I could not help but notice recently the Florida Retirement System had lost over $266,000,000.00 on a real estate deal in Manhattan. The state of Florida invested $250,000,000.00 along with $16,000,000.00 in fees on a deal that paid more than $400,000,000.00 over the asking price for some run down, rent controlled apartments.
The idea was to evict the existing tenants and raise the rents to current market value so the investors could make money. Apparently, no one even dreamed that the tenants would hire a lawyer to stop that nonsense. When a court agreed this was not a good idea, the investment went belly up and the $266 million vanished into thin air. Wow. WTF!
Newspaper reports indicated that the watch dogs who failed to protect the money were:
• Charlie Crist (a Republican Governor who is trying to leave Florida ASAP to move to Washington, D.C. and pretend to be a Senator)
• Bill McCollum (a Republican Attorney General who wants to be governor or whatever position to which he can get elected)
• Alex Sink (a Democrat Florida CFO who wants to be governor and should have been paying better attention)
• Coleman Stipanovich (a Republican holdover from the Bush fiasco who approved the investment but apparently did not read the reports that cautioned BEWARE! DANGER! BAD IDEA!)
Tax payers and Florida employers can expect to pay for this little bump in the road just like they paid for the $355,000,000.00 losses on Enron stock bought after warnings on the financial instability of the stock were issued.
State of Florida employees and those covered by the FRS pension fund must expect to hear that recent losses and unfunded liabilities make it necessary to curb, reduce or destroy pension benefits because the employees must finance the mistakes of management. (See prior Caveat Lectores Rant)
And, Oh yes, have a nice day!
wjc
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Caveat Lectores on Who to Believe
As I watch my labor union clients suffer because of the current economic downturn and “tax revolt,” I sometimes find myself at least a little sympathetic to the plight of employers who are losing money or hemorrhaging green and red ink in their budgets.
My advice is to accept that things are bad and make adjustments to future expectations. They do not like hearing that. It sounds like I am on the side of management. When those words are spoken, what I am trying to do is prepare the client for a reality not often seen in our lives. That reality is the employers may not be lying this time when they cry with the poor mouth. During the fat years when growth, budgets and profits were significant, we heard the pitiful cry of the under privileged employer, both public and private sector. In 34 years of union work, I have never heard an employer come to the bargaining table with a smile and an offer to share the wealth. Now when things really are rotten, we are suspicious. I wonder why?
What causes me the real pain is seeing the employers and media attack their employees because they are reluctant to finance the incompetent decisions of management by opening their wallets to bail out the bungling employers. Employers threaten layoffs; demand pay freezes, pay cuts and furlough days, reductions in healthcare benefits and pensions to make up for the shortfalls created by their lack of leadership and management skills.
Individually, not all management is at fault, but as a whole, it was not the workers of the world who directed business and government into this mess. It is the higher level managers who are still being paid unconscionable sums who f**ked up the economy.
Recently, I heard from an anti union conservative that the unionized workers in the auto industry were the cause of the debacle that has been working to culmination since the early 70’s. This person blames the unionized workers because the US automakers cannot design cars the American public wants to buy. Let’s blame the Japanese and the Germans for making better cars and the UAW for negotiating a living wage for their members. Makes sense to me. Some people blame rape victims for getting raped.
(I do not drive an American car today and have not since 1971 when I compared a Datsun 510 to a Pinto and a Vega. My choice was the 510 and it served me well. I currently own two old BMWs with 32 years use and over 300,000 miles between them. Yes, I contributed to the downfall of Detroit by refusing to settle for mediocrity. No union member was responsible for designing the Pinto or Vega. Or the other failures from the American auto industry, but I digress.)
The working middle class did not cause the Enron disaster and recent banking failures. No union member dreamed up home loan scams that have nearly destroyed our economy. We working class union members foolishly participated, however, in something only a con man could dream up. There is a sucker born every minute. It will be interesting to see what happens when the working class discovers how they have been scammed by the current cries for help from the same people who created the need for the help.
And oh yes, have a nice day.
wjc
My advice is to accept that things are bad and make adjustments to future expectations. They do not like hearing that. It sounds like I am on the side of management. When those words are spoken, what I am trying to do is prepare the client for a reality not often seen in our lives. That reality is the employers may not be lying this time when they cry with the poor mouth. During the fat years when growth, budgets and profits were significant, we heard the pitiful cry of the under privileged employer, both public and private sector. In 34 years of union work, I have never heard an employer come to the bargaining table with a smile and an offer to share the wealth. Now when things really are rotten, we are suspicious. I wonder why?
What causes me the real pain is seeing the employers and media attack their employees because they are reluctant to finance the incompetent decisions of management by opening their wallets to bail out the bungling employers. Employers threaten layoffs; demand pay freezes, pay cuts and furlough days, reductions in healthcare benefits and pensions to make up for the shortfalls created by their lack of leadership and management skills.
Individually, not all management is at fault, but as a whole, it was not the workers of the world who directed business and government into this mess. It is the higher level managers who are still being paid unconscionable sums who f**ked up the economy.
Recently, I heard from an anti union conservative that the unionized workers in the auto industry were the cause of the debacle that has been working to culmination since the early 70’s. This person blames the unionized workers because the US automakers cannot design cars the American public wants to buy. Let’s blame the Japanese and the Germans for making better cars and the UAW for negotiating a living wage for their members. Makes sense to me. Some people blame rape victims for getting raped.
(I do not drive an American car today and have not since 1971 when I compared a Datsun 510 to a Pinto and a Vega. My choice was the 510 and it served me well. I currently own two old BMWs with 32 years use and over 300,000 miles between them. Yes, I contributed to the downfall of Detroit by refusing to settle for mediocrity. No union member was responsible for designing the Pinto or Vega. Or the other failures from the American auto industry, but I digress.)
The working middle class did not cause the Enron disaster and recent banking failures. No union member dreamed up home loan scams that have nearly destroyed our economy. We working class union members foolishly participated, however, in something only a con man could dream up. There is a sucker born every minute. It will be interesting to see what happens when the working class discovers how they have been scammed by the current cries for help from the same people who created the need for the help.
And oh yes, have a nice day.
wjc
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thoughts in Celebration of Labor Day
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.1 With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men.2 Every advance in this half-century -- Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another - came with the support and leadership of American Labor.3 It is one of the characteristics of a free and democratic nation to have free and independent labor unions.4
Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.5 If capitalism is fair then unionism must be. If men have a right to capitalize their ideas and the resources of their country, then that implies the right of men to capitalize their labor.6 In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining.…7
If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.8 If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.9
The words of...1Abraham Lincoln, 2Clarence Darrow, 3Jimmy Carter, 4Franklin D. Roosevelt, 5Dwight D. Eisenhower, 6Frank Lloyd Wright, 7Martin Luther King, Jr., 8Molly Ivins, 9Lane Kirkland
Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice.5 If capitalism is fair then unionism must be. If men have a right to capitalize their ideas and the resources of their country, then that implies the right of men to capitalize their labor.6 In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining.…7
If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.8 If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.9
The words of...1Abraham Lincoln, 2Clarence Darrow, 3Jimmy Carter, 4Franklin D. Roosevelt, 5Dwight D. Eisenhower, 6Frank Lloyd Wright, 7Martin Luther King, Jr., 8Molly Ivins, 9Lane Kirkland
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Caveat Lectores on Socialism
All this talk about socialist inspired health care has caused me to rethink my views on other forms of socialism and how they affect the cost of government and our individual freedoms.
If we abort our dependence on socialist programs and revert to a more capitalist economic model, we can save a bundle in taxes.
Just think how much we can save on taxes if we do away with services that are controlled by the government and paid for by all but used only by a few. These services can be supplied by the private sector at a reasonable cost to only those who will to pay for what they get. No more freeloaders and no more government bureaucracies to get in the way of free enterprise. That way the worthy get the service and all at a profit for the vendors. The others can just do without. If I am so smart, why didn’t I think of this before.
Here is my list in no particular order: Fire/Rescue, Law Enforcement, Public Schools, Public Roads, Social Security, Public Welfare, Public Pensions, Public Water Supply and Waste Disposal, Public Libraries, Public Hospitals, Armed Forces, Medicare and Medicaid.
Now that I think of it, maybe the list is too long for me to finish. Maybe you can add a few. And Oh yes, have a nice day!
wjc
If we abort our dependence on socialist programs and revert to a more capitalist economic model, we can save a bundle in taxes.
Just think how much we can save on taxes if we do away with services that are controlled by the government and paid for by all but used only by a few. These services can be supplied by the private sector at a reasonable cost to only those who will to pay for what they get. No more freeloaders and no more government bureaucracies to get in the way of free enterprise. That way the worthy get the service and all at a profit for the vendors. The others can just do without. If I am so smart, why didn’t I think of this before.
Here is my list in no particular order: Fire/Rescue, Law Enforcement, Public Schools, Public Roads, Social Security, Public Welfare, Public Pensions, Public Water Supply and Waste Disposal, Public Libraries, Public Hospitals, Armed Forces, Medicare and Medicaid.
Now that I think of it, maybe the list is too long for me to finish. Maybe you can add a few. And Oh yes, have a nice day!
wjc
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