Troubled Patriot Update - September 2011

Well, the second month of this revived blog has arrived.  So far, I've covered a few issues, although barely scratched the surface of all that has been going on.

Some may be wondering why I don't discipline my writing to opposing only the leftists of the nation.  Why have I written negative articles concerning Ron Paul, Rick Perry, and the police?  Am I doing more damage than good?  Well the simple matter is that I need to write about things which I think greatly effect this nation.  I hate to see people carried away with their dreams (like those who voted for Obama) without really knowing where the issue and/or people they support stand.  Take Ron Paul for example.  Many people love him, including a good portion of those I call friends.  Yet it is my personal belief that he would greatly endanger not only America, but what remains of word stability.  Rick Perry, on the other hand, has me worried as his past actions do not echo his words of today.  I'll be the first to admit that in the beginning, I was very supportive of him. Yet as more things have come to light, that support has quickly dwindled.

Just like you, I want Obama out of office. However, I don't want to see him replaced with a Rino or one who does not share the same values of the American Majority. With that in mind, I'll continue to write about issues and people whom I deem deserving of attention.

In the coming weeks, I'll continue the series I started last month on Saul Alinsky.  I apologize for not writing more, but the past few weeks have been incredibly busy for me. I simply haven't had the time or gumption to immerse myself into his twisted thoughts.

As well, I've changed the layout of this blog.  I'm trying to make it as simple as possible (and easy on the eyes) while still allowing large amounts of information to be posted.  I've also added in options where you can post articles to facebook and other sites.  If you agree with what I write, I'd ask that you'd pass the word around about The Troubled Patriot.  As self serving as it may seem, the larger the audience that I have, the more incentive I have to write.

Finally, this month will mark the ten year anniversary of 9-11.  As this is a momentous event, I plan to do something in memorial - something different then what I've done in the past.  As of yet, I don't quite know what that will be.  And on a side note, I've seen a lot of traffic flowing here in regards to the tribute I wrote a couple years back for David D. Alger.  I'm honored to know I've made a small difference in regard to his legacy, and will keep that tribute up for the duration of this blog's existence.  He was a great man, and it is my hope that his legacy will be more than just memories.

Unions - Cataclysmic Entities

The New York Times has reported that the Postal Service is dangerously close to shutting down. While numerous excuses such as:

As any computer user knows, the Internet revolution has led to people and businesses sending far less conventional mail.
...
The causes of the crisis are well known and immensely difficult to overcome.

Mail volume has plummeted with the rise of e-mail, electronic bill-paying and a Web that makes everything from fashion catalogs to news instantly available. The system will handle an estimated 167 billion pieces of mail this fiscal year, down 22 percent from five years ago.

What really stood out to me was the only paragraph that the Times wrote concerning one particular reason - unions.

At the same time, decades of contractual promises made to unionized workers, including no-layoff clauses, are increasing the post office’s costs. Labor represents 80 percent of the agency’s expenses, compared with 53 percent at United Parcel Service and 32 percent at FedEx, its two biggest private competitors. Postal workers also receive more generous health benefits than most other federal employees.

While some may poo-pah me for picking on unions, some interesting facts arise.  Fed Ex (which is comprised of only 32 percent union membership) has reported strong economic growth. According to Fed Ex's 2011 Annual Report, there has been a 13% increase in revenues year over year to nearly $40 billion.  In addition, Fed Ex reports 22% earnings per share increase year over year and 23% increase in net earnings year over year.

According to UPS's (with 53 percent union membership) Interm Income Statement, 10k revenue is moderately up. Their 2nd quarter reports at 13,191.0 - up from Q1 - 12,582.0.

Yet the Postal service (with 80 percent union membership) is in dire trouble.  There is a pattern here.  Fed Ex, with the least amount of union membership, shows the most growth.  UPS, with a larger union force, exhibits moderate growth, while the U.S. Postal service - with a large union force - showing major losses. It would be ignorant to blame this on the internet age alone.

Lets not stop at simply examining postal services.  We all recall the recent legislative fight in the state of Wisconsin. Labor unions bussed people in from all over the country, and teachers took "sick days" to protest Republican efforts at changing interaction with state unions.  The rallying cry was that the new laws would "break" the state's financial proverbial back and dis-empower the "workers."  Yet the reality is quite different. According to a report from Statehousenews, school districts are seeing savings instead of losses.

Overall, the state budget cut more than $800 million from education, but Walker’s law gave school districts a boost by requiring teachers to pay 12.6 percent of their health-care premiums and 5.8 percent of their pensions.  The legislation also contains a provision that limits teachers’ collective bargaining to wages only, and caps salary increases to the rate of inflation.

In addition, the Washington Examiner reported that:

The Kaukauna School District, in the Fox River Valley of Wisconsin near Appleton, has about 4,200 students and about 400 employees. It has struggled in recent times and this year faced a deficit of $400,000. But after the law went into effect, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it's all because of the very provisions that union leaders predicted would be disastrous.

Clearly, unions add a heavy economic weight to any business or organization they attach themselves to. So whats really going on here?  Unions fight tooth and nail for every entitlement they can get their grubby hands on to.  Its also a known fact that most companies pass costs associated with unions and higher taxes to their customers.  Those that don't do so suffer growth.  The mail services are a prime example of this.  To stay competitive, UPS could not reasonably pass on all the expenses to its consumers - thus slower economic growth.  The U.S. Postal service (which gets the majority of its funding from a yearly budget) does not have nearly the same leeway.  It charges postal fees, but even after a flurry of price increases in the past decade, it simply cannot keep up with the burden placed upon it from its union members. With clauses that prohibit layoffs and with benefit packages larger then what most other federal employees have, the union is eating up all of the postal service's resources!

Of course, the unions try to hide these facts from public eye and very recently, Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa has declared war against Republicans by saying:

"We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They've got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're going to win that war," Jimmy Hoffa Jr. said to a heavily union crowd.

"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa added.

According to him, the only people who qualify as "workers" are those who hold a union membership.

A few years ago, I started employment at a large telecommunications company.  During a point in our training session, the trainer informed us that representatives of the local union were going to come in to talk with us.  During that time, he was not allowed to be present. Also, none of us had a choice of whether we wanted to listen to the presentation or not.  During the "talk," two union reps lied about party affiliation and bragged that the company's (relative) high wages and benefits package were due to their efforts.  They painted those who were non-union in a very negative light and used promises of gifts as well as strong peer pressure to "encourage" the new employees to join.  Those of us who refused (only me, actually) were treated  as unworthy and literally frowned upon.  They failed to mention that the price increases that consumers were seeing were a direct result of their actions.

The truth of the matter is that unions are a now defunct requirement in today's business world.  There once was a time when they were needed, but that time has long ago passed them by.  Unions have transformed into proverbial leaches which drain a company's resources and threatens to put it out of business either through prices that consumers would prefer not to pay or by simply emptying the company's coffers.  There is no accountability applied to them for their actions, and they go out of their way to demonize anyone who opposes them. 

Unions - an entitlement group that America simply cannot afford.

Election Alert

According to Roll Call,

The Federal Election Commission is showing signs that it might allow a Guyana-born American citizen to file papers and raise money to run for president of the United States.

This is dangerous precedence considering that Obama's citizenship is under question by many conservatives.  One thing is certain, if Abdul Hassan is allowed to run for office, then how the Constitution is observed will be radically changed.  Almost anyone would now be elidgable - the perfect situation for those who seek global government.

Contact your U.S. Representative and Senator and let them know that this is not ok.  The FEC has no power nor right to make this harmful and unconstitutional decision!

Libertarians Just don't Get It

For all of their good intentions, Libertarians are about 200 years past relevance when it comes to homeland security. For most of them, their position is for America to become once again an isolationist nation. They seem to believe that if we drop our support for Israel, the mad Muslims will leave us alone.  They blame us for 9-11, and stick their heads in the sand concerning the realities of Islam.

The fact of the matter is, in today's day and age where travel by air is common place, travel by sea faster than when our Founding Fathers were around, in a day where the motor vehicle replace the horse drawn cart, and in an era where information is shared globally at the speed of an electron, it is no longer wise nor prudent to close our doors.  Yet somehow, the Libertarians don't see this.

Their defacto leader, Ron Paul, opened his mouth recently and has shown once more how Libertarianism is not the answer to America's problems. From Jihad Watch:

Ron Paul: "Those who hate us and would like to kill us, they are motivated by our invasion of their land"

I'm tired of the Rick Perry firestorm. Time for a Ron Paul firestorm. Another Clueless Presidential Candidate Alert: "Ron Paul says U.S. intervention motivated 9/11 attacks," by Josh Hafner for the Des Moines Register, August 27:

    WINTERSET, Ia. – Two weeks away from the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, presidential candidate and Texas Rep. Ron Paul says that U.S. intervention in the Middle East is a main motivation behind terrorist hostilities toward America, and that Islam is not a threat to the nation.

    At a campaign stop on Saturday in Winterset, one man asked Paul how terrorist groups would react if the U.S. removed its military presence in Middle Eastern nations, a move the candidate advocates.

    “Which enemy are you worried that will attack our national security?” Paul asked.

    “If you’re looking for specifics, I’m talking about Islam. Radical Islam,” the man answered.

    “I don’t see Islam as our enemy,” Paul said. “I see that motivation is occupation and those who hate us and would like to kill us, they are motivated by our invasion of their land, the support of their dictators that they hate.” Read it all

Speech Stifled

In a move reminiscent of paranoid Liberals, Ohio Congressman Steve Chabot,

a Republican, had cell phones and cameras confiscated in order to “prevent an embarrassing Youtube video from making the rounds,” according to Carlos Miller, who runs a blog documenting efforts by the state to stifle the First Amendment rights of photographers.

As much as I loathe to raise my voice in protest along with Soros funded Progressives, in this instance, I have to, although for, perhaps, different reasons.  Any squelching of free speech, and (as in this case) ones ability to record a public meeting with their Representative during a public Town Hall event, is in violation of Constitutional rights.

Police said the cameras were taken “to protect the constituents.” A local television station, however, was allowed to videotape the meeting and the brazen move by Chabot and the cops.

Protect the constituents? Would someone in law enforcement please enlighten me as to how having possession of a camera (or any recording device for that matter) would endanger one's personal safety? This is an absolute absurdity and I cannot even fathom how the police could make such a statement with a straight face.

For this act alone, regardless of his stance on certain issues, Rep. Steve Chabot should be thrown out of office.  We need to let the ruling elite know that regardless of Party affiliation, no one is above the Constitution and anyone who attempts to hinder it will be shown the door to the unemployment line.