My union has a forum where we chat and argue and discuss nearly everything under the sun. With the recent impasse in FAA/NATCA contract negotiations, that’s been the main topic of discussion… but we still hit other stuff.

So here’s something I wrote there recently. William was talking about an online poll on CNN.com.

On Wed, 19 Apr 2006 18:55:39 EDT, William ****** wrote:

>Who is to blame for this country’s massive trade deficit, loss of middle
>class jobs, and dependence on China for computers, consumer electronics and
>clothing?
>Prsident Bush
>Presidint HU (China)

Actually… as much as I hate Bush (and it’s a lot) I think he’s taking a bit too much of the rap on this one. A portion of the shift in the economy has nothing to do with EITHER Hu or Bush, and has much more to do with simple economics.

What I blame Bush for is not being ready and having a plan to deal with it. For all the talk in an “ownership society” and crap like that, where’s our investments in our infrastructure, in our schools, in our children, in our out-of-a-job people? Why aren’t we creating new incentives for inventing, for the kind of mental work that we do better than many, if not most nations?

That’s the real shame. It’s not Bush’s fault, or Hu’s fault, if some guy in Guangzhou wants to screw together air conditioners for 37 cents an hour. Hu didn’t create the situation and Bush didn’t either.

But Bush certainly is responsible for trying to do something to help the guy in Des Moines who USED to screw together those air conditioners.

That’s the big problem with the Republican/Bush agenda. They don’t think government is there to help people- but they’re wrong.

The greatest increases in this nation’s wealth and power and economic strength have come when the government had properly invested in things that spurred that economy. The Interstate Highway System, the funding for college programs and students, the creation and nuturing of an environment where both workers AND business can do well and prosper.

Now? The folks in charge think it’s every man, woman, and child for themselves. And that’s why we’re in the situation we’re in, both on the scale of NATCA and the FAA and on the scale of the nation as a whole.

I’m off the soapbox now.

Paul
ZSE