Comments for Mind Your Own Damn Business Politics

Comment on Thoughts and prayers with Japan by Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:23:38 +0000

When we first heard the low casualty numbers I remembered after the Westwood quake in California. The communities with light casualties were able to report, but the ones most tragically affected weren’t in communication for several hours. It’s eerie to hear the early reports and to know it’s bound to be much, much worse. Our thoughts and prayers go out.

Comment on High speed rail the enemy of alternative energy by Robert Sam Siegel

Robert Sam Siegel — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:19:13 +0000

Sure, just link back to me.

Comment on High speed rail the enemy of alternative energy by James Kruk

James Kruk — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:45:26 +0000

Um…. you didn’t really give a lot of evidence to support your claims, other than the unsubstantiated statement that “The jobs high speed rail creates will have limited, perhaps negative, economic benefit because those jobs will be in the creation of an end product with little value.”. Without so much as a footnote.

While alternative energy is definitely important, so is producing alternatives to conventional mass-transportation.

Comment on High speed rail the enemy of alternative energy by High speed rail the enemy of alternative energy – Mind Your Own Damn Business Politics

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 21:40:35 +0000

[...] High speed rail the enemy of alternative energyMind Your Own Damn Business PoliticsAs an advocate of alternative energy I cringe at the Obama administrations efforts to fund high-speed rail. There is very limited need for high speed rail in the US We the People will not ride high speed rail because we have better alternatives. …How high-speed rail could help the US's aging infrastructureMarketplace [...]

Comment on High speed rail the enemy of alternative energy by Lynn

Lynn — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 21:23:20 +0000

Why is it better to drive or to fly? It can’t be more efficient to have individual cars (even electric ones) going back and forth between population centers, and as oil prices rise it will be harder to either drive or fly. I don’t take the train at this point because it’s slower and more expensive. If it were less expensive, I’d tolerate spending some additional time. High speed rail works in Europe because they pay more for gas–and we will too, eventually.

Comment on High speed rail the enemy of alternative energy by wedding party

wedding party — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:53:33 +0000

can i borrow some of the content from this blog post of yours?offcourse i will link back.

Comment on Did auto bailouts favor union workers? by Jay

Jay — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:27:17 +0000

Yes, Delphi would still be in business (after their run thru Bankruptcy Court). Only about half to two-thirds Delphi’s business was with GM and Chrysler. Non Big 3 business was increasing yearly.

As for the union contracts, GM AND DELPHI went to court, Bankruptcy Court. And the bankruptcy judge has the authority to cancel ALL contracts (Labor Union and others) in the effort to save the company (and I might add, company JOBS). Even though there was a contract for GM to make the Union Pension plan whole if Delphi (a GM spin-off coompany) were to go bankrupt (which it did), the GM bankruptcy made that contract null and void as well.

As for the US Government’s intervention into the bankruptcy, Lynn is right about the government’s role whether to be IN or OUT of the scenario. But once the US Government became involved, it has the responsibility to be sure all parties are treated fairly. Is it fair to use TARP related funds to “top off” (i.e., make whole) the Hourly Pension Plan (mostly union folks) and not the Salaried Pension Plan (mostly non-unionized folks)?

The issue is not union versus non-union (even the Union Presidents are on record of agreeing with us). The issue is not whether or not the government should be involved (two administrations dipped their toes in the water; Uncle Sam was IN). The issue is FAIR TREATMENT of all impacted parties….. from a retired Delphi Salaried Employee with a reduced pension.

Comment on Did auto bailouts favor union workers? by Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:36:07 +0000

Do the people at Delphi think they’d still have jobs and benefits if 2 of the big 3 automakers ceased to exist? If they had tried to cut the benefits of the union workers, they just would’ve ended up in court, not that that makes it fair, but the workers at Delphi presumably had a choice not to unionize and benefited in some ways for that choice.

The government picks winners and losers by what it doesn’t do, too. For example by not regulating the financial industry they allowed huge profits to emerge based on unsound financial transactions and by not inforcing environmental regulations they allowed the culture at oil companies to diverge from good safety practices.

Comment on I have a job! by NancyEvans

NancyEvans — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:25:57 +0000

So glad to hear your good news about not only finding a job, but finding a great opportunity. You give the rest of us hope.

Comment on I have a job! by Kim

Kim — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:36:04 +0000

Hurray! I don’t mean to sound creepy, I was thinking about you and your job search earlier! My sincerest congrats!