What's going on in Wisconsin...

[Larryrsf]

Is the start of the crushing of public employee unions in the 30 states that allow that at all.

Roosevelt said in 1940 or so that it is nonsensical to allow public employees to belong to a union where they can exert *collective bargaining* against the government.

When there is a public employee union, there is no competitor. The government is a monopoly, so what recourse does the employer have? And it is crazy to allow public employers to decide how much to pay and which benefits to grant--when the unions turn right around and bribe the government employers with union dues!

So Wisconsin will start the ball rolling and every state, county, and city will follow. Wisconsin will dissolve unions each year. Each union would be required to re-register every year-- and very likely they will be unable to garner the necessary membership signatures--regardless, it will be expensive and cumbersome. Wisconsin will NOT collect union dues through employee paycheck deductions. IF the employee wants to pay union dues, he will --but many won't --and *try and collect* will be heard quite often. I doubt the state or city will help collect union dues.

Then federal employees will follow the states.

Where will Democrats get votes and contributions when they can't force participation from
from public employee unions? Obama would NOT have been elected without their help.
The situation is far more dire in 2012. So expect Obama and all Democrats to fight this with everything they have.

Fun to watch. Bring popcorn! Fox News will be featuring the whole thing, "fair and balanced" coverage.

Larry

[Larryrsf]

Sorry to hear about the BIG earthquake in New Zealand. Hope nobody here was affected!!

Larry

[Not a hacker]

Is the start of the crushing of public employee unions in the 30 states that allow that at all.

Roosevelt said in 1940 or so that it is nonsensical to allow public employees to belong to a union where they can exert *collective bargaining* against the government.

When there is a public employee union, there is no competitor. The government is a monopoly, so what recourse does the employer have? And it is crazy to allow public employers to decide how much to pay and which benefits to grant--when the unions turn right around and bribe the government employers with union dues!

So Wisconsin will start the ball rolling and every state, county, and city will follow. Wisconsin will dissolve unions each year. Each union would be required to re-register every year-- and very likely they will be unable to garner the necessary membership signatures--regardless, it will be expensive and cumbersome. Wisconsin will NOT collect union dues through employee paycheck deductions. IF the employee wants to pay union dues, he will --but many won't --and *try and collect* will be heard quite often. I doubt the state or city will help collect union dues.

Then federal employees will follow the states.

Where will Democrats get votes and contributions when they can't force participation from
from public employee unions? Obama would NOT have been elected without their help.
The situation is far more dire in 2012. So expect Obama and all Democrats to fight this with everything they have.

Fun to watch. Bring popcorn! Fox News will be featuring the whole thing, "fair and balanced" coverage.

Larry

You guys have been living high on the hog on credit for so long it is inevitable that somethiing has to give, and the first place will be pay and condiitons for the masses in the work force. You already have one of the necessary ingredients of a wages melt down, high unemployment. Combine that with high debts and an unrealistic living standard, and people will crawl over their fellow citizens' dying bodies to get one of the few jobs going, and will work for a lot less. Right now would be a great time to have a viable business in the US. Soon US citizens will have to go south across the Rio Grande to get decent wages. I wonder how you say wet back in wet back?

[Larryrsf]

Wisconsin Battles Bloated Union Demands
Tuesday, 22 Feb 2011 08:53 AM
By George Will

Hitherto, when this university town and seat of state government applauded itself as "the Athens of the Midwest," the sobriquet suggested kinship with the cultural glories of ancient Greece. Now, however, Madison resembles contemporary Athens.

This capital has been convulsed by government employees sowing disorder in order to repeal an election. A minority of the minority of Wisconsin residents who work for government (300,000 of them) are resisting changes to benefits that most of Wisconsin's 5.6 million residents resent financing.

Serene at the center of this storm sits Republican Scott Walker, 43, in the governor's mansion library, beneath a portrait of Ronald Reagan. Walker has seen this movie before.

As Milwaukee County executive, he had similar dustups with government workers unions, and when the dust settled, he was resoundingly re-elected, twice. If his desire to limit collective bargaining by such unions to salary issues makes him the "Midwest Mussolini" — some protesters did not get the memo about the new civility — other supposed offenses include wanting state employees to contribute 5.8 percent of their pay to their pension plans (most pay less than 1 percent), which would still be less than the average in the private sector.

He also wants them to pay 12.6 percent of the cost of their healthcare premiums, up from about 6 percent, but still much less than the private sector average.

He campaigned on this. Union fliers distributed during the campaign attacked his "5 and 12" plan. He says his brother, a hotel banquet manager, and his sister-in-law, who works at Sears, "would love to have" what he is offering the unions.

For some of Madison's graying baby boomers, these protests are a jolly stroll down memory lane. Tune up the guitars! "This is," Walker says, "very much a '60s mentality."

He does, however, think there is sincerity unleavened by information: Many protesters do not realize that most worker protections, merit hiring; just cause for discipline and termination, are the result not of collective bargaining but of Wisconsin's uniquely strong and century-old civil service law.

"I am convinced," he says, "this is about money, but not the employees' money." It concerns union dues, which he wants the state to stop collecting for the unions, just as he wants annual votes by state employees on re-certifying the unions.

He says many employees pay $500 to $600 annually in union dues — teachers pay up to $1,000. Given a choice, many might prefer to apply this money to healthcare premiums or retirement plans. And he thinks "eventually" most will say about the dues collectors, What do we need this for?

Such unions are government organized as an interest group to lobby itself to do what it always wants to do anyway — grow. These unions use dues extracted from members to elect their members' employers. And governments, not disciplined by the need to make a profit, extract government employees' salaries from taxpayers. Government sits on both sides of the table in cozy "negotiations" with unions.

A few days after Obama submitted a budget that would increase the federal deficit, he tried to sabotage Wisconsin's progress toward solvency. The Washington Post: "The president's political machine worked in close coordination . . . with state and national union officials to mobilize thousands of protesters to gather in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals."

Walker notes that in the 1990s, Wisconsin was a trend-setter regarding school choice and welfare reform. Obama, he thinks, may be worried that Wisconsin might again be a harbinger.

He also thinks Obama's intervention demonstrates why presidents should serve apprenticeships as governors. He says that Obama, in the Illinois Legislature and the U.S. Senate, "was a liberal among liberals," and liberals are his base, and his staff comes from it. Governors, Walker says, get used to considering the interests of broad constituencies.

Walker's calm comportment in this crisis is reminiscent of President Reagan's during his 1981 stand against the illegal strike by air traffic controllers, and Margaret Thatcher's in the1984 showdown with the miners' union over whether unions or Parliament would govern Britain.

Walker, by a fiscal seriousness contrasting with Obama's lack thereof, and Obama, by inciting defenders of the indefensible, have made three things clear:

First, the Democratic Party is the party of government, not only because of its extravagant sense of government's competence and proper scope, but also because the party's base is government employees.

Second, government employees have an increasingly adversarial relationship with the governed.

Third, Obama's "move to the center" is fictitious.

George Will's e-mail address is georgewill@washpost.com






Read more on Newsmax.com: Wisconsin Battles Bloated Union Demands
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

[mongrel]

Looks like Wisconsin is now spreading to Indiana. With all the state Dems going AWOL. Larry...you served on active duty in the US military, right? What happens when you go over the hill on duty? How about on duty during time of war? What is the current vacancy rate at Leavenworth? Guess they could hot-bunk a couple of hundred obese to morbidly-obese bewattled legislators, eh?

[Larryrsf]

Its great that the whole nation is starting to understand how insidious public employee unions have become. A private employer can just fire them all, or close his business. But government takes our tax money and uses it to give pay and benefits to public employees-- after being lobbied by those same employees-- using our money!!! Obviously the pay and benefits have grown to preposterous levels! They make DOUBLE what taxpayers with equivalent qualifications make!

So this will stop and die of its own weight. After states, counties, and cities shed themselves of public employee unions and very likely hire contractors to supply the same labor services for a fraction the cost-- the federal government must do the same.

Obama won't be able to coerce millions of votes and billions of dollars from public employee unions for the 2012 elections. Watch for the most outrageous demagoguing of this issue on TV and in newspaper articles. Only on Fox News will you hear both sides in every debate. On CNN and especially MSNBC you will hear only the democrat (union) side.

Larry

[poe4soul]

Wisconsin Battles Bloated Union Demands
Tuesday, 22 Feb 2011 08:53 AM
By George Will

Hitherto, when this university town and seat of state government applauded itself as "the Athens of the Midwest," the sobriquet suggested kinship with the cultural glories of ancient Greece. Now, however, Madison resembles contemporary Athens.

This capital has been convulsed by government employees sowing disorder in order to repeal an election. A minority of the minority of Wisconsin residents who work for government (300,000 of them) are resisting changes to benefits that most of Wisconsin's 5.6 million residents resent financing.

Serene at the center of this storm sits Republican Scott Walker, 43, in the governor's mansion library, beneath a portrait of Ronald Reagan. Walker has seen this movie before.

As Milwaukee County executive, he had similar dustups with government workers unions, and when the dust settled, he was resoundingly re-elected, twice. If his desire to limit collective bargaining by such unions to salary issues makes him the "Midwest Mussolini" — some protesters did not get the memo about the new civility — other supposed offenses include wanting state employees to contribute 5.8 percent of their pay to their pension plans (most pay less than 1 percent), which would still be less than the average in the private sector.

He also wants them to pay 12.6 percent of the cost of their healthcare premiums, up from about 6 percent, but still much less than the private sector average.

He campaigned on this. Union fliers distributed during the campaign attacked his "5 and 12" plan. He says his brother, a hotel banquet manager, and his sister-in-law, who works at Sears, "would love to have" what he is offering the unions.

For some of Madison's graying baby boomers, these protests are a jolly stroll down memory lane. Tune up the guitars! "This is," Walker says, "very much a '60s mentality."

He does, however, think there is sincerity unleavened by information: Many protesters do not realize that most worker protections, merit hiring; just cause for discipline and termination, are the result not of collective bargaining but of Wisconsin's uniquely strong and century-old civil service law.

"I am convinced," he says, "this is about money, but not the employees' money." It concerns union dues, which he wants the state to stop collecting for the unions, just as he wants annual votes by state employees on re-certifying the unions.

He says many employees pay $500 to $600 annually in union dues — teachers pay up to $1,000. Given a choice, many might prefer to apply this money to healthcare premiums or retirement plans. And he thinks "eventually" most will say about the dues collectors, What do we need this for?

Such unions are government organized as an interest group to lobby itself to do what it always wants to do anyway — grow. These unions use dues extracted from members to elect their members' employers. And governments, not disciplined by the need to make a profit, extract government employees' salaries from taxpayers. Government sits on both sides of the table in cozy "negotiations" with unions.

A few days after Obama submitted a budget that would increase the federal deficit, he tried to sabotage Wisconsin's progress toward solvency. The Washington Post: "The president's political machine worked in close coordination . . . with state and national union officials to mobilize thousands of protesters to gather in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals."

Walker notes that in the 1990s, Wisconsin was a trend-setter regarding school choice and welfare reform. Obama, he thinks, may be worried that Wisconsin might again be a harbinger.

He also thinks Obama's intervention demonstrates why presidents should serve apprenticeships as governors. He says that Obama, in the Illinois Legislature and the U.S. Senate, "was a liberal among liberals," and liberals are his base, and his staff comes from it. Governors, Walker says, get used to considering the interests of broad constituencies.

Walker's calm comportment in this crisis is reminiscent of President Reagan's during his 1981 stand against the illegal strike by air traffic controllers, and Margaret Thatcher's in the1984 showdown with the miners' union over whether unions or Parliament would govern Britain.

Walker, by a fiscal seriousness contrasting with Obama's lack thereof, and Obama, by inciting defenders of the indefensible, have made three things clear:

First, the Democratic Party is the party of government, not only because of its extravagant sense of government's competence and proper scope, but also because the party's base is government employees.

Second, government employees have an increasingly adversarial relationship with the governed.

Third, Obama's "move to the center" is fictitious.

George Will's e-mail address is georgewill@washpost.com






Read more on Newsmax.com: Wisconsin Battles Bloated Union Demands
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

Seriously? Can't we just have the mods delete this copied crap? If you want to.provide a link and express some independent thoughts; fine; but this cut and past posts is a waste of our time...

[Larryrsf]

Mods? There are no moderators here! You are usually proud of that! WTF?

Little hypocritical isn't it??? When I cite a conservative, you cry like a baby. But when you and others were pasting quotations from the illegal alien who became president, you loved it.

Larry

[Kiwi Player]

Mods? There are no moderators here! You are usually proud of that! WTF?

Little hypocritical isn't it??? When I cite a conservative, you cry like a baby. But when you and others were pasting quotations from the illegal alien who became president, you loved it.

Larry

LOL - good point Larry!

Even Alangb can't call you out on that post.

[edgey]

I suspect that if Larry had been around in 1934 Germany he would have been extolling Hitlers economic plans. Hitler gained huge backing from big business on the back of destroying all unions, which he did.

Edgey

[SoonerBS]

I suspect that if Larry had been around in 1934 Germany he would have been extolling Hitlers economic plans. Hitler gained huge backing from big business on the back of destroying all unions, which he did.

Edgey

There WERE some things about the Nazi party that worked. That "genocide" practicing thing kind of placed a black mark on the whole history though . . . . .

[poe4soul]

Mods? There are no moderators here! You are usually proud of that! WTF?

Little hypocritical isn't it??? When I cite a conservative, you cry like a baby. But when you and others were pasting quotations from the illegal alien who became president, you loved it.

Larry

True enough on the mod's comment.

You barely made a point in your first two post on this thread. I don't recall pasting quotations that were not a elaborated by my own thoughts or to expand on an idea. Most of my post are original thoughts. Point them out and I'll eat crow. You do this cut and paste job often.

Do you have an original opinion or are you just a right wing jar head waiting for hanity or others to screw off the top and fill it with whatever they say or believe?

[Not a hacker]

True enough on the mod's comment.

You barely made a point in your first two post on this thread. I don't recall pasting quotations that were not a elaborated by my own thoughts or to expand on an idea. Most of my post are original thoughts. Point them out and I'll eat crow. You do this cut and paste job often.

Do you have an original opinion or are you just a right wing jar head waiting for hanity or others to screw off the top and fill it with whatever they say or believe?

Definitely the latter. Does this question really need to be asked?

[Larryrsf]

Of course! And proudly so! WE kicked arse in the last elections and we will run the liberals out of town in the next one! They got their opportunity to govern and they blew it. Just as I predicted two years ago, electing Obama and a pack of losers in Congress was a "give them enough rope...." situation. They have hung themselve and many of these crooks will leave town in handcuffs-- if Issa has his way.

The shame is that most people won't much care when it is finally revealed that Obama was NOT eligible to be elected POTUS and that he (and his wife) didn't earn many of their credentials, that they were given everything through "affirmative action" by liberal schools. Case in point: both Obamas have "voluntarily" surrendered their Illinois lawyer license-- which is basically unheard of in the legal profession. Lawyers treasure that license as their proudest accomplishment--and most would surrender it ONLY about 5 minutes before a law review board revokes it for serious cause.

Larry

[lorenzoinoc]

Of course! And proudly so! WE kicked arse in the last elections and we will run the liberals out of town in the next one! They got their opportunity to govern and they blew it. Just as I predicted two years ago, electing Obama and a pack of losers in Congress was a "give them enough rope...." situation. They have hung themselve and many of these crooks will leave town in handcuffs-- if Issa has his way.

The shame is that most people won't much care when it is finally revealed that Obama was NOT eligible to be elected POTUS and that he (and his wife) didn't earn many of their credentials, that they were given everything through "affirmative action" by liberal schools. Case in point: both Obamas have "voluntarily" surrendered their Illinois lawyer license-- which is basically unheard of in the legal profession. Lawyers treasure that license as their proudest accomplishment--and most would surrender it ONLY about 5 minutes before a law review board revokes it for serious cause.

Larry

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ.........

[The Purist]

Did anyone catch the Scott Walker prank call...is he a slow adult...anyone with half a brain could have snuffed out that prankster.

[jetdriver]

Of course! And proudly so! WE kicked arse in the last elections and we will run the liberals out of town in the next one! They got their opportunity to govern and they blew it. Just as I predicted two years ago, electing Obama and a pack of losers in Congress was a "give them enough rope...." situation. They have hung themselve and many of these crooks will leave town in handcuffs-- if Issa has his way.

The shame is that most people won't much care when it is finally revealed that Obama was NOT eligible to be elected POTUS and that he (and his wife) didn't earn many of their credentials, that they were given everything through "affirmative action" by liberal schools. Case in point: both Obamas have "voluntarily" surrendered their Illinois lawyer license-- which is basically unheard of in the legal profession. Lawyers treasure that license as their proudest accomplishment--and most would surrender it ONLY about 5 minutes before a law review board revokes it for serious cause.

Larry

As we both know....Once this clown is out of office and no longer controls the DOJ, and if congress had the balls he should be fully investigated. It is my opinion as well that he is a fake of epic proportions.
I had a student of mine that I helped in his career that went on to be a fraud and a fake of unimaginable stature the first thing he did when busted was turn in his credentials in question on the advice of his official alleged coconspirator, or usful idiot. As in his case he did not do it by himself and once too many people in high places are guilty of having been stupid or worse it becomes CYA time...and these people benefit.

[Larryrsf]

Did anyone catch the Scott Walker prank call...is he a slow adult...anyone with half a brain could have snuffed out that prankster.

"Oh, what tangled webs we weave when first we set out to deceive..." The prankster tried to set Walker up, to embarass him, but instead gave Walker an opportunity to prove that he is honest and forthright.

Bottom line: Walker had no need to worry about a prankster because he would have said exactly the same thing to the real guy-- or to national TV cameras. And he thereby rose in stature to national class, possible presidential quality. He has joined the ranks of Chris Christy of NJ, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Mit Romney of Massachusetts, etc. etc.

Larry

[mongrel]

I suspect that if Larry had been around in 1934 Germany he would have been extolling Hitlers economic plans. Hitler gained huge backing from big business on the back of destroying all unions, which he did.

Edgey

Hitler's paranoia about the Bolshies controlling the unions was probably well-founded. The Nazi party became the monopoly union.

[mongrel]

"Oh, what tangled webs we weave when first we set out to deceive..." The prankster tried to set Walker up, to embarass him, but instead gave Walker an opportunity to prove that he is honest and forthright.

Bottom line: Walker had no need to worry about a prankster because he would have said exactly the same thing to the real guy-- or to national TV cameras. And he thereby rose in stature to national class, possible presidential quality. He has joined the ranks of Chris Christy of NJ, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Mit Romney of Massachusetts, etc. etc.

Larry

None of those names come close to even stirring my conservative blood. The words "presidential" and "quality" may be diametrical opposites.

[alangbaker]

"Oh, what tangled webs we weave when first we set out to deceive..."

If you're going to quote: quote accurately.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!"

And the words, "Palin" and "class" can only be used with the words, "last" and "in" and "her".

[alangbaker]

The shame is that most people won't much care when it is finally revealed that Obama was NOT eligible to be elected POTUS and that he (and his wife) didn't earn many of their credentials, that they were given everything through "affirmative action" by liberal schools. Case in point: both Obamas have "voluntarily" surrendered their Illinois lawyer license-- which is basically unheard of in the legal profession. Lawyers treasure that license as their proudest accomplishment--and most would surrender it ONLY about 5 minutes before a law review board revokes it for serious cause.

Let me help you, Larry (goodness knows you need it):

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/lawlicenses.asp

In short, neither did anything out of the ordinary.

[jetdriver]

Alan, you are one scary dude man. This thing with Larry is just a bit too creepy... I'm just say'n.

[jetdriver]

Let me help you, Larry (goodness knows you need it):

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/lawlicenses.asp

In short, neither did anything out of the ordinary.

An Obama-drone quoting Snopes is not even close to a Chrstian quoting the Bible as "proof" but it's along the same lines.

[alangbaker]

An Obama-drone quoting Snopes is not even close to a Chrstian quoting the Bible as "proof" but it's along the same lines.

Simply point out something more authoritative that says differently...

[Not a hacker]

Alan, you are one scary dude man. This thing with Larry is just a bit too creepy... I'm just say'n.

You're not Robinson Crusoe there.

[jetdriver]

Simply point out something more authoritative that says differently...

My eyeballs, my B.S. (bull SHEITE) detector,
--and my super-human ability to spot frauds and felons...now where is my forged cape?

[jetdriver]

You're not Robinson Crusoe there.

The line originally read:
"An Obama-drone quoting Snopes is like a Chrstian quoting the Bible as "proof""-I should have not modified it since it lost its effect.

[Larryrsf]

Alan, you are one scary dude man. This thing with Larry is just a bit too creepy... I'm just say'n.

Obsessed! I would hate to be in the same state with him. I get a vision of Jack Nickelson in "The Shining." AB is obviously unbalanced and possibly dangerous. There is a reason he sits alone all day and night-- posting on the Internet. Wow! What a life! He is in his low 40s I think.

And he has been doing this for years! He has been kicked out of a dozen golf discussion boards after the moderators reviewed his pattern of personal attacks-- warned him repeatedly, and then blocked his access to the forum when he continuing to violate the rules. I can't imagine why they allow him to continue on TGC, but I suspect they are watching.

Larry

[Not a German]

Obsessed! I would hate to be in the same state with him. I get a vision of Jack Nickelson in "The Shining." AB is obviously unbalanced and possibly dangerous. There is a reason he sits alone all day and night-- posting on the Internet. Wow! What a life! He is in his low 40s I think.

And he has been doing this for years! He has been kicked out of a dozen golf discussion boards after the moderators reviewed his pattern of personal attacks-- warned him repeatedly, and then blocked his access to the forum when he continuing to violate the rules. I can't imagine why they allow him to continue on TGC, but I suspect they are watching.

Larry

If you're being sincere that he's dangerous, why would you continually insult him? Are you stupid?

[famousdavis]

Obsessed! I would hate to be in the same state with him. I get a vision of Jack Nickelson in "The Shining." AB is obviously unbalanced and possibly dangerous. There is a reason he sits alone all day and night-- posting on the Internet. Wow! What a life! He is in his low 40s I think.

And he has been doing this for years! He has been kicked out of a dozen golf discussion boards after the moderators reviewed his pattern of personal attacks-- warned him repeatedly, and then blocked his access to the forum when he continuing to violate the rules. I can't imagine why they allow him to continue on TGC, but I suspect they are watching.

Larry

All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy.
All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. All work and no play makes Alan a dull boy. v

[alangbaker]

[QUOTE=Larryrsf]Obsessed! I would hate to be in the same state with him. I get a vision of Jack Nickelson in "The Shining."

That would be "Nicholson", Larry?

AB is obviously unbalanced and possibly dangerous. There is a reason he sits alone all day and night-- posting on the Internet. Wow! What a life! He is in his low 40s I think.

49 last December, actually.

And he has been doing this for years! He has been kicked out of a dozen golf discussion boards after the moderators reviewed his pattern of personal attacks-- warned him repeatedly, and then blocked his access to the forum when he continuing to violate the rules. I can't imagine why they allow him to continue on TGC, but I suspect they are watching.

Hell, Larry: I haven't begun to be kicked off as many golf discussion boards as you have, so you must be up in the high 20s or more. Why is it you're posting as "siggyrsf" on TGC these days?

[Not a hacker]

[QUOTE=alangbaker]

Obsessed! I would hate to be in the same state with him. I get a vision of Jack Nickelson in "The Shining."

That would be "Nicholson", Larry?



49 last December, actually.



Hell, Larry: I haven't begun to be kicked off as many golf discussion boards as you have, so you must be up in the high 20s or more. Why is it you're posting as "siggyrsf" on TGC these days?

Getting away form your Larry obsession just for a second, I have a question. How do you find golf at 49. I'm about to enter my mid 40s and haven't seen any dramatic downturn just yet. I hit a couple of monster drives last weekend and seem to feel as good as ever, but I'm wondering if geting past 40 has something to do with stiff shafts in irons feeling harder to hit?

[famousdavis]

[quote=Not a hacker]

Getting away form your Larry obsession just for a second, I have a question. How do you find golf at 49. I'm about to enter my mid 40s and haven't seen any dramatic downturn just yet. I hit a couple of monster drives last weekend and seem to feel as good as ever, but I'm wondering if geting past 40 has something to do with stiff shafts in irons feeling harder to hit?

I don't think you'll need any kind of shaft change until you hit 60. Lots of guys in their 50's who are playing the best golf of their lives.

[oldplayer]

[QUOTE=famousdavis]

I don't think you'll need any kind of shaft change until you hit 60. Lots of guys in their 50's who are playing the best golf of their lives.

I can vouch for that although i didn't start until I was 35. If I'd taken the game up as a kid i may have posed a genuine threat to your status as a ballstriker.

[Kiwi Player]

[QUOTE=oldplayer]

I can vouch for that although i didn't start until I was 35. If I'd taken the game up as a kid i may have posed a genuine threat to your status as a ballstriker.

You'd be headed for the PGA Tour. With Qtong!

[alangbaker]

[QUOTE=Not a hacker]

Getting away form your Larry obsession just for a second, I have a question. How do you find golf at 49. I'm about to enter my mid 40s and haven't seen any dramatic downturn just yet. I hit a couple of monster drives last weekend and seem to feel as good as ever, but I'm wondering if geting past 40 has something to do with stiff shafts in irons feeling harder to hit?

Well considering that I've spent the last 5 years dropping my handicap from the teens to single digit, I'm feeling pretty good about golf.

It certainly doesn't hurt that I've kept myself in pretty good shape by playing hockey and skiing (and occasionally working out at the gym).

I fully expect to drop another 3 or 4 strokes form my index this year... ...if only Vancouver would stop thinking it's a normal Canadian city and let the weather warm up enough to let me start practicing.

[huskyhater]

Is the start of the crushing of public employee unions in the 30 states that allow that at all.

Roosevelt said in 1940 or so that it is nonsensical to allow public employees to belong to a union where they can exert *collective bargaining* against the government.

When there is a public employee union, there is no competitor. The government is a monopoly, so what recourse does the employer have? And it is crazy to allow public employers to decide how much to pay and which benefits to grant--when the unions turn right around and bribe the government employers with union dues!

So Wisconsin will start the ball rolling and every state, county, and city will follow. Wisconsin will dissolve unions each year. Each union would be required to re-register every year-- and very likely they will be unable to garner the necessary membership signatures--regardless, it will be expensive and cumbersome. Wisconsin will NOT collect union dues through employee paycheck deductions. IF the employee wants to pay union dues, he will --but many won't --and *try and collect* will be heard quite often. I doubt the state or city will help collect union dues.

Then federal employees will follow the states.

Where will Democrats get votes and contributions when they can't force participation from
from public employee unions? Obama would NOT have been elected without their help.
The situation is far more dire in 2012. So expect Obama and all Democrats to fight this with everything they have.

Fun to watch. Bring popcorn! Fox News will be featuring the whole thing, "fair and balanced" coverage.

Larry

I've been a public employee for 33 years. I remember when everybody else had 'better' (higher paying) jobs when I started my career-one which I wasn't planning on staying with for very long at the time-but I'm glad because I could retire at any time now, especially with all the selfish repub BS going on. WELL....ALL the people I knew back then kind of scoffed at me (probably like the opposers/repubs on this site) because my job was 'lesser paying'. Now? Because of needs and greed I am still working and these imbeciles/repubs are asking me if we have any openings. So....I guess my advice to these people/repubs is to practice what you preach...kinda like 'stay the course'? Who was that dumb, arrogant repub SOB that gave that advice on war when he and his didn't HAVE TO go? Repubs-talk the talk and avoid the walk. No hard feelings, just my opinion. Have a good one.

[Larryrsf]

I suspect public employees are in for some hard times in the near term. The source of all funds is the public taxpayer. Basically those who DO NOT have those great salaries and benefits are refusing to pay for them. Duh

We will be seeing cities and even states going bankrupt as necessary to abrogate stupid contracts with unions--even police, fire, and prison guards, etc. Those services can be out-sourced to contractors. And we will be seeing more and more public employers doing what Wisconsin did-- and simply refusing to collect union dues or to allow job actions by public employee unions. Past pension deals will be reopened-- and downsized to the average of private pensions, changed to 401K, etc. Those unions will go away and those employees will have to settle for the same wages and benefits as everyone else. Aw gee! The good times at the expense of everyone else are over!

Larry