Thinking Right

By Mid-South Philosopher

September 27, 2007 2:40 PM | Link to this

Finally, this blog link is opened!

Here is the post that I tried to make about 8:00A.M. this morning:

Good morning, Jim.

While, I agree that the government should NOT get involved in mandating “leave” or other “benefits” for employees, you have hit on the one example that I am a flaming liberal about!!!

With the idiocy known as No Child Left Behind (No Teacher Left With One) having been foisted upon us by the Reformist school restructuring movement, a chief component is that parents should be directly involved in the education of their children, particularly with regard to choice. That being true, it becomes incumbent upon businesses and other community agencies to do their part by providing parents the necessary time off to be involved with their children’s education. Such a task as school registration would qualify.

We tout the notion of accountability in public education. As well as the teachers (the shortage of which will reach enormous proportions by the end of this decade) that accountability has to extend to both the parents and the community at-large (i.e., businesses, companies, corporations, etc.).

I agree with you that the example cited of an employee with a 22 year goldenly satisfactory work record being fired for refusing to work 3 hours of overtime due to the reason cited sounds very suspicious. However, in the modern economy, where businesses are often operated by corporatists (those who have embraced a form of capitalist communism), it may well have happened!

By jbmlaw

September 27, 2007 2:41 PM | Link to this

Good afternoon all. I have worked 30+ years in an industry with more unsubsidized legal mandates than practically any other (medical research may have more mandates, but the US healthcare system functions as an effective subsidy for that industry.) Every government “mandate” has a measurable economic cost. As such, each mandate is nothing but a concealed tax, coupled with a dedicated expenditure, to satisfy the whim of a particular tyrant. Those mandates are paid for by consumers (in the form of higher prices,) employees (in the form of lower wages), suppliers (as harder sales), and stockholders (as lower returns on investment.)

30-40 years ago corporate taxes were reasonably comparable all over the free world. Only in the past 10 years have US corporate taxes, including mandate-costs, risen (comparatively) to levels sufficient to render US businesses uncompetitive. Thus job outsourcing is now a reasoned and necessary component of almost every long-term corporate plan. As is always the case, every problem Congress “cures” with legislation creates two new-and-worse problems; if only the leftists could learn the many benefits of allowing water to find its own level.

By Southern Democrat

September 27, 2007 2:43 PM | Link to this

This is another example of corporate lobbyists making a mountain out of a mole hill. It’s twenty-four hours of UNPAID leave. The cost to a corporation would be negligible as most corporations (large and small) have some sort of unpaid leave system in place already.

While it might be wasteful to have government spend the time drafting the bill, I do not think it will affect many Georgia corporations negatively at all. In fact, some of the more Draconian execs might simply take away paid vacation.

By American Worker

September 27, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this

“Mandates on minimum wages to be paid, on medical procedures to be covered by health insurance policies, and mandates of the sort proposed by the Atlanta legislator, have one of three consequences. They force businesses to flee to areas, often abroad, where costs are cheaper…”

So, in other words, Americans should lower their quality of life expectations to the level of people living in India or China. If it’s good enough for them, it should be good enough for us!

By Redneck Convert

September 27, 2007 3:14 PM | Link to this

Well, that boss probly asked the woman real nice and she went and said no and he probly had to miss out on his golf match. I’d be mad at her too. Why should she be able to leave and get her kids in school and just let the company go to pot because she’s too busy for overtime? She don’t sound like she got any Work Ethic.

I don’t know what’s got into people lately. Just because they work the longest hours in the world they think they can get by with telling a boss no when asked to work overtime. Well, this is GA, not some librul state where they give workers all kinds of rights. I’m awful glad I work in a state where you can’t be forced to stay out of work just because some people went on strike or a fambly member croaked. I’m glad GA lets a boss fire a worker for any reason or no reason at all.

I’m happy My President got in and set about shipping jobs overseas and making it harder for workers to get by with junk like saying they got rights. If Al Gore had got elected I bet that woman would of stayed on the job without doing no overtime at all. That’s one of the reasons you can’t have libruls deciding what bosses can do.

Anyway, I guess this boss showed her and she will think twicet next time she decides to leave work on account of a kid needing to get into school or being sick or something. Cos. shouldn’t hire women that have kids at home in the first place. If they can’t be ready for work 24 hrs. per day they shouldn’t take a job. Stuff like this is one of the reasons you won’t never see a woman driving a beer truck.

I’m awful glad to see Wooten finally woke up and learnt nobody was writing into his blog and then figured out why. You got to hand it to him. The boy is learning. Anyway, I don’t see why Wooten can’t sleep in a couple times a week without people making a federal case just because a link don’t work. It’s only happened twicet this week. Besides, we all needed a break from cussing each other

By jbmlaw

September 27, 2007 3:23 PM | Link to this

Dear American Worker @ 3:05, I respectfully believe you misperceive. It is not that “Americans should lower their quality of life expectations to the level of people living in India or China.” However, Americans should not believe that King Canute can order the tides to remain at sea. If Congress orders an imposition of new costs on industry and foolishly assumes ceteris paribus, somebody will lose his job; unfortunately it will not be the tyrannical Congress.

By jbmlaw

September 27, 2007 3:28 PM | Link to this

Dear Southern @ 2:43, we have now discovered that if Congress creates billions of earmarked molehills, the dirt aggregates to several pretty good mountains.

By American Worker

September 27, 2007 3:28 PM | Link to this

jbmlaw, I don’t really know what you said since I don’t know any latin, but I understand the issue isn’t as black and white as I had presented it. Rather than making a point about the situation facing workers, I was intending to focus on Wooten’s general lack of empathy for anyone not in his same financial bracket. There are all sorts of costs that industry has to assume, but I don’t think any of us want to do without consumer protection laws, workers compensation, vacation, health insurance, legal protection from discrimination. Just because something is mandated by the government doesn’t make it bad. It is always funny to me that so many people have no sense of history and don’t know that were they living one hundred years ago their lives - and work lives - would be dramatically less comfortable.

By jbmlaw

September 27, 2007 3:43 PM | Link to this

Dear AmWorker @ 3:28, surely you are not suggesting that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi can make better decisions for you than you can make for yourself?

By Youthful Vigor

September 27, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this

Well, my townhouse is within walking distance of the office, so if it ok with everyone, I will take my 24 hours of leave at a rate of 1 hour per week for a nice nooner with the wife. I just hope my girlfriend does not find out!

By American Worker

September 27, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this

jbmlaw, I don’t know what you’re talking about. As an employee, I can’t “decide” for myself what the rules are with regard to leave time from work. That decision is made by the employer and by the government. That is just how it works. If we all made our own idividual decisions about every aspect of life then the world be would be in chaos. We are all, whether we like it or not, part of a larger society. That’s what makes us different from animals right? We live in community. We don’t live our lives with only ourselves in mind. Come to think of it, even some animals live in community. On the other hand, if you can explain to me how I can tell my boss that his rules or the government’s rules no longer apply to me and that I will be making every decision based on only what I want, then I’m happy to listen. I could use some time off work!

By Dennis

September 27, 2007 4:00 PM | Link to this

Mr. Wooten writes, “Mandates on minimum wages to be paid, on medical procedures to be covered by health insurance policies, and mandates of the sort proposed by the Atlanta legislator, have one of three consequences.

1)”They force businesses to flee to areas, often abroad, where costs are cheaper.”

What Mr. Wooten does not want to say, nor do American corporations, is that the profits they were making were adequate before all of the corporations moved out of the country.

The real problem still is, whatever profits are being made are NEVER ENOUGH. And the good of this country and the good of the American people are sold down the drain.

2)”They force higher prices on consumers….”

No one on here has noticed cheaper clothes (for example) simply because they are made out of the country.

3)”And they force business to seek taxpayer subsidies, or tax breaks, to pay for the higher costs that regulation imposes.”

What a joke. If a small guy in business goes under, our government doesn’t care. He’s called a loser or a bad decision maker, a bad financial risk.

Unlike when the big corporations that go under, or may go under without a government bailout, the small business owner doesn’t have a high paid lobbyist to interceede for him. But that’s weirdly called “free interprise” (when actually, it’s free innerprize).

You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

By Youthful Vigor

September 27, 2007 4:08 PM | Link to this

Folks, it dont matter none, the very currency that holds you in 9-5 slavery is rapidly becoming worthless. Just run up debts in dollars, but buy some euros and some gold, because withing a few years, the dollar will be worthless and you can pay off all your debts by selling a few of you euro s or a few ounces of gold.

By Youthful Vigor

September 27, 2007 4:30 PM | Link to this

Just substitute -house- for euro and gold and you will be closer to understanding the current situation in AmeriKa.

By MELO

September 27, 2007 4:50 PM | Link to this

Only 14 people took ur bait? Because u are lame and always want to insigate by picking on the dummest Democrats and putting them up on a poster as if they represent all of them. Oh, so Larry Craig and Mark Forley represents all u paedophiles on the Jesus Right?!!

By @@

September 27, 2007 4:50 PM | Link to this

I do declare Jim. Why place the burden on business? Why not on the entity owned and funded by taxpayers?

Make the government schools accomodate the parents’ schedule. A couple of weekends to allow for student registration. Handle the bulk of it during the late summer months when the teachers are being paid and doing nothing for the most part.

I can just see it now. All the employees choose to take care of personal business or schedule doctor’s appointments on the same day. In law enforcement I believe it’s what’s known as the “blue flu”.

No such thing as the “red flu”, nosiree.

By Youthful Vigor

September 27, 2007 4:56 PM | Link to this

If only the neocons could fight half as well as the one armed man from Gwinette, victory in Iraq and Afghanistan would be assured!

By Youthful Vigor

September 27, 2007 5:00 PM | Link to this

Gwenette, you know, like the faclonettes, the femanine version.

By @@

September 27, 2007 5:06 PM | Link to this

and also….for that poster over here (don’t recall the name) who keeps claiming that law enforcement is a government subsidized entitlement program well let me tell you, from recent experience how well (ahem) it operates.

My husband’s car was stolen from his “secured” parking space at work 13 days ago. The report was filed with local police that day.

It was only today that the neighboring Atlanta Police department contacted us. When was it recovered? 12 days ago. How much did is cost us to get it out of the impound lot? $120.00

When he asked the Atlanta Police why it took so long to notify us their answer was “What can we say?…fill out this complaint form” and go pick up your car.

Why do those on the left place so much faith in government to operate with any efficiency?

I just don’t understand it. Truly I don’t.

By Dennis The Menace

September 27, 2007 5:17 PM | Link to this

“What Mr. Wooten does not want to say, nor do American corporations, is that the profits they were making were adequate before all of the corporations moved out of the country.”

Wrong, butt cheek socialist lib. They got out before things got WORSE, and with a full RAT controlled, Washington, the business environment in this nation will be more hostile than EVER.

“The real problem still is, whatever profits are being made are NEVER ENOUGH”.

Waah waah waah. You pigs on the left just HATE IT when someone or some thing makes MONEY. IT’S NOT YOUR DAMNED MONEY, LENINISTA LIBERAL PIGS.

Further, you savages on the left can’t TAX CORPORATIONS OR THE SUCCESSFUL ENOUGH. You disgusting anti-capitalist pigs.

By Youthful Vigor

September 27, 2007 5:31 PM | Link to this

Dennis The Menace - though I hate your name, I support putting the workers in chains. the scum are suitable only for pulling a plow. Tobacco forever

By Jackie

September 27, 2007 5:55 PM | Link to this

The American labor force is the most productive in the world, takes less vacation that any industrialized country in the West; pay has been stagnant or falling; benefits and pensions are being taken away, even after earning them through years of service. How does 24 hours of UNPAID LEAVE affect the bottom line of the corporations? It does not have an effect on profit margins, yet, the bosses want to squeeze more from the worker and give less for their labor.