;)
The Commentariat -- Nov. 19, 2012
My column in the New York Times eXaminer is on Maureen Dowd's takedown of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice (also linked yesterday). ...
... On That Note -- Anne Flaherty of the AP: "Lawmakers said Sunday they want to know who had a hand in creating the Obama administration's now-discredited 'talking points' about the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and why a final draft omitted the CIA's early conclusion that terrorists were involved." ...
... AND Brian Knowlton of the New York Times: "The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday that she planned to investigate why the C.I.A.'s quick determination of terrorism in the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, was not reflected in the 'talking points' used days later on television by Susan E. Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations. But the chairwoman, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, also said she was certain that the White House had not been behind any change in the original C.I.A. language to that later used by Ms. Rice." ...
... AND all this because ...
... Thanks to Jeanne B. for the graphic. ...
... Un-fucking-believable. John McCain Has a Good Idea. Brendan Sasso of The Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggested on Sunday that President Obama should send former President Bill Clinton to lead cease fire talks between Israelis and Palestinians." With video. ...
... BUT McCain Just Gets Crazier. Aviva Shen of Think Progress: "McCain went even further than simply opposing Rice's nomination and said that, 'until we find out all the information' on the Benghazi consulate attacks, he would not support any Secretary of State nominee." CW: needless to say, there will never be a time when "we find out all the information" on Benghazi. ...
... AND, Sad News to Report via Ben Ambruster of Think Progress. Lame Duck "Independent" Joe Lieberman is kinda breaking up with the other two amigos, John & Lindsey. Three-ways so seldom work out well. Of course, there could be more to the story (there always is). After all, Lonesome Joe, about to relinquish his Senate seat to an actual Democrat, is soon to be completely irrelevant, a forgotten footnote in the history of how the exceptional American nation got stuck with President Dubya.
... Matt Vasilogambros of the National Journal: "Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says the Obama administration deserves some credit for Israel's 'Iron Dome' missile defense system, which has protected Israelis during the rocket assaults that have taken place in the last five days."
** Paul Krugman: "... the '50s — the Twinkie Era -- do offer lessons that remain relevant in the 21st century. Above all, the success of the postwar American economy demonstrates that, contrary to today's conservative orthodoxy, you can have prosperity without demeaning workers and coddling the rich." CW: except for the Twinkie part, this has been my manifesto, too, as some readers know. ...
... Daniel Altman in a New York Times op-ed: "... the real menace for our long-term prosperity is not income inequality -- it's wealth inequality, which distorts access to economic opportunities.... Replacing the income, estate and gift taxes with a progressive wealth tax would do much more to reduce [income inequality] than any other tax plan being considered in Washington.... A flat wealth tax of just 1.5 percent on financial assets and other wealth like housing, cars and business ownership would have been more than enough to replace all the revenue of the income, estate and gift taxes.... The majority of American families would receive an enormous tax cut."
... Steven Greenhouse & Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times: "In a rare move, Wal-Mart is trying to stop a union-backed group from staging a series of demonstrations against the company on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year." CW: glad to see Wal-Mart sticking up for the big guys. It's just wrong for low-paid, part-time, no-benefits 47-percenters to pick on a company owned by THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.
Bill Keller of the New York Times: Secretary of Defense Leon "Panetta proposed a budget that would cut $487 billion -- about 8 percent -- from planned defense spending over 10 years. The fiscal cliff, known to defense wonks as 'sequestration,' would cut an additional $492 billion. Most of the experts I follow think defense can be safely cut below Panetta's level." CW: Here's my cost-savings plan: let's put the generals on a diet of MREs & let them -- or their spouses -- cut their own damned lawns. Maybe showoffs like Gen. Petraeus wouldn't prance around in his medals (he wears them even on his civies) if he didn't have a valet to pin the ribbons on his jackets.
This looks like an old photo -- no comb-over -- so Petraeus probably has more medals now. But close enough.Richard Lardner of the AP: "The [FBI] probably would have ignored [Jill] Kelley's complaint had it not been for information in the emails that indicated the sender was aware of the travel schedules of [David] Petraeus and [John] Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Instead, the FBI considered this from the earliest stages to be an exceptional case, and one so sensitive that FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder were kept notified of its progress."
"'Couples' with Epaulettes." Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker comments on the Petraeus, et al., affair & novelist Philip Roth's announcement of his retirement: "As the baffling and then burlesque and then baroquely burlesque affair enveloping General Petraeus and his friends, of both sexes, fell upon us like another hurricane last week, it seemed to confirm once again Philip Roth's fifty-year-old assertion that you can't write good satirical fiction in America because reality will quickly outdo anything you might invent."
** Peter Maass in the New Yorker: "... the Petraeus case shows that among the people who have the most to lose from unchecked surveillance are the people who thought they would benefit from it -- government élites who allocate the funding and make the laws and operate the bureaucracy of surveillance. Perhaps they will start worrying a bit more about becoming the next Petraeus or [Judge Robert] Bork. Our legislators, who are not all angels, now have real skin in the game, so to speak." CW: an interesting history lesson here.
Sahil Kapur of TPM: "On the Sunday talk shows, senior Republicans, former Romney surrogates and prominent conservatives piled on their defeated presidential nominee for telling donors that he lost because President Obama bought off minorities and young voters with 'gifts.'" ...
... CW: I missed this commentary by Jamelle Bouie, which the Washington Post published Friday. But on the Romney-Jindal(and now the pilers-on) "gifts" divide, Bouie nails it: "Bobby Jindal's criticism of Romney rings hollow.... This summer, in explaining his decision to reject Medicaid funds, Jindal declared that Republicans need to 'repeal Obamacare' so that they can 'end this culture of dependence.' If there's a problem with Romney's statement, it was the language, not the sentiment.... There's something odd about this line of criticism. Voters elect and support politicians to do things for them. There's nothing illegitimate about the fact that Obama won by providing tangible benefits to people who needed them." ...
... Adam Serwer agrees with Bouie: "The Republican reaction from party leaders like Jindal is not a rejection of the worldview underlying Romney's remarks, which is extremely popular in right-wing media. It's an expression of political opportunism from politicians who want to leave their footprints on Romney's back as they chase their own ambitions. If it were anything else, you'd see Jindal telling Rush Limbaugh or Fox News, not Romney, to shut up. But you aren't." ...
... In an interesting post in which he provides more examples that support Bouie & Serwer's conclusion, Thomas Edsell examines the demographics behind the rising Democratic-leaning coalition that so frightens the Romney-Limbaugh crowd: "As Obama negotiates with Republican House and Senate leaders to prevent a dive over the 'fiscal cliff,' he will be under strong pressure from his reinvigorated liberal supporters to take a tough stand in support of tax hikes on the well-to-do and to more firmly limit spending cuts." ...
... CW: maybe they'll try a new tack, but as I see it, Republicans have two choices: (1) admit government works & should work harder for ordinary people/voters; OR (2) continue to exploit prejudices in an effort to mask their "gifts" to the rich. I might be wrong, but I don't think Option (2) is in the Republican DNA. They. just. can't. do. it.
An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics. -- Plutarch, via Cory Booker ...
... AND Cory Booker is off my list of Men Who Disappointed Me. Margaret Hartmann of New York: in his usual Twitter correspondence Sunday, "Booker was accused of plotting to redistribute wealth and told 'nutrition is not a responsibility of the government.' Since simply debating the merits of providing food assistance to impoverished Americans doesn't fit into Booker's ridiculously hands-on approach to governing, by the end of the night he'd challenged the Twitter user to a contest in which they'd both try to live off of food stamps for a week."
Congressional Races
Welcome to Florida, State of Denial. David Adams of Reuters: "Tea Party-backed Republican U.S. Representative Allen West said he was still not ready to concede defeat on Sunday... when the clock ran out on a partial recount in South Florida. Results showing West trailing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy by 1,900 votes were expected to be turned over to the state Division of Elections to be ratified on Tuesday. West was granted a recount of early ballots in St. Lucie County during the weekend, but officials were unable to complete the process before time ran out at midday on Sunday." ...
... Update. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Democrat Patrick Murphy, a 29-year-old construction company executive, gained 242 votes after the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections completed its re-tabulation, increasing his lead to more than 2,100 votes over West...."
Local News
Alex Pareene of Salon: "Democrats ought to know what sort of Democrat [New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo] is. If Cuomo allows Republicans to subvert the will of the voters of New York, so that he has an easier time cutting taxes and rolling back regulations, he shouldn't be allowed to sell himself to future primary voters as a progressive."
News Ledes
New York Times: "The European Union offered crucial support for the new Syrian political opposition on Monday, calling the group legitimate representatives for the Syrian people in a move that burnished the new coalition's credibility as it seeks more international aid to help in the fight against the government of Bashar al-Assad. The union stopped short of conferring full diplomatic recognition, as France, Turkey and several Arab countries of the Persian Gulf have done, and instead urged the coalition to develop a plan to create a 'credible alternative to the current regime.'"
Washington Post: "The nation's biggest banks provided more than $26 billion in relief to struggling homeowners between March 1 and Sept. 30, as part of a settlement earlier this year with state and federal officials over widespread foreclosure abuses, according to numbers released Monday."
Reuters: "Moody's stripped France of its prized triple-A badge on Monday, cutting the sovereign credit rating on Europe's No. 2 economy by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa, citing an uncertain fiscal outlook and deteriorating economy."
AP: "Authorities launched a homicide investigation Monday into the house explosion that killed a young couple and left numerous homes uninhabitable in an Indianapolis neighborhood. Indianapolis Homeland Security Director Gary Coons made the announcement after meeting with residents affected by the Nov. 10 blast and shortly after funerals were held for the victims, who lived next door to the house where investigators believe the explosion occurred." The Indianapolis Star story is here.
AP: "Rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda fired mortars and machine guns Monday on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Goma, [Congo,] threatening to capture one of the largest cities in eastern Congo in a development that could drag this giant Central African nation back into war."
New York Times: "After a night of sustained Israeli strikes by air and sea, the Health Ministry [in Gaza City] said on Monday the Palestinian death toll in six days of conflict had risen to 91 with 700 wounded, including 200 children." ...
... AP: "Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers traded fire and tough cease-fire proposals Monday, and threatened to escalate their border conflict if diplomacy fails. No deal appeared near."
New York Times: President "Obama arrived [in Myanmar] as the first sitting American president to visit Myanmar with the hope of solidifying the stunning changes that have transformed this Southeast Asian country and encouraging additional progress toward a more democratic system. With the promise of more financial assistance, Mr. Obama vowed to 'support you every step of the way.' The president was greeted on a mild, muggy day by tens of thousands of people lining the road from the airport -- and by further promises of reform by the government, which announced a series of specific commitments regarding the release of political prisoners and the end of ethnic violence." Washington Post story here. AP story here. ...
... AP: President "Obama is making the first visit ever by a U.S. president to Cambodia because it is hosting the annual East Asia Summit. But White House aides say the president will also raise human rights concerns in his meeting with [Cambodian Prime Minister/strongman] Hun Sen."
New York Times: "President Hamid Karzai ordered Afghan forces to take control of the Bagram prison and accused American officials of violating an agreement to hand over the facility to Afghan control, according to a statement issued by his office on Monday. The move came after what Mr. Karzai said was the expiration of a two-month grace period agreed with President Obama to complete the full transfer of the prison."
Space: "A Russian Soyuz space capsule made a rare nighttime landing in the frigid steppes of Kazakhstan early Monday, returning three astronauts to Earth after a four-month voyage to the International Space Station."
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Reader Comments (19)
If we concentrate on keeping wages down and profits up we will be in a low growth state forever. A quick step to stimulate the economy and improve the lives of millions of Americans would be to make a large increase to the minimum wage.
The OECD has many countries with minimums much larger that ours. Converted at current exchange rates:
Australia 15.75
Belgium 11.92
Canada 9.76
France 12.55
Ireland 12.03
Netherlands 11.38
New Zealand 10.22
US 7.25
UK 9.41
If you have any questions, just google OECD minimum wages.
We are truly exceptional. An increase in the minimum wage would cause upward pressure on wages and help correct what is regarded as a growth problem. There are about eighteen million non-supervisory retail workers that would see their wages pushed up. A push up rather than a trickle down will be something new.
Re: Burma trip
Great. Now Obama will have to add "Buddhist to his title.
"Communist Socialist Muslim Buddhist"
"Liberals north and west of me — people who consider themselves educated and learned — are the very ones who seem to make the most ill-informed statements (often in a bad attempt at humor) about the region’s politics."--Karen L. Cox
Is it our goal to make her point for her?
Earlier this month from the list of free e-books on politics on Amazon "Believe in America: Mitt Romney's Plan For Jobs & Economic Growth" was featured along side "Sabotage: How the Republican Party Crippled America's Economic Recovery," by Daniel Altman (see link above from his article in today's NYT). Both had 3 and 1/2 stars but Romney's book had 87 hits while Daniel's only 2. Typical, I said to myself, and felt discouraged that Daniel's voice wasn't being heard by those that needed to hear it.( In full disclosure Daniel is a dear, close friend whom I took care of as a baby when his mother, my best friend of long standing, went back to work and I, having just had my third son, decided to quit mine for a time). For years Daniel has been a pivotal voice for restructuring our economic system––he's written two other books and has had articles in Esquire and elsewhere. So it's good to see him front and center at this time when we need capable people offering sensible and innovative ideas to fix this broken system.
@ Raul: Who is this Karen Cox? And I don't understand your question.
Marie. Great response to Dowd! Hopefully she removes the gum from under her chair, grabs her Hello Kitty lunchbox and the pix of dear old dad on the way out.
@PD Karen L. Cox is a History Professor at the University of North Carolina. Her recent piece in the NY Times takes on the northern liberal stereotype of a South that is inhabited by Bubbas:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/opinion/sunday/a-new-southern-strategy.html
Essentially, she argues that the same forces that transformed formerly Republican bastions like California, are at work in many Southern States, so Northern Liberals shouldn't write off the South, because at least portions of it may turn purple.
PD Pepe: Will get to a more thorough reading of the Altman piece cited above but your post prompts me to say, not very originally, how much our economic assumptions create our political reality, its problems and possible solutions. I've thought for years that the real problem we face is not insufficient wealth but its inadequate distribution. Simply put, famines are often famines not because there is not enough food but because those starving do not have (financial) access to it. I've also thought about how cheap energy and the rapid advance of robotic technology have affected wealth distribution. And one could go on in similar vein.
One positive sign is the proliferation of articles and books that question the trickle on mindset that has so vastly widened the gulf between top and bottom over the last forty years. Krugman and Stiglitz are not longer voices in the wilderness. Three months ago Harpers begun an "Anti-economist" column by one Jeff Madrick, which I'd recommend, and a friend sent this link to me the other day, which contains its own intriguing thoughts in an open letter to the President. I notice the author's Phd. is in psychology, but these days when it comes to discussing economics, psychology may be the "hardest" science of all.
http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2012/11/dear-mr-obama-the-grand-bargain-is-neither-grandnor-a-bargain.html
BTW, the think Karen Cox has an opinion piece in the NYTimes a day or so ago, some kind of report from the South. I didn't read it, so know no more....
The demise of Hostess represents a monument to Willard (The Rat) Romney’s style of vulture capitalism. The “restructuring” being done by Wall Street investors came directly from the Romney playbook for taking over viable companies, draining them dry, pocketing workers’ retirements, then killing or selling off the company for tax write breaks.
Romney pursued exactly the same plan with other companies in the past, companies built by hard work, companies that had developed a sound business with loyal customers and employees, qualities devalued by Republican Wizards of Corporate Theft like Romney. This was what he was really selling during the election. His way. The Romney business plan. What is that plan? He and his cronies take over a viable enterprise, fire management, hire know-nothing hacks in their place, load it down with debt, pick the pockets of employees, shovel as much loot as they can into their overseas accounts, kill the enterprise, blame unions and greedy employees, laugh all the way to the bank, purchase fifth vacation house, install plush, heated elevator in garage for owner’s many luxury vehicles (which are provided with far more care than the human beings now out in the cold with no job, no retirement, and in many cases nowhere to live—not even a garage). Repeat as needed, every couple of months or so.
And that is the kind of world supported by the Rat’s partner in fraud, Paul (I got mine, but fuck everyone else) Ryan.
Now, thanks to the miracle of the Republican Etch-a-Sketch, Ryan, whose budgetary genius was shown to be about as real as a green unicorn, is raised up once more by his party as supreme budget commander who will save the nation from the hated dark-skinned soshulist.
These people are fucking dangerous. This shit has to stop somewhere.
This is the time for the president to instruct these losers, Wall Street sycophants, etch-a-sketchers, and predators that it’s time for compromise from them for once in their miserable, misanthropic lives.
Yes, I know they’ll be screaming that the socialists are coming to kill everyone, but most of America should be at the point by now that Republican lies and whining come across as nothing but noise. Of course there will still be the whiners on Fox and out in PunditWorld (on Friday afternoon, David Brooks stated that the president’s behavior has been atrocious, and that his attempt at getting Republicans to compromise on an issue on which they were defeated is nothing less than an unacceptable and inhuman effort to humiliate the GOP. You know what? Too fucking bad.) but no one except Fuzzy Gregory, Chuck Todd, FoxBots, and Lukie Russert will give a shit.
Unlike the way Romney style capitalists destroy the lives of hard working Americans, like the thousands of Hostess employees, there seems to be no equally easy (or profitable) way to get these assholes to STFU.
Maybe a package of Twinkies shoved down the throat will help.
"McCain went even further than simply opposing Rice’s nomination and said that, 'until we find out all the information' on the Benghazi consulate attacks, he would not support any Secretary of State nominee."
Call me naive, but don't you think that if you really wanted to "'find out all the information' on the Benghazi consulate attacks," it might be a good idea to go to a committee briefing on those attacks?
While thinking about Hostess' problems, I'm wondering, number one, how many of the workers at those bakery plants are Republican. And of those, how many think what has happened to them is a good thing, based, as it is, on the Republican playbook for making the rich richer and fucking everyone else?
I'm guessing (1) a fair number, and (2) not many.
Which brings us to another problem.
The simple fact is that nearly all ideas espoused by progressives, the idea, for instance, as Paul Krugman maintains, "...that economic justice and economic growth aren’t incompatible", are rejected out of hand by many, if not most conservatives, purely because they come from the other side. They don't see it as an American idea. If it comes from some liberal Times writer or a Democrat or progressive think tank, by definition, it's some kind of socialist plot to destroy America and their LIBERTIES!!
Now I realize that most of the stuff coming out of the American Enterprise Institute is looked upon by people like me as far right-wing ideological claptrap. And that's because most of it IS far right-wing ideological claptrap. But the ACA began as a policy paper from the Heritage Foundation! And now the ACA is roundly vilified by the right. Why? Easy. It's been taken up, supported by, and voted for by DEMOCRATS.
So, at least part of the answer to the question, "what's the matter with Kansas?" (where a large Hostess plant is now shuttered), has to do with a knee-jerk rejection of any idea that seems to have traction on the left.
The environment is one. Environmental concerns should be an issue for all of us, but only one side is seriously interested in it because the environment is viewed by Fox and company as namby-pamby, weenie ass, job killing, liberal tree hugging. But the modern environmental movement got a big boost from one of more highly visible Republicans of the last century, TR. Hell, that rat bastard Nixon passed the Clean Air Act.
And don't hand me any false equivalencies on this. As I said, most progressives look askance at probably 90% of ideas originating on the right, but not because of their source. Typically, the ideas are simply putrid. Or, to put it another way, far right-wing ideological claptrap.
Thanks to Calyban and Ken for steering me in the right direction re: the Cox reference. I liked her piece and agree with its premise. We tend to lump––not a good idea.
For a contrarian view of America's greatest living general. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2012/11/2012111393726260587.html
I'm beginning to wonder if the media is encouraging McCain's blind rage and jealousy. Its like the news cameras that can't get close enough to a fatal accident. He is like a rabid weasel, foaming at the mouth and running aimlessly in faster and faster circles. Personally I hope he messes himself on camera. Make no mistake - although the press is spinning it as a legitimate suggestion, McCain's point in suggesting Clinton as an Israeli /Palestine negotiator was another swipe at Obama. Not to mention, a pretty good F-U at Hilary Clinton, "let the men handle this". McCain has been honored, slavishly, many times over for being singularly unskilled, arrogant and careless which led to his capture.
I am so tired of all this rutting around in the weeds over Benghazi. SHUT UP! You are discussing absolutely nothing of importance. All that's happening is the media is encouraging the same shit that dominated the election: Obama is illegitimate, he's black, anyone he likes is illegitimate especially if they're black too. I know nothing substantive about National Security, however, I do know that Issa and his sidekick Chaffitz should be the ones under the heat lamp.
Sorry I called Pierce a wanker last week. He's back with a vengeance on Benghazi and putting the frosting on Marie's cake in re: Dowd.
Re: Governor Jindal otherwise known as Bobby J.: It appears that his education plan which sounds like a template for the now defunct Romney plan, according to Diane Ravitch, is "all the money for vouchers and private vendors and online charters will be deducted from the state's public education budget." We need to have an explanation of how American education will be improved if taxpayer dollars are used to send more students to sectarian schools, have them take courses devised by profit-making businesses and online schools. Public funds would flow to schools that teach creationism, loosy goosy teacher qualifications, teachers could also be fired for any reason and their fear of teaching evolution or global warming or "god forbid" books like Huckleberry Finn even if the word" nigger" is removed is palpable. We need to keep a wide eye open on Bobby J. and others who are determined to sabotage our public education system. And I'd like to add here that I'm not happy with what the Obama administration's Arnie Duncan is doing either.
Rush Limbaugh is the porter potty of GOP filth. His racist tirades and unashamed ignorance are an embarrassment to any level-headed citizen; yet he is considered the Voice of the GOP, daily clogging millions of anglo-saxon brains across the nation with his putrid vitriol. His influence is going nowhere as any GOP operative that questions his influence feels the stench directed in their immediate direction and they recoil in fear.
Here again, evidence on Rush marking his hydrant:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84055.html?hp=l6
While I resolutely disagree with nearly 100% of the bullshit he spews, I think the article is interesting in the fact that it brings up the fact that even some brazen Repuglican soul dared to point out that Rush's zombies are only the old racist white folk that are already GOP voters. At a time when the GOP tries to "recalibrate" their message (which means try to romney new voting demographics (I'm proposing to introduce a new verb into the English dictionary: to romney: To blatantly lie to someone's face and heartlessy pander on any issue at any time without consideration of recorded past statements)) I can't help but think that after these elections maybe we should start to viciously prod Rush in his gas-filled orifice and bring out that real extreme stench more often. Each time some GOP candidate goes in front of the camera to romney to some crowd we should prod the orifice and negate any potential progress. His arrogance will never see any harm he does by stinking up the party and chasing all the others off who don't pretend to not smell his stinking asshole miles away.
All that shit could really fuck up their plans if the Democrats could master the Oracle.
"So I wonder why we are starting this new Congress with a protracted debate about a foregone conclusion… . I can only conclude we are doing this for no other reason than lingering bitterness at the outcome of the elections… . We all have varying policy views, but the President, in my view, has a clear right to put in place the team he believed would serve him best."
John McCain urging the confirmation of Condolezza Rice in 2005.
@Raul
"'Liberals north and west of me — people who consider themselves educated and learned — are the very ones who seem to make the most ill-informed statements (often in a bad attempt at humor) about the region’s politics.'--Karen L. Cox
Is it our goal to make her point for her?"
The answer is until Regional Politics--whatever the fuck that is--gets its shit together. Yes. No apologies for racists.
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/26/hostess-twinkies-bankrupt/
The above is one of the better articles/histories on the Hostess mess and offer a couple of twists that are pretty annoying...
Dick Gephardt's son (yes, Democrats have played a part, too) got a $100K seat on the Hostess board.
Delivery of various Hostess products had to be made by separate Teamster truckers per Teamster's contract. (It's not clear to me how recently this may have been eliminated by new contracts after the first bankruptcy.
Clearly, the Bakers were right to reject the Hostess "last offer". However, after reading lots of comments on many blogs the American public sure doesn't agree with me. Boy oh boy, are they a hateful bunch. Their tag line was: Let. Them. Burn. and their greatest concern was that Hostess workers not be allowed any unemployment benefits. I wouldn't be looking for a resurgence of union power anytime soon - not if those folks have anything to say about it.
Received this from an Evangelical Christian neighbor who has told me it is still not too late for me to be saved--but getting later, I assume. This was written by Ben Stein, whoever that is. It is a small piece of what was sent, but you get the idea.*%#@
"...Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and asked: “How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Superstorm Sandy). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”
**********************
SO THERE, you atheist-ingrate-believers in evolution and climate change! You're probly all Dumb-old-rats too!