Union Surprised by Obama Power Grab – but we’re not.


Posted by Captain Dave Funk (Profile)

Thursday, March 11th at 9:54AM EST

No Comments

The Obama Administration has done nothing but accumulate power and seize entire blocks of private industries.  Free market principles and yes, even labor- do not matter if they don’t assist Obama in his quest for total control of the economy and complete federal control of the means of production.  Obama’s administration is fighting to take over healthcare – an enormous portion of our economy. He has forced the states to become financially dependent on the Federal Government through the state bailouts of 2009 and federally funded state mandates that eliminate future budget flexibility by the states.  He has already seized control of a major portion of the automotive and banking industries.  He has strived to seize power in these industries, so what would you expect Obama to do to the airline industry? Delta Airlines, now the world’s largest and US Airways are being set up for failure by not allowing them to succeed.

Very recently, I received a letter from my former union, the Delta Airlines Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association International. (I was a Northwest Boeing 757 Captain prior to my medical retirement and am now part of the larger Delta-Northwest merged airline). In this letter, Delta ALPA Chairman Lee Moak put forth his concerns with the Department of Transportation’s rejection of a proposed profitable takeoff and landing slot exchange that could have occurred between Delta and US Airways.  The Department of Transportation instead, wanted to charge them for the deal by seizing many of the slots that would have been traded at Washington Reagan National and New York LaGuardia airports and then redistributing those slots to other airlines for the “greater good”, even though the other airlines have no actual right or claim to these slots.

Not only would the deal as originally proposed have benefitted Delta and US Airways, but it would have benefited airline customers also as capacity for these two airlines at LaGuardia would have increased 13% without any increased congestion.  An additional benefit would have been more non-stop flights offered from both LaGuardia and Ronald Reagan Washington National airports to other cities.

We certainly hope the irony is not lost on Delta ALPA Chairman Moak as he responded to the Department of Transportation saying;

“We have the right to expect more from an administration that prides itself on being a friend of labor. We are not asking for special treatment. We are simply asking that our company be allowed to succeed in what is supposed to be a deregulated free market environment. [Emphasis added]“

Delta Chairman Moak and ALPA leadership supported candidate Obama and gave him the endorsement of the Air Line Pilots Association International even though the majority of members vote as Republicans and did not approve of the endorsement.  Again, we ask, what did ALPA expect?

ALPA supported a Statist whose end goal is to have more power than anyone else.  Labor doesn’t matter to Obama unless it helps aggregate power and he will throw labor under the bus, especially in instances when labor is fighting for free market principles.

ALPA asks for free market values that will make Delta and US Airways more profitable and allow them to improve their services. What they get is wealth redistribution via the Department of Transportation instead.  ALPA should not be surprised that this action was taken by the President they supported.  If ALPA wants free market principles in order to increase airline efficiency and profits, to allow its members to earn better wages and to become more successful personally, it’s ALPA’s responsibility to support candidates who support the free market.

Originally Published March 01

www.CongressNeedsFunk.com

Category: , , ,

The Thin Veneer of Power


Posted by lukematthews (Profile)

Wednesday, February 10th at 6:24PM EST

1 Comment
There is no such thing as a cohesive political group without a shared agenda of demands.  Those demands drive the ideological push for the members of that group toward goals.  The leaders of these groups are charged with the responsibility of obtaining those goals.  If the goals are not realized, given an adequate measure of ability to achieve, the group begins to lose cohesion.  There is no reason to follow leaders who are unable to succeed.  It is the appearance of possible success that glues otherwise unassociated people together. 
Let me explain.  Almost every turn of the century has a group of people who are convinced the end times are near.  They will work together and follow a leader who can tell them where to be, how to act, and what to do, as long as that cohesive element is present.  They are only tied together and responsive to that leader during the time that particular goal is possible.  Every time, the century or date has passed and the group finds itself standing in a field looking up.  The goal has evaporated.  The leader’s veneer of superiority is gone.  While a few may continue to adhere, the group dissipates rapidly. 
Another example is high school.  Cliques in high school are powerful combinations that appear to be ‘permanent.’  People vow to be ‘friends forever’ believing that even out in the bigger world, that bond will endure.  It may between a friend or two.  It may last for a while in a closed situation.  But for the most part their shared experience of social position in high school, once quite solid, melts under the hot sun of reality without that social cohesion.
Liberals rely on the same kind of thin veneer of power to collectively drive their agenda.  Labor unions, in particular, are especially vulnerable.  If out of power, they can use the cohesive shared desire for collectivization and demonization of the ‘other’ to keep the troops in line.  But, like the predicted date of the rapture, once they gain ultimate power, they are expected to achieve their shared goals.  If that doesn’t occur, the face falls off the idol. 
“Union leaders warn that the Democrats’ lackluster performance in power is sapping the morale of activists going into the midterm elections.” 

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32781.html#ixzz0fAyeujmh

This is a very common ideal among collectivists.  They believe in the ‘morale’ of the ‘people’ and if they do not get their ideals achieved, it will sap their will.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The union membership won’t be sad and weepy.  They won’t mope in the corner.  They will actually realize there is no collectivist rapture.  Union members will stand on the proverbial hill awaiting the second coming and when it doesn’t occur, will scatter to the winds.  That is what the leaders of the collectivists fear the most. 
The union leaders, with their party in power, cannot blame others for the failure.  They will try.  But, most of their followers will see past the curtain and see the professor working the levers to manipulate the smoke and mirrors of the Wizard’s hall.  Union members will see these leaders, who wasted their hard-earned money and precious time, as not the chosen ones.  They will be perceived as incompetent charlatans.  The money and campaign work will dry up.  The veneer will peel away.  The machine will run out of gas without people to refill the tank.  This fall will be an interesting time.  The masks are slipping off the monsters.  They are turning out to be just regular people, who are on a power trip.
Category: , , , , , ,