Why is America so screwed up?

[initforme]

Yup, you make something workers can afford. The rich I don't take into consideration.

 

[baileyn45]

Progressives

Most progressives hate free trade and support the unions that built our middle class in the first place. Please learn something.

Decades of unions believing that they could get champaign and caviar for the price of beer an peanuts drove the manufacturing overseas.

nonsense. greed drove manufacturing overseas.

I have to disagree. The reasons manufacturing has left the US are varied and numerous. Onerous govt regulations, automation, foreign competition, proximity to raw materials and foreign market, at times unions pricing themselves out of competition. Manufacturing employment has been steadily declining since 1970.

Free trade open the door with nixion going to china. The unions built our fucking middle class and it is highly doubtful 90% of the people that got to that level would of been there without the ability to be paid better. You see nothing wrong with serfdom and that is what republicans want.

The reason why are market place can't compete is because we don't enforce anti-trust laws that allow the big corps to buy everything out and close up the market.

Frankly that's just way to simplistic. People don't realize that up until !970 Japan and Europe were still rebuilding from WWII. From 1945 to 1970 we basically had no competition. After that we did. The high wages paid to union workers became, in some instances, unsustainable when competing with foreign firms.

Keep in mind the vast majority of manufacturing firms were not large corporations. I've noted this on another thread, a number of years ago I read a report from the SBA on the cost to small mfgs of meeting govt regs as $22K per employee per year. Think about it, if I'm paying someone $30K/yr, after taxes and benefits they're costing me $40K/yr. Add $22K to that. At the end of the day they cost me $62K and they take home what $22K? We often create our own problems.

Another example I used on the other thread dealt with steel tariffs passed in 2001. Supposedly to protect US steel makers. It resulted in doubling and sometimes tripling steel costs, my raw material. At that time my biggest customer made wheel chairs. They came to us and said medicare had capped what they would pay for a steel wheel chair and my customer could not make a steel wheel chair in the US and sell it to medicare without losing money on every one. They moved the whole plant to Mexico. My customer hated it. It was a logistical nightmare but at least they were still making chairs. My staff went from 32 to 15 in under 2 years.

We often have no one to blame but ourselves.

 

[initforme]

A persons self interest revolves around them, not the company. Times have changed. Loyalty is out the door.

 

[baileyn45]

Bull. I know carpenters that start out at $25 per hour as long as they are union and have post grad training.

There is plenty of choice. My industry needs 46,000 new workers and they can't find them. This is why they are turning to foreigners to do the work; Americans are sitting home on their Obama phone getting fat on SNAP's cards. The others refuse to quit smoking pot so they can pass a drug test at a good company.

With the exception of those who are mentally or physically challenged, the only reason one is not working is because they don't want to work.

You're obsessed with your pothead tenants lol. Sure, all the UE have to do is magically get a semi license. Of course, Pubs refuse helping with ANY training for MILLIONS of good jobs going begging.

OP- 30 years of Reaganism have wrecked the nonrich and the country, but thanks for the stupidest wars ever and the world depression, dupes.

Reagan has been dead for 11 years and left the office of President over 27 years ago. Since that time, we've had 16 years of Democrat leadership in the White House. Why don't you blame one of them? Oh, that's right, because it's never a Democrats fault.

Maybe because they've done nothing but try and fix your GOP's pander to the rich idiocy?

When you figure out both parties pander shamelessly to the rich, you'll be up at least 20 IQ points. That'd get you over 30.

Democrats invest and work with the business sector to get things done
Republicans suck their dick and hand them the controls.

Big difference.

As some one that's been in business for many years I must say, you must be kidding. In the words of Ronald Reagan the nine scariest words in the english language are "I'm from the govt and I'm here to help" For my entire career I've had 2 words for the fed govt "GO AWAY".

 

[9aces]

Yup, you make something workers can afford. The rich I don't take into consideration.

There is no requirement the business make something its workers can afford. It only should make something SOMEONE can afford.

If the workers can't meet daily living costs, they won't work there long, and the company suffers.

Most people, not all to be sure as I've met some pretty stupid owners, but most aren't stupid, and understand worker stability is important, so wage scale and perks are set to balance profit, and worker stability.

 

[Rustic]

Socialism and career politicians are the reason why this government has become a banana republic...

 

[rdean]

How did we get to this point?

Regressives AKA leftist Aholes.

It's actually easier to name the reasons then to just say "them".

Blue States are actually much closer to what we see as an ideal America. Democrats are a coalition, not a party that's 90% white, anti education, anti science, pro hate ignorant overweight and toothless poor white people.

Even though it's Republican whites that get most of the food stamps and welfare, somehow, their disgraceful leadership has convinced uneducated and in many case, unemployed or minimum wage white people that it is they who are the producers.

For years, the GOP leadership has convinced their ignorant base that black men will rape their women. But now the immigrants with an education are showing up to take jobs Republicans aren't qualified for, the leadership has moved the base's hatred to Hispanics.

But the GOP base has gone crazy extreme in who even knows what direction. They finally realized the GOP leadership has been using them for their vote only. Now they don't know who to trust. All they know is they want to go back to a magical time that has never existed. The lack of education can come in handy for the leadership. Getting the base to believe in a time that never existed.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

"Why is America so screwed up?"

It isn't.

But most conservatives like to pretend it is; it comforts them somehow.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Yup. But workers should not be loyal to the company. In today's world a worker should walk right off the job the second they accept a better one. About half the companies out there are bad and to be avoided.

That happened at our place a couple of times. Years later when potential employers called my boss for a reference, guess what he told them?

 

[rdean]

The rubes in this thread are right. All the technology and advancements brought about by liberals have made us fat and weak. We need to elect a republican to punish us like Dubya did.

Technology doesn't make people fat and weak, liberal social programs do. If you elect a Republican, they just may make you get off of your fat ass, off of your Obama Phone, off of SANP's card and make you work for a living. Then you won't be so fat and weak.

The reason you can't prove any of that is because it's not true. Republicans talk a big deal, but their policies, doesn't matter which, economic, foreign policy, military, domestic, it doesn't matter, they are all failures. The states they control proves it and the government under Bush, Bush and Reagan proved it. You have to be ignorant beyond belief not to know that. All the facts and recent history that have been posted and linked to proved it beyond a doubt. The only thing the GOP has is slander, lies, exaggerations, and talking points. And they attack. That's it. Nothing else.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

If you are going to produce people need to be able to buy your production.

Exactly, which is why Americans are buying foreign made products today.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

If you think republicans care about workers your brain has been removed. Nobody cares about workers. They say leave it to the market or get trained. Then they say its up to the worker. Which makes sense. But they want those workers to give their all for the company. Truth is the worker is there for the worker.

If the worker is just there for the worker, that will be obvious by their performance and they probably won't have a job very long.

 

[Granny]

There's a lot of blame to be passed around straight across the board.

Let's take education. Back when I was in school, we had either all black or all white schools. The particular high school I attended was an excellent school. Even though I didn't excel, the largest part of the school was college bound. I think my graduating class marked the end of the school being all white. If I had to find my year book right now I would probably slit my throat as I'm deep into sorting out about 30 years of Christmas decorations and my living room looks like I just moved in to this place. My recollection is that almost every teacher had his or her Masters Degree in their subject and that some of them were also professors at the University of Richmond. Was Brown v. Board of Education a mistake? No. Was it very horribly instituted? Yes. After years of one mistake after another, blacks were not elevated to white standards, but just the reverse - white education was lowered and lowered and dumbed down so that no one was getting the education they deserved to get. Whites got all riled up at the busing business ... but little to nothing was said about black parents going through the same traumas of having their children bused from one end of the city to the other. A massive failure.

How about the women's movement? The so-called bra burning feminists movement. Based on my own experience having to deal with these women I have to say there's not a damned thing feminine about any of them. They're frigging bullies from hell. They have pussified our men to death and they reviled "stay at home" moms outrageously. Is there anything wrong with women working? No. I've worked all my adult life. I had responsibilities. I did the stay-at-home mom thing for a few years and it was a disaster - not because of any feminist issues I harbored - it was just the circumstances of that particular time in my life. These women would kill their own parents if they thought it would take them one step higher on the ladder to "success." They go marching around in their little black (or the occasional navy blue or brown) "uniforms" conforming themselves to be "acceptable" as equal to their male counterparts ... and have no idea in the world how hated they are by men and women alike.

Vietnam? Absolutely. My old high school flame is in his 70s now, and he called me a couple months ago and said, "I finally got my VA benefits. Can you believe that?" Vietnam ruined him. All the problems he has today can be laid at the feet of the ... um ... "police action" that was the Vietnam War.

Drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll? Well, maybe not rock 'n' roll. We've been dealing with the drugs for decades and haven't gotten anywhere. Sex? Well, whatever floats your boat seems to be the norm.

We base a person's value on the amount of money they have rather than on their character. I thought the mantra "He who has the most toys - wins" would never end. Apparently it hasn't in. But, again, I had a mother who's only love was money and who had no character, so maybe that's why I have so little concern about money so much as I do value a person's character.

I look at my ancestors who fled Poland ... from Tsarist rule in eastern Poland and rule of the Kaiser in middle/western Poland ... and the many who fled other European nations for the freedom of America ... and I have to wonder why in the hell there's a segment of our population that wants to turn America into a European type country. Nothing has changed in Europe - Greece alone should be a good example of dependence on the European Union and the World Financial Bank to bail them out. What did all the promises of the Russian Revolution and ultimate Communist Party bring to the underclasses of the Russians?

The list of who to blame ... which actually all of us to one degree or another ... goes on and one.

America used to be a magnificent powerhouse of freedom, well respected by other nations, national pride in ourselves - and we can be that again if we work together instead of against each other.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Reagan has been dead for 11 years and left the office of President over 27 years ago. Since that time, we've had 16 years of Democrat leadership in the White House. Why don't you blame one of them? Oh, that's right, because it's never a Democrats fault.

Pubs have defended to the death the Reaganist tax rates and loopholes and policies that have wrecked the country duh. All they have is tidal waves of bs propaganda and the ignorance of their ignorant racist chumps...

Defending lower tax rates...gee maybe because it's people's money, and not the government's?

The biggest racists walking the face of the planet right now are lifelong Democrats. Al Sharpton is the poster child of racism being profitable.

Defending low tax rates on the rich and giant corps, because that's all Dems have been trying to raise duh...Pointing out racism is not racism duh dupe. Believing certain races are inferior and discriminating against them is.

Yes, and Democrats have certainly believed certain races are inferior and done everything in their power to push them back into slavery. And it's working.

If Dems have been trying to raise taxes, their willingness to do so certainly evaporates when they have the ability to do so.

And yet your party wants a bunch of serfs that get paid next to shit. Read a history book about the 19th century sometimes. Damn.

How is raising taxes on the top 1% bad? We had the biggest middle class in history when the rich paid at least double what they do today. History disproves your trash.

Which begs the question: how did taxing the wealthy "twice" what they pay today do anything for the middle-class?

 

[initforme]

Bull. Do you really believe workers need to put their hearts into their jobs? Good god boy, wake up. Workers know nobody is going to write "lived work" on their tombstone. Work is a means to a paycheck. No note no less. Yes those that own the company feel different but those that do the labor? That's backwards logic.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

If those jobs are going to pay lower wages we don't need them to come back. Stay overseas. Cheap greedy pricks.

Yep, and educate our own youth to innovate and do things that do pay well right here in America.

Republicans have it all wrong.

That's what we did. We educated people to make robots to take the place of human beings.

 

[initforme]

Yep. And we have the gall to say our country is based on christian values. As a lifelong christian I challenge that statement.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Bull. Do you really believe workers need to put their hearts into their jobs? Good god boy, wake up. Workers know nobody is going to write "lived work" on their tombstone. Work is a means to a paycheck. No note no less. Yes those that own the company feel different but those that do the labor? That's backwards logic.

So if you have two employees let's say, and one works just to earn a paycheck, but the other works to make the company more profitable, which one do you think will see a raise? Which one do you think would get a promotion if it comes up?

 

[initforme]

Neither will see a raise or promotion. That's an easy one. Rule number one is not to trust your employer. Be on the constant lookout for better pay. That's what good workers do.

 

[Rustic]

There's a lot of blame to be passed around straight across the board.

Let's take education. Back when I was in school, we had either all black or all white schools. The particular high school I attended was an excellent school. Even though I didn't excel, the largest part of the school was college bound. I think my graduating class marked the end of the school being all white. If I had to find my year book right now I would probably slit my throat as I'm deep into sorting out about 30 years of Christmas decorations and my living room looks like I just moved in to this place. My recollection is that almost every teacher had his or her Masters Degree in their subject and that some of them were also professors at the University of Richmond. Was Brown v. Board of Education a mistake? No. Was it very horribly instituted? Yes. After years of one mistake after another, blacks were not elevated to white standards, but just the reverse - white education was lowered and lowered and dumbed down so that no one was getting the education they deserved to get. Whites got all riled up at the busing business ... but little to nothing was said about black parents going through the same traumas of having their children bused from one end of the city to the other. A massive failure.

How about the women's movement? The so-called bra burning feminists movement. Based on my own experience having to deal with these women I have to say there's not a damned thing feminine about any of them. They're frigging bullies from hell. They have pussified our men to death and they reviled "stay at home" moms outrageously. Is there anything wrong with women working? No. I've worked all my adult life. I had responsibilities. I did the stay-at-home mom thing for a few years and it was a disaster - not because of any feminist issues I harbored - it was just the circumstances of that particular time in my life. These women would kill their own parents if they thought it would take them one step higher on the ladder to "success." They go marching around in their little black (or the occasional navy blue or brown) "uniforms" conforming themselves to be "acceptable" as equal to their male counterparts ... and have no idea in the world how hated they are by men and women alike.

Vietnam? Absolutely. My old high school flame is in his 70s now, and he called me a couple months ago and said, "I finally got my VA benefits. Can you believe that?" Vietnam ruined him. All the problems he has today can be laid at the feet of the ... um ... "police action" that was the Vietnam War.

Drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll? Well, maybe not rock 'n' roll. We've been dealing with the drugs for decades and haven't gotten anywhere. Sex? Well, whatever floats your boat seems to be the norm.

We base a person's value on the amount of money they have rather than on their character. I thought the mantra "He who has the most toys - wins" would never end. Apparently it hasn't in. But, again, I had a mother who's only love was money and who had no character, so maybe that's why I have so little concern about money so much as I do value a person's character.

I look at my ancestors who fled Poland ... from Tsarist rule in eastern Poland and rule of the Kaiser in middle/western Poland ... and the many who fled other European nations for the freedom of America ... and I have to wonder why in the hell there's a segment of our population that wants to turn America into a European type country. Nothing has changed in Europe - Greece alone should be a good example of dependence on the European Union and the World Financial Bank to bail them out. What did all the promises of the Russian Revolution and ultimate Communist Party bring to the underclasses of the Russians?

The list of who to blame ... which actually all of us to one degree or another ... goes on and one.

America used to be a magnificent powerhouse of freedom, well respected by other nations, national pride in ourselves - and we can be that again if we work together instead of against each other.

The root cause is vile socialist behavior, being oblivious to Reality. The stupidest people to ever to exist on planet earth are socialists, nothing more than parasites.
Socialism has been part of this government for many, many decades, it has ruined the country.
History has shown socialism has never been beneficial long term, just a childish wet dream for the dumbass.