The government is bloated, I will grant that, but I don't think that it is a matter of one hand not knowing what the other is doing. (I will also stipulate that this is indeed an issue, but it is far from THE ISSUE at this time.)
The issue at hand is that you have two hands trying to wrestle each other into submission and it needs to stop, post haste.
Oh, fun fact about the American Auto Industry vs. the Japanese: our labor is actually cheaper than theirs. That's why Toyota Japan has been importing more and more of their vehicles from Toyota America. Don't believe me, go look it up. (As for why, donno for sure. Might have something to do with the fact that real estate and food come at a premium in Japan due to certain geographical and cultural quirks.)
Pester me not about labor unions, especially automotive. If they want living wages, two weeks paid vacation, full health coverage, retirement package, plus college tuition, then by god let's get it for them. The auto industry makes plenty of money anyhow by making disposable cars. I know, because I've seen (and even driven) a few vehicles that were declared as 'totaled' by auto insurance companies while I worked at an auto insurance auction yard. You'd be surprised how nice some of these 'totaled' cars are for just having the front or rear end mashed up a bit. Car dealers buy them, fix them up and sell 'em. It's like flipping houses for these people and they're raking it in hand-over-fist.
PS: Not particularly upset about this, just putting the info out there.
Other labor unions... Well, it's hit or miss really... but I'm pretty sure that your basic workmanship stuff is not something we should be head-hunting. I'm talking about your welders, steel fitters, pipe fitters, sandhogs and the like. These are people that spend years apprenticing (while making a lean living wage I might add) before they are certified as being competent to work on their own, and then even longer before they're allowed to supervise the work of others. I was on a jobsite in a cement plant in the middle of a shut-down recently, and there was quite a bit of this going on - lots of my fellow temps talking to the foremen and asking about apprenticeships. (Just being out there on the jobsite was quite an experience, let me tell you - nothing like working at the biggest cement plant in Texas to give you a new perspective.)
Are there crooked unions? Yes. But don't throw the baby out with the bath. It's pretty damn easy to tell when a particular union is crooked, and one of the first sign is ineffective workforce.
As for the ACA... I'll say it again - amend the damn thing and quit trying to kill it.
By the way, why does the GOP think it's such a great idea to levy a tax on medical devices? Many of them (not implants/prosthetics) aren't even purchased - they're rented! And if they intend to tax implanted devices and prosthetics? Uhm... can you say 'Medical Tourism'? It's already a real thing happening, and it's gonna get worse if the GOP/Tea Party don't reign themselves in.
The issue at hand is that you have two hands trying to wrestle each other into submission and it needs to stop, post haste.
Oh, fun fact about the American Auto Industry vs. the Japanese: our labor is actually cheaper than theirs. That's why Toyota Japan has been importing more and more of their vehicles from Toyota America. Don't believe me, go look it up. (As for why, donno for sure. Might have something to do with the fact that real estate and food come at a premium in Japan due to certain geographical and cultural quirks.)
Pester me not about labor unions, especially automotive. If they want living wages, two weeks paid vacation, full health coverage, retirement package, plus college tuition, then by god let's get it for them. The auto industry makes plenty of money anyhow by making disposable cars. I know, because I've seen (and even driven) a few vehicles that were declared as 'totaled' by auto insurance companies while I worked at an auto insurance auction yard. You'd be surprised how nice some of these 'totaled' cars are for just having the front or rear end mashed up a bit. Car dealers buy them, fix them up and sell 'em. It's like flipping houses for these people and they're raking it in hand-over-fist.
PS: Not particularly upset about this, just putting the info out there.
Other labor unions... Well, it's hit or miss really... but I'm pretty sure that your basic workmanship stuff is not something we should be head-hunting. I'm talking about your welders, steel fitters, pipe fitters, sandhogs and the like. These are people that spend years apprenticing (while making a lean living wage I might add) before they are certified as being competent to work on their own, and then even longer before they're allowed to supervise the work of others. I was on a jobsite in a cement plant in the middle of a shut-down recently, and there was quite a bit of this going on - lots of my fellow temps talking to the foremen and asking about apprenticeships. (Just being out there on the jobsite was quite an experience, let me tell you - nothing like working at the biggest cement plant in Texas to give you a new perspective.)
Are there crooked unions? Yes. But don't throw the baby out with the bath. It's pretty damn easy to tell when a particular union is crooked, and one of the first sign is ineffective workforce.
As for the ACA... I'll say it again - amend the damn thing and quit trying to kill it.
By the way, why does the GOP think it's such a great idea to levy a tax on medical devices? Many of them (not implants/prosthetics) aren't even purchased - they're rented! And if they intend to tax implanted devices and prosthetics? Uhm... can you say 'Medical Tourism'? It's already a real thing happening, and it's gonna get worse if the GOP/Tea Party don't reign themselves in.