The New Slavery.

A lot of Republicans have been singing the praise of their right to work states. They say they attract more companies because they are able to pay lower wages to their workers with out unions to fight for higher pay and benefits.  Union membership has been at it's lowest in years. In fact in the South is is practically non existent in many cases.

This does come at a price that they never talk about . Low paying jobs leads to more Government programs that help families forced to live below the poverty level.  Here is a partial list of states that receive more tax money back than they pay into the system.

Out of the 10 states that have benefited most from federal money since 2007, seven sent their electoral votes to John McCain in 2008. and Mitt Romney in 2012 . Mississippi and West Virginia are at the head of the class—each take nearly $3 from Washington for each dollar they pay in taxes. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Delaware and Minnesota both get about 50 cents for each $1 they pay in federal taxes. Both are blue states.

Indiana joins 22 other states with right-to-work laws, most of them in the South and West, and its action could encourage other states to pass similar laws.



As you can see some states have figured another way to hire slave labor and kill the middle class. Soon all states will be right to work and there will be no good paying jobs for the working public. That will hurt all workers even you my friends.

This reminds me of the 100 years after the Civil War when Southern Democrats made a deal in Congress to stop reconstruction by federal troops and institute Jim Crow and other laws to keep people of color working for almost nothing. Did the South really lose the Civil War or just a battle.?

Social Security is insurance for a number of reasons

Social Security

All facts and figures were taken from CRS report for Congress .
A lot of friends tell me that they think Social Security is a bad deal or that they will never see a dime. Here are some facts.
1. Social Security is expected to have surpluses until the year 2042. That does not mean that it will run out of money. It means that the trust fund will need to acquire additional monies to stay solvent. It is up to congress to save these expected surpluses from the next 32 years.

2. Social Security is a good deal. Remember it is not an investment but an insurance for your old age.
The single worker,who pays into the system his whole working life, can expect to recoup all of his contributions in 7.5 yrs. A worker and his spouse will recoup theirs in only 4.8 yrs.

3. A single worker will recoup his plus his employers shares in 17.4 yrs while a worker and his spouse will recoup his and his employers shares in only 10.5 yrs. We need to protect this program. It works!!!!

 

$ Please remember only 6.2% of your pay is used by the Social Security Administration to pay retirees,those on disability or survivor benefits. It is insurance not a retirement plan. It does run on only a 1% administration cost. Wall Street wants it's hands on that money because it has wasted and lost tons of money intended for peoples retirement plans. This is just a new source for them. Don't let your politicians fool you. It is your money.

My Gun History !

Like most children I grew up watching Roy Rogers and other Westerns on TV.  I had my share of cap guns and cowboy outfits. We always played war on the school playground and when we did not have our cap guns we used our fingers.

Like most boys I wanted a BB gun. My father refused to buy me one.  As a veteran of WWII he did not seem to have any love affair for hunting or owning any type of gun. I guess he put all of the bad memories of fighting in the Pacific theatre in his past.

I did get to shoot a BB gun at Boy Scout summer camp.  I once even spent the night at a friends and we went into the woods to shoot his gun. I remember shooting at a bunch of birds in a tree and to my horror hit one. I watched it flutter to the ground and watched it as it wiggled until it died. I felt bad and that bird is the last animal I ever shot at again.

My first experience with a real gun came at the age of 12. Our scout troop went to the Salem Hunt Club to take a gun safety coarse so we could qualify for a merit badge. I really enjoyed shooting that old single shot .22 cal. gun.

I joined a class that met every Sat. morning and would shoot for marksmanship medals during a two year period. I had a great time and got to shot all types of guns even an old muzzleloader set up on sand bags.

My father never did allow me to buy a gun but did allow me a single string Bow with target arrows.  I spent many hours shooting at an old rotting stump in the woods.

I never wanted to go hunting as I entered high school.  I noticed during my Freshman year that the boys who missed school during the first day of hunting were usually the ones who were mean and bad in school. I just never wanted to be in the woods with idiots who had guns.

I joined the Air Force in 1966 and had to learn to shoot the MI carbine and the gas fed M-16. You had to qualify each year shooting at a human shaped target. I enjoyed shooting but never really got any real thrill out of it. I bought a MG sports car and a used Honda Motorcycle. They gave me all the thrills I needed.

After my discharge I married and had two children.  One day my younger brother asked me to go hunting with him. He had an extra shot gun so I agreed. I bought a hinting license and went into the woods for a day of hunting. I saw plenty of rabbits but never shot at one. I just could not bring myself to kill a small animal.  I walked around all day leery of other hunters and never went again.

Recently I did buy myself that BB gun to target shoot in the back yard during the summer. I rather enjoy it.

I never will understand the American love affair of guns. I gave me no thrill to shoot one. In my opinion there is nothing like holding the hand grips to a powerful motorcycle ans accelerate up a hill.

I look at the debate between the NRA and the Government and just shake my head. I see no reason for anyone to own an assault riffle or carry a concealed hand gun. I recently found out that an in law carried a gun in an ankle strap for protection. It scared the hell out of me. Why do people feel so scared today?

I will not even attempt discuss the issue of assault rifles or expanded clips. I will not even discuss the issue of arming more people would make us safer. The facts are very clear. We have so many guns deaths because we have so many guns in our country. To suggest anything else is ridiculous.

To gun owners who support the NRA and to the NRA I would like to say "on the issue of assault riffles,large clips and the cause of gun deaths in America you position is FULL of SHIT and everyone knows it. Especially the victims. You all scare me".

As for keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill; that ship has sailed.  I listened to a man on talk radio tell the host he needed an assault riffle in case the Muslims or another radical group rose up. He said he needed to protect his family. I just sit here and wonder,as a country, how did we come to this place ?

Catholic School Daze !

I was a member of the ST.Paul's 7th. and then the 8th. grade basketball team. Please take note that I did not say a playing member. I went to every practice for two years but only got to actually play in one or two games. The number escapes me.

I really do not remember much about practice except one incidence repeated time and time again in my memories.  During one practice a rather small nun who's name escapes me because their first names  all seemed to start with Sister Mary ........... .   Continuing with my story; Sister Mary ........ walked through practice one day when a wayward ball hit her on the leg. She slowly bent over to retrieve the ball and with a two hand set shot drew nothing but net. As you could imagine this drew immediate applause and a little awe from all the players and coaches.

The next practice she came through the gym again and one of the players threw her a ball and she drilled another one. As far as I can remember she did this for the whole basketball season.

Now I must admit that this memory ,and story, has been told and retold ,by me,over and over for years.  As I get older I am starting to question if any of this really happened or some memory of a written story of movie got mixed in with my real memories.

As I write this post I could not place my hand on a bible to the authenticity of this event. I think it's true though. I think it is ?????

Walmart Discussion

What a crappy month.  Everything has gone wrong and the list is way too long to comment on. There is one observation I would like to explore though in this morning's blog.

I know I can be a pain in the ass. Some think that is one of my only charms. I disagree with that assertion but in reality I could give a shit. I often take a cause or concern I have and push my point of view at every opportunity I can find.  Many of you know my latest cause is my penance for the destructive force of Walmart.

I often wear a T-shirt that exposes my views in bold print . I also tell as many people as I can of the evils of that company. Often people either agree with me of laugh and say they love shopping there.  Some just ignore me altogether. I keep trying because that is who I am. I cause trouble,if possible, and try to draw people into a discussion. Usually I am armed with more facts and that often makes people mad and they just ignore me and walk away.

Recently at a family function I commented to a relative that shopping at Walmart is bad. He told me that he loved the place because he feels they provide jobs. I responded about the conditions of factories in China but to no avail. He just walked away.  I can be a little thick and later I approached him and said someday we needed to have a discussion about Walmart.

He responded with an evil look in his eyes and said that NO we would not. I was a little put off by the hatred in his face so I backed off. Later when I thought about it I believe it was political to him and a moral issue to me. His party had lost the Presidential Election and after watching FOX News all night that had to come as a shock to him. I think he was suffering election fatigue.

This confuses me because I do not hate or despise the Republicans. In fact if they had won I would have adjusted after a couple of days and life would go on.

On closing my wife just returned from shopping and informed me that because of the snow she went to Giant Eagle and Walmart to complete her shopping. In order to keep my title as a pain in the ass I asked her for a list of the food she bought at Walmart  so I wouldn't eat it.  I never yelled or became mad at her for going there. I respect the decisions of others. I justtry and change opinions with facts.

I just think having discussions about issues is important to expand the knowledge base of both parties. Am I wrong ?