My Parents..

[ekg]

neither of my parents are what you would consider 'political'.. true, over this last year I've had more 'political' discussion with mom than I've ever had in my life.. and my dad was Union.. but they've never be outwardly political. In fact, I always assumed they were (D) since my dad was Union and my mom worked for the Federal gov't.. but since we never,ever talked about politics.. I never knew for sure. I knew last time that they were voting for Obama, which blew my husband away since he never expected my dad to vote for a black guy..not that my dad is racist.. or thinks ill of blacks.. but he's just brutish hunter/man's man/biker-ish..Sam Elliot/Bob Villa..type.. not your normal "Obama-type"..

but still, we just don't talk politics in my family..

anyway, yesterday we did Thanksgiving.. and while we're all sitting around talking, someone at the table mentioned some restaurants they'd been at that had great fried oysters.. and my dad pipes up and said "Speaking of restaurants.. we(him and my mom) wanted to go out to lunch the other day.. so we were going to go all the way out to longhorn steakhouse (it's on beachside, they live way-way inland).. since we can't go to red lobster,olive garden,Hurricane wings .. and damnit, we get all the way there and find out they're also laying people off because of their bullshit obamacare crap.. So we went back home to the (mom & pop) diner.."

my brother, the young republican libertarian (don't hate him, he's not a social conservative, he's a tightwad conservative LOL).. said "Why can't you go to the other places"

and my dad said "Because they're reducing their waitress' hours because they don't want to pay .50 a plate to give them healthcare.. and they're tacking on a surcharge to your bill at the same time to pay for the obamacare that they aren't going to  give the waitress anyway.. and if you don't like it.. you can just take it out of her tip"..

even my brother said "that's pretty shitty".. (he doesn't dread the coming 'obamacare' since he already offera pretty awesome insurance for all the people who work in his law firm.. even the part-time records chick)

I was stunned that my dad would say this....  again, I knew he was Union.. I was 2 or 3 and he was in a strike and had to take me with him to picket.. but I had no clue that not only was he political enough to know about what companies are doing..and disagreeing with it.. but he's fucking liberal enough to boycott them at his own 'inconvenience'..

LOL.. rock on Baby Boomers with disposable income and AAA+ credit!

It was really awesome to see apolitical-types stand up for 'the little guys'..and literally alter their 'conveniences' to help them out.. My parents are retired and well-enough off.. and still young (60 and 62) to do and spend what they want..and if they're doing this.. then others are..  and that's pretty awesome imo..

[reverend_darth]

and my dad said "Because they're reducing their waitress' hours because they don't want to pay .50 a plate to give them healthcare.. and they're tacking on a surcharge to your bill at the same time to pay for the obamacare that they aren't going to give the waitress anyway.. and if you don't like it.. you can just take it out of her tip"..

[/quote]

Any place that pulls this fuckin shit I wont eat at.  How the fuck do they expect to keep any decent employees?

[Howey]

Decent employees, especially waiters and waitresses, won't work at those dives. The only customers are cheap old ppl and young ppl who don't tip.

[ekg]

and my dad said "Because they're reducing their waitress' hours because they don't want to pay .50 a plate to give them healthcare.. and they're tacking on a surcharge to your bill at the same time to pay for the obamacare that they aren't going to give the waitress anyway.. and if you don't like it.. you can just take it out of her tip"..



Any place that pulls this fuckin shit I wont eat at.  How the fuck do they expect to keep any decent employees?

I don't think they care..

I think they figure "don't let the door hit you on the way out' if any employee doesn't like it. They know waitresses are a dime a dozen.. and while they'll miss the 'good ones'.. in the local stores, the bigger CEOs calling the shots don't give a shit one way or the other.

[uselesslegs]

That was great to read.  Good to see your parents aren't robots or unaware.  All of these assholes are convinced it's normal to have their life be 200 or 500 times different (economically speaking) than the cattle they call employees. We've accepted it as part of our capitalistic culture now.  

Hostess is a great example.  They've had a decade or more of mismanagement, giving insane pay raises to the people at the top, including 35 to 80 plus percent compensation and bonus deals/packages, the Unions conceded to multiple pay reductions over those years and big hits to their benefits...but...it's not the brasses fault...it's the employees.  

Some Unions ARE assholes, I know, I use to work for one way back in the day.  But many Unions do what they're suppose to do, be fair and equitable with their employers while they look out for the employees.

We've really got to stop this bullshit where the worker is the bad guy all the time, the thief, while the people at the top are the ones actually robbing shit blind...and then we condone it with, "Well...they ARE the CEO/Owner...they should take whatever they want", without ever questioning the consequences that produces in the process.  

"So wait, you want me to take a 9 percent pay reduction and a 17 percent hit to my retirement/benefits, that may or may not ever be readjusted back up even if the company does well again...and you're not going to take any reductions at all?" "I'm the owner, fuck off."   This is another big component that is destroying the middle class.

[ekg]

That was great to read.  Good to see your parents aren't robots or unaware.  All of these assholes are convinced it's normal to have their life be 200 or 500 times different (economically speaking) than the cattle they call employees. We've accepted it as part of our capitalistic culture now.  

Hostess is a great example.  They've had a decade or more of mismanagement, giving insane pay raises to the people at the top, including 35 to 80 plus percent compensation and bonus deals/packages, the Unions conceded to multiple pay reductions over those years and big hits to their benefits...but...it's not the brasses fault...it's the employees.  

Some Unions ARE assholes, I know, I use to work for one way back in the day.  But many Unions do what they're suppose to do, be fair and equitable with their employers while they look out for the employees.

We've really got to stop this bullshit where the worker is the bad guy all the time, the thief, while the people at the top are the ones actually robbing shit blind...and then we condone it with, "Well...they ARE the CEO/Owner...they should take whatever they want", without ever questioning the consequences that produces in the process.  

"So wait, you want me to take a 9 percent pay reduction and a 17 percent hit to my retirement/benefits, that may or may not ever be readjusted back up even if the company does well again...and you're not going to take any reductions at all?" "I'm the owner, fuck off."   This is another big component that is destroying the middle class.

That's what needs to change..

no one is saying the owner can't make money hand over fist.. hell, no one is saying the owner can't reduce his employee's pay and benefits so that he can keep his profits up if it's his last resort... but, if you're making 500 times what the employee you just cut wages on is making.. how about asking yourself "Hey, maybe I can get by on 455 times of what this guy makes, instead of 500.. and also keep his pay rate/hours the same"

some think capitalism means 'cutthroat' and 'dirty-play'..or "I get mine by screwing you out of yours".. if they really understood that it's an 'honest','fair' 'integrity-based' utopia where the market *tries to weed out the Koch Bros types*..because they skew the market to their benefit which then makes the market less 'free'.. they'd call it socialism..




*tries to weed them out, but can never actually do it.. which is why it can never work because greed always takes precedent over anything else*

[old professor]

So, we are going to have to revisit healthcare.  What should we learn first? Legislation designed totally by committee with buy-in from only part of the political world isn't the best of ideas. I hold Republicans primarily responsible, since they took their ball and went home even when the suggested legislation was very similar to their proposals, but there is, as usual, blame enough to go around.  The answer, as the civilized world knows, is national healthcare.  Lower cost, bigger bang for the buck, a healthier populace than we have, lower infant mortality, lower drug costs, and so on. But one scream of socialism is more powerful in this  country that can't quite define any of the isms than a ton of evidence. So we are in for another 10 years or so of suffering before we arrive at the point we could have reached under Nixon, Clinton, Obama.  Did I leave anyone out? They all tried but ran into the lunatic fringe.

[reverend_darth]

Had business supported the single payer public option there would have been no increased costs to them but to the general public in general.  But that would have been that damn commie socialism like Medicare and Social Security that are so successful and that they so enjoy.  Is it a regressive tax on youth?  Of course, unless your kid has cancer.  Welcome to the world of insurance.