sunday. Since part of my pay was commission based on how much bread I sold, on Tuesday and Saturday I would take extra bread into my assigned grocery stores and leave whatever wouldn’t fit on the shelves in the back of the store. I would go to my stores in the afternoons of my days off and pull the bread from the back and refill the shelves.

The union tried to get me fired several times – for doing my job and trying to better myself and my family.

A good friend of mine owns a company that uses semi trucks. One day one of his drivers was backing up to a loading dock to be loaded. There were three union slugs doing what union slugs do best – loafing on the dock. The driver spotted some metal laying on the ground in the path of his tires. He got out and kicked it out of the way so as not to damage any tires on the truck, and the union slugs filed a grievance against him for “working” at a “union shop” since he didn’t belong to a union.

You have to be pretty pathetic if you can’t hold a job on your own merit without a union.

As I said, unions are not without problems, and was, as our democracy was, designed to fail. When you, the American people bail out the fat cats, "and you did because you are responsible for who you elected", you are leading yourselves into socialism. Union failure was because of the failure of the brothers to support one another and the union because they did not take time to ban together at a meeting after work. Your union leaders as well as your congressmen both saw this as saying you did not care what they did. They both see you as weak. Many of you in this thread are guilty of both and it seems that were all going back to the bottom and starting all over. Only then will we realize what it means to " never knew what we had until we lost it."

"comment",
Your "reasons most people move into management" is the favorite excuse used by union workers and it is very, very wrong. I heard this one myself as well as many others, trust me. I can only speak for myself but I assure you that I did not take a pay cut when I left the union for my first management position and I guarantee that I worked much harder than ANY of the union workers I supervised, and I was out on the floor 12-13 hours per day. To say that people generally take management jobs because they "could not cut it on the floor" is absurd. I moved into management because I got tired of lazy workers getting away with doing as little as possible because they knew they would be supported by the union.

Well Rax, it is a fact and not an excuse. There are some exceptions and you may be one. But I'll never know that. I been there also and have been one of those leaders i have talked about. You did not take a pay cut and that is good. I'm glad that you probably make more than a union person and have at least as good if not better benefits. More than likely you can thank the union for that... " "Union people" build the cars that we cannot afford because of prices automakers much charge to pay your exorbitant wage/benefit packages." Your words, not mine. I guess this means you could actually thank your union for YOUR exorbitant wage/benefit package. And trust me, I know many people who are supervisors that have a lot less education than those they supervise.

Well thanks nerd! We need a few more smart, ethical, fighting, real men in this world like yourself. You'll go far my friend!

Comment,
I really don't mean this to sound like a pesonal attack that is really not my intent, but you have the typical union worker mentality. You believe that if someone does not want to stay in a union it must be because they are weak and cannot make it as a "real worker". I assure you that the union workers I worked with were more lazy, and less skilled than others who've worked for me in non-union shops.
Today as an engineer I sub contract work and absolutely HATE having to use union workers because the job will generally take twice as long, cost more and I almost always have more problems than when using non-union workers.....and THAT is fact. Give me a non-union shop any day! Don't get me wrong, I understand there are some good workers in unions but those workers would be good with or without the union. The union certainly didn't make them good.

I could care less if its personal or not. I'm an old dude just enjoying the side shows. I fought my battles and am tired now. Its up to the younger generation. But they better wake up! Lotta folks out there want something for nothing and that includes labor. That's why Americans don't want your jobs any longer. Just keep that border open and the meat market flowing. Your not one of those are you? I have watched this country advance over the years and that's to include the workplace with wages, benefits, and working conditions. Over the last several years its seems to me that we are reverting to something we once were. Low wages, benefits, and poor working conditions. That can't be good. Remember Tennessee Ernie Ford. " Saint peter don't you call me cause I can't go,,,,,I owe my soul,,, to the company store."

The thing is, comment, your remarks are exactly what many of us have been saying about union workers. The majority of union workers are totally what you described: folks who want something for doing nothing. I appreciated what was said by the previous poster...good union workers would be good workers regardless....not because the union made them that way. The unions, in my experience, have contributed to the laziness so prevalent in the American labor force today.

Well pops, I wasn't describing the worker. I was describing the people who hire the workers. The employers who want something for nothing. Sorry for the confusion. And by the way. For all who may be a little confused about who the union is, it IS the workers. They are the union. They make it work or make it fail. Like your political leaders, they elect their leaders. And they can also take their leaders out. I'll say once again, unions are not without problems. I really think we ought send more of our jobs to China so we can get some more of that slave labor produced tainted dog food and baby milk and whatever other junk and poison they produce. Remember, ya get what ya pay for! Maybe someday soon, China will be sending our jobs back cause it will be cheaper to produce here. Our grand children sure got a lot to look forward to!

Comment,
That's just typical union worker rhetoric, your union rep must have been a smooth talker. I will go to my grave believing that a person works a union job becuse they do not have the skills or knowledge to make it in a non union job where they have to perform at a higher level.

Obviously Rax, a lot of people don't have those skills and knowledge to advance to those supervisor or management positions until they gain them through the union! By the way. I was a union rep! Lol

I was referring to working at a higher level of skill within their respective job class, not for becoming management. The non-union welders, machinists and laborers I've supervised are far superior in skill to the union workers within those same job classes.

I was a union worker, and a union rep, until about 1994. By then, I'd had my fill. As I said, I've watched the union "workers" whine and cry about not being paid enough, and almost in the same breath, brag about how long it had been since they'd "turned a tap", or opened their toolbox. Sorry, comment, but a "union worker" is a rare thing, indeed. What I'd like to hear is someone like you, a union protagonist, support a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

I work where we have a union and all i know is that they get away with things that noone else could and are allowed to keep their jobs, or get suspended for a few days (with pay). It supports the lazy man!!! We have new people start and are told by union guys "slow down dont work so hard or fast youre making us look bad".

Well pops, you worked at a major airlines. You know what the wages and benefits were or are. " What I'd like to hear is someone like you, a union protagonist, support a fair day's pay for a fair day's work." Okay! I do support that. You said " 75% of the workers did little or nothing during their work day." Seeing as you were one of those " rare " union workers, do you think that other 25% of the " rare " union workers were paid fairly and if so, were they paid fairly based on their higher work standards or because of a negotiated wage. Or do you believe that you were paid to much? What were you making? 25, 35 and hour? Would 11 or 12 bucks an hour be more fair? Your only working on airplanes that hauls people around! It can't take much in the way of skills and knowledge to maintain aircraft as some believe. I'm tired! I gotta take a nap.

Good point, comment. I'm not sure WHAT would have been a fair wage. I know that, for one thing, I was part of a "two-tiered" wage system...a system that was "negotiated" by the union and the company. The union supported it, and encouraged it's membership to vote for it. Basically, I did the same work, carried the same licenses, and had the same skills as my more "senior" workers, but was paid about 25% less. How fair is that? In fact, in that particular wage system, I would NEVER be able to make the same pay as those more senior, on the "A tier".
Sure, the wages I enjoyed were negotiated by the union, but I was doing my job, and working hard. There were more "senior", "A-tiered" workers making MUCH more money, who rarely opened their toolbox. Is THAT fair? I also know that my benefits were not as good, yet I worked harder. Not only that, if we "younger" workers did "too much", the older workers would sabotage the work, and destroy the progress, sometimes costing the company thousands of $$ in lost time, lost revenue, and damaged parts. Is THAT fair?

You also indicate all I did was work on airplanes that fly people around. You indicate you don't feel such work is all that hard...at least not hard enough to warrant paying someone well for it? Sorry...but people who do that sort of work have tremendous technical knowledge and skill. It's not an easy thing to make a 100-ton 747 get off the ground...and do it safely!! Perhaps you aren't very knowledgeable about what it takes to be an aircraft mechanic...so I'll not be too harsh with you regarding your remarks.

Sure its fair. The more experience you have, the more money you make. That works even in non-union jobs. For example. A heart surgeon with 30 years experience makes more money than one who just got out of cadaver school. Seems fair and makes sense to me, plus, I know who I want working on my ticker! I'll bet that older surgeon works less than than the younger one. His years of experience has taught him how to work smarter. Its all about experience pops. As for sabotage, that's a pretty strong statement. I'll leave that as is. This was my quote. " Your only working on airplanes that hauls people around! It can't take much in the way of skills and knowledge to maintain aircraft as some believe."
I apologize for my poor attempt at sarcasm meant for others as in "as some believe". I'm more than just a little familiar with aviation. It does take a lot of skill and knowledge and shows that not all union workers are brainless. Right pops?