My problems with unions.

There was a time in our nations history when unions were a necessity, and they did a great service for the people in which they served. That time was gone a long time ago and it is not going to come back any time soon.

Let me explain why I believe this. When unions started they were initially purposed with improving the safety and working conditions of members in a time when a lot of employment was dangerous, hard, physical work. Many were being taken advantage of and unions did do a great deal to bring about changes to safety and labor laws.

Things have changed since then. We live in a society where OSHA reigns supreme when it comes to workplace safety and labor laws are extreme to the point of driving inflation. How many of you have joked about the lawsuits that are out of control these days? You remember the case where a woman got millions out of McDonald's because she spilled her coffee?

The point that I am trying to make is that the government has gone overboard in regulating business so that anything that could possibly harm us has been dumbed down so much that a lot of it's utility has been lost. That relieves the unions of the responsibility of trying to make our jobs safer. To be sure there will always be dangerous jobs. Most jobs that I know of that do not involve sitting all day at a desk have a degree of danger to them that must be managed, but the employers are so afraid of lawsuits that they compensate for that by training and supervision so that they do not have to cover the costs of litigation and medical reparation to their employees,

So that leaves the only thing to negotiate for the unions being wages and benefits. This is where I have my problems with the unions. I worked for a “union shop” when I lived in Southern California in the 90's. What this means is if you wanted to get a job at this particular place you needed to join the union. (In my case the SEIU, or Service Employees International Union)

I enjoyed my job and was good at it. I don;t want to seem like I am bragging, but I was among the best at what I did. I consistently covered for others that could not handle the workload that they were assigned. I worked usually 50 to 60 hours a week, and was there for about 2 years. The problem that I had was the pay structure set up by the union. Anyone who was able to get the job only had to do the bare minimum to keep the job and they got guaranteed raises and increased benefits just because they had not yet been fired. I was one of the lowest paid employees but did outstanding work according to my job reviews.

This is what happens with all union jobs that I am aware of. You can work your tail off and get paid just because of your job title and the amount of years that you have been there. There is no incentive to work harder, to go above and beyond, to innovate or improve in any way. Just put in your time and you are covered.

Let's say you started a small business. You built this thing from the ground up and were the initially the only employee. Through countless hours of effort you struggled and built this business to the point you added employees and grew. You like to think that you treat your employees fairly and many have become like family. You wish you could pay more, but you are trying to grow the business and provide for your family. Then one day you are contacted by a union that tells you that many of your employees have come to them and they want to represent your employees. To be honest, if I were the owner of this business, should the union be voted in I would close the business the next day and sell everything. It would be FAR better to start again from nothing than to have a bunch of bullies tell me what I am going to pay, what kind of benefits I am going to provide, and who I hire.

Don't get me wrong here, I am all for paying well. I am all for providing benefits. I am also all for paying the most to those that do the most to help the business grow. I work very hard. I believe that my goal as an employee is to provide more value to the business than I am paid. If I am able to provide significantly more value then nice things happen like promotions and raises in pay.

Unions destroy competition. They hinder innovation and make an employee – employer relationship an adversarial one rather than a partnership as it should be.

That is about it for the soapbox for today. Until next time stay safe and I'll see you down the road.

For God's sake THINK before you vote!

Greetings from the road! I am fairly certain that the laptop has breathed its last and so I am writing this and future posts on my mobile phone for now as I do not have enough money to just march right out and buy a new laptop.  So if the formatting looks a little funny or I don't catch as many misspelled words please forgive me, I am without several of the tools that I am used to having.
I was listening to the Roadgunner podcast yesterday, and as always found myself agreeing a lot with what Chaz was saying. By the way, if you are interested at all in guns, your second amendment rights, trucking, or traveling and eating, I strongly encourage you to listen to his podcast at http://roadgunnerpodcast.com.
As I was saying I was listening and was a little dismayed to hear him state that if Ron Paul did not win the nomination for the presidency from the Republican party that he would vote for him as a third party candidate in the general election.
Now, I like Chaz, he and I have exchanged several E-mails and even though I have never met the man race to face I do respect him and his opinions. However I cannot endorse this particular line of thought.
Tomorrow starts the selection process for the Republicans with the Iowa caucuses. Ron Paul is polling well and dies have an outside shot at winning. I will also state that I support him in his effort and plan to vote for him if he is still in the running when the South Dakota primary rolls around. However if Mr. Paul is not the eventual nominee when the Republican convention rolls around in the fall, I will vote for whoever is on the Republican ticket.
Anyone who is in their late 30s will remember when Bill Clinton won his first presidential election. It was a 3 way race with George Bush Sr. and H. Ross Perot. Perot, was able to siphon enough votes away from Bush that Clinton was able to take the presidency with a minority of the popular vote. (maybe the giant sucking sound that Perot kept hearing was the votes that he was taking away from Bush)
As much as I disliked Clinton I will give him this, he was a centrist in a lot of ways. And not everything that he did was entirely bad. Today, however we have Barak Obama in the White House and things are quite different.  President Obama has outspent his predicessors at an alarming rate, while forcing a poorly crafted socialist medical plan down the public's throat. I will get into specifics of why what he is doing is bad for the country a lot more in future posts when I am not typing on a cell phone keyboard, but suffice it to say that I believe that if we get another 4 years of Obama we may not be able to financially survive.
So it comes to this. The next president will likely choose between 2 and 4 Supreme Court justices. If Obama wins in November he cannot run for re-election. He will be free to go as far left as he likes. Forget socialisim, he will be able to swing all the way over to communisim!
My plan therefore is to support Ron Paul right up to the convention. If he wins fantastic! If not I implore him and you to join me in electing whoever wins the Republican nomination the next president of the United States.
Well that is it for tonight. As usual thank you for your time and I'll see you down the road.

2012 - A preview

I am absolutely tired of year in review stories that come out this time of year so I thought that I would do a year in preview of 2012 just to be a little different. Let me use this disclaimer, I am a truck driver, not a psychic, and as such will have to wait to find out what happens just like you will. This is just kind of a wish list so to speak. It is also going to be heavily political with a little NASCAR and trucking thrown in with a healthy dose of humor. So kick back with your favorite New Years beverage and see what is in store.

2012 in politics will be a wild ride. President Obama will announce that he has decided that this whole presidency thing is way too tough and that he has decided to resign and take a job in northern Alaska counting polar bears on ice floes. This infuriates Michelle Obama who becoming used having everything that she has being paid for by the public immediately files for divorce and goes on welfare, stating “You don't expect me to actually WORK for a living do you?” Vice President Biden upon hearing the news curses up a storm and is heard screaming “That f*%#ing son-of a b^#@& is not going to lay this on me!” Biden abruptly resigns as well and is last seen boarding a fishing trawler. This leaves us with President John Boehner. As his first act as president he signs the “National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act” and then sets to work disassembling Obamacare.

The new year will continue to see a rise in the popularity of NASCAR. The racing series decides to make it's all star race in Charlotte, NC in May a “run what you brung” event with teams allowed to make unlimited modifications to the drive-train of the cars. The safety systems of the cars are not allowed to be touched however. Dale Earnhardt Jr wins the race with an average speed of 225.689 mph with the race never being slowed by a single caution. When asked after the race why things went so smoothly out on the track second place driver Carl Edwards states “Are you kidding me? Going that fast if someone made a mistake they would have went THROUGH the turn 3 wall!

In entertainment we will see a popularity comeback for rock music. Van Halen reunite with BOTH David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. AC/DC and a rejuvenated Journey go on tour. And Fleetwood Mac sell out several dates despite Mick Fleetwood having to take a wheelchair to his drum kit. In movies the world will be shocked when Hollywood fails to release any re-makes or adaptations of old television shows! All movies are truly new movies and in appreciation the public races back to the theaters creating a banner year for the industry with one exception. Unfortunately Michael Moore decides to make a film about the occupy protests of 2011. Moore sinks his entire personal fortune into the film, certain that it is going to be his biggest financial success ever. He however has the audacity to actually charge admission for the film, and the occupy protesters have a fit. They demonstrate at theaters and eventually the total take for the film is $22.50, the entirety of which is from a family in Sheboygan, Wisconsin who thought that they were buying tickets for a Three Stooges retrospective showing at the theater. When asked what he thought of the film as the family walked out of the theater half way through the film the father, who asked not to be named out of fear that his young son would be ridiculed said “We thought initially that they made a mistake and were showing “Free Willy”, but the whale would not shut up! We finally decided to leave when Junior told me that wales can't really talk.”

The trucking industry booms in 2012 and has a tough time keeping up with the explosive growth of the economy that followed the exodus of the Obama administration from Washington. In an unprecedented move the FMCSA decides to scrap the hours of service regulations that were to take effect in July. The agency came to the conclusion that since the current regulations were working as they were there was no need to fix what wasn't broken. With so much freight needing to move and a limited supply of trucks and drivers, freight rates skyrocket and drivers reap big financial rewards. Shippers and receivers finally commit to getting trucks in and out of their facilities quickly when they are repeatedly hit with large detention bills after trucking companies figure out that they make more money when the trucks are moving rather than sitting.

That is it. I know pretty much for certain that nothing that I have written will happen, although it was kind of fun to imagine it. I sincerely hope that everyone that reads this has an absolutely blessed and wonderful year in 2012.

As usual, thanks for your time, and I'll see you down the road.

How anti-gun policies fail us.

If you are elderly, a woman, or disabled in any way the anti-gun lobbyists want you to suffer and die!

Ok, not really, but some of their beliefs are very harmful to you. If you give me just a few seconds I will explain why. The most basic belief in the anti-gun movement is that we would all be much better off if all guns were all to be confiscated and no one other than law enforcement or the military would be able to have a gun. No guns no gun violence right? Well almost, but let's look at the effects of that.

First of all, let's say that a law was passed that said that all Americans had to turn in all of the firearms that they owned. This will not happen in our lifetimes but let's just say that it did so that Sarah Brady can smile. What would happen is that a majority of the citizenry would do just that. They would turn in their guns. There are many formerly law abiding that would not. And I can just about guarantee you that almost no criminals would. So for quite a while the only people that would have a gun would be criminals and the police. The criminals have already (just by being criminals) expressed a willingness to break other laws or they would not be criminals. So now that they know that you have turned your guns in it is time for them to cut loose!

Ok, let's say that the law passed and somehow all guns that have been manufactured since 1875 have been confiscated and destroyed because the criminals all just got a sudden fear of them. (never EVER happen, but go with me on this just for a short moment). We now have a totally unarmed civilian populace. Will the criminals stop being criminals? No, they won't. They will continue to do what they do now. They will look for targets of opportunity to take advantage of others. Instead of guns they will use knives and baseball bats and bare fists. They know that you do not have a gun and since criminals are primarily young males that are in good physical condition they are going to look for weaker people to attack (less chance of fighting back). They do this now and there is no reason to expect that anything would change. Except that now you have lost the ability to fight back. You can't own a firearm and protect yourself.

No firearms no self defense. I don't know about you but the last time I was in a physical fight was more than 20 years ago. (I lost that one by the way). I am a big man. I am 6 foot even and 230 pounds. I have two adult sons. The older son is about my height and a little lighter than I am, the younger is a good 4 to 6 inches taller and at least 50 pounds heavier. If it were to come to a physical fight I don't know that I could take either of them down let alone both and I am in decent health. What chance would a 60 year old grandmother that is watching her grandchildren have against 2 attackers the size of my sons who want steal from her, and since they are hopped up on drugs, my doesn't that 14 year old granddaughter look sweet?

One popular comeback from the anti-gunners is “Call 911! The police will help you!” That is what 911 is there for right? Well almost. The police will do what they can, however from the time you dial 911 you are AT LEAST 5 minutes away from help. To be honest 5 minutes is an amazingly fast response time. Meanwhile it is you against your attackers.

I can hear the objections coming now, “Wait a minute! Who says that there would be more than one attacker?” Statistics and history for one thing. Very few violent attacks are carried out by only one person. Home invasions are usually teams of 2 or 3, sometimes more.

Another thing that I would like to bring up is that anyone who has access to a machine shop and a little patience can make a gun. It would be crude by today’s standards, but very deadly. Human ingenuity is a wonderful thing it has brought us all of the technologies of the modern world, and it would again. Explosives cannot be un-discovered, there were crude long guns in the 1300's called hand cannons. How fast do you think that criminals would start fashioning weapons if they knew that you did not have one?

One more thing that I would like to explore and then I need to leave this nasty little world created by the banning of guns. The United States has a population of roughly 312 million. China has a population of 1.338 billion. That means that there are nearly a billion more Chinese than there are Americans. China's military is 4,585,000 strong. Our military is 2,937,000. There are only a few things that keep China from overrunning our military and occupying all of North America.

1. Our military although outnumbered is the beast trained and equipped in the world.
2. Our citizens outside the military own 250 million firearms.

The fact that so many guns are owned by private citizens is a large portion of the reason that we have not been invaded in almost 200 years. If you happen to get to the mainland you have a huge citizenry that is really pissed off at you and has the weapons to turn your armies away. Take away those weapons and you leave the entire nation at risk.

Let's come back to today and to reality. We have a second amendment to protect our right to keep and bear arms. Even if you personally chose not to own a gun, there is no way for a criminal who doesn't know you to know whether you do in fact own a gun or not. This in itself helps to deter crime.

I would recommend that anyone with an interest to go ahead acquire a gun and get training in how to use it. You really are your own best defense. I love our men and women that serve as police, sheriffs, and state troopers, however their job is just that, a job. They want to go home at the end of their shifts to spouses and children. And while they do not want anything to happen to you, it is not fair to ask them to give up their lives to save yours even though many would.

I have one last point and will close with this. If someone breaks in to your house, or walks in to the gas station that you are at and pulls out a weapon of any kind, as I stated earlier you have at least 5 minutes before the police get there. After you finish reading this, look at your watch and let 5 minutes run off. Don't do anything else, just look at the watch or a clock. Think of what can happen in 5 minutes. Remember that when seconds count police are just minutes away.

Stay safe, thanks for your time, and I'll see you down the road.

Our growing problem with our growing debt.

A couple of things have inspired this post. Recently the national debt exceeded 15 trillion dollars. That is 15,000,000,000,000. A few days later Congress decided not to pass a balanced budget amendment. I am growing increasingly concerned over this. Our GDP, the gross domestic product, or the total of all goods and services produced in the United States is 14.58 trillion. US GDP

What that means if that if we were to shut down all forms of government and impose a 100% tax on everything that everyone in the country made for 1 year we could still not pay off the debt. This is roughly the same as having personal unsecured loan that equals the total of your family’s yearly income.

One final thing that concerns me is the total refusal of the Government to spend less than they take in. At 2010 levels our President and the Congress spend 1.49 for every dollar that they take in in taxes and fees.

We really do need a balanced budget amendment. My idea (and I am paid to drive truck not come up with political ideas) is to treat the federal budget just the same as you would treat a household budget. This is how I envision that this would work.

Congress would be required to base the budget for the current year on the revenues from the previous fiscal year. The absolute limit on spending would be set at 90% of the previous years income. This would be AMAZINGLY painful for the first few years. Of course by design this will create a surplus. In order to spend any part of this surplus a 75% majority of both houses and the president would need to sign off on it.

The surplus would grow from year to year and once it reaches 100% of the federal budget anything over that level could be spent. This 1 year surplus would be there should at any time we have to go to war, or a national disaster of unprecedented proportions strikes.

Unfortunately every amendment ever adopted has started in the congress, and to be quite frank there are very few in the congress that have the intestinal fortitude to put something this strong forward. There is a procedure in the Constitution that allows the states to call for an amendment without the congress, but it has never been used, it requires 34 states to call for a article V convention, and while it did come close in the late 1980's the congress gave in a little and promised to do better. Enough of the states folded that the convention never happened and congress forgot about it's promise and we end up where we are now.

Being a realist I do not believe a constitutional convention will ever take place. I do have hope that an amendment can happen through congress. It will not be as strong, but it can happen if the public pushes hard enough.

So what to take from this? Well of you are not politically active become active. Call your Representative to the house and your Senators. Everyone serving in the House and Senate have email addresses, start writing. I myself have written several letters and do not plan to stop until I am no longer able to type. These people are supposed to be representing me and as such I feel responsible to let them know how I feel.

I cannot state strongly enough how important this is. We are on track to become the next country like Spain, Italy, or Greece. Look at what they did and where they are now and look at what we are doing now. Will there be an apocalypse if we do not change our ways? Honestly no, there won't be one. Will the pain be worse if we don’t do something? It absolutely will.

Attending my very first political rally.

Tonight I attended my very first political rally. The candidate that I support is (as I am composing this), debating 2 opponents for the single House of Representatives seat in South Dakota.

By no means do I consider myself  great at estimating crowds, however if I were to estimate how many were there supporting the same candidate that I do it would have to be around 60 to 75 people.

The Debate was to start at 8 pm, local time and the rally was to begin one hour earlier at 7 outside the television station that the debate was to take place at. I figured that if I showed up 15 minutes early I would be among the first there, I was kind of right. Although it was 35 degrees outside and a very cold wind was blowing easily a dozen people were there before I was. I had never before met anyone in person that was there but was made to feel welcome and found without exception everyone there was in a great mood and not angry. Between 7:00 and 7:20 pm many more people showed up and the feeling became decidedly like that of a high school homecoming football game.

Around 7:25 pm our candidate showed up out front of the building. She was driven in in a silver pickup truck. She greeted all of her supporters, many with hugs. As she was greeting the people gathered around her I noticed a HUGE white limo that began it's life as a SUV. I kid you not when I say that this thing was 40 foot long. It drove past and headed a little farther past the TV station towards downtown. Shortly thereafter a charter bus drives by.

I wish I had a notebook with me and were taking notes as the time-line of things that happened but I am hoping that as I am writing this less than an hour and a half later that things still are clear.

I think that Kristi Noem was still was still waiting to be let in to the front door when the limo and bus drove by. She was let in along with the 3 to 5 people that I am guessing were part of her campaign team. A minute or 2 after she was let in a gentleman that I learned later was the independent candidate walked up the sidewalk and knocked on the television station door. He had no supporters with him and largely went unnoticed.

Very shortly after this, we were told to form a line on the sidewalk to the south of the entrance to the station. As we did this I noticed that about a block north a group of people were walking our way. We were asked to be respectful, be quiet and just hold our signs, which were given to us by the campaign. We did just that, the people that approached along with their candidate  were chanting slogans and when the candidate reached the doors to the TV station her supporters were only a few feet from us.

Once the Congresswoman entered the television station after a few moments her supporters walked back north and crossed the street to assemble directly across the street from us. The chanting began again in earnest on both sides.

The one thing that really made me mad about the whole thing was this. when at about 7:40 it was time for the opposition to pack up they all marched straight to their bus. I can honestly say that I do not know of any one that was bussed from our supporters.

I cannot prove that the congresswoman arrived in that long white limo, although I strongly suspect it. I can prove that her supporters left on that bus because I seen them board it.

I find it very disingenuous that you have to bus people in from God knows where just to be there when the press is taking pictures and video. I cannot prove it, but if I were a betting man I would bet large amounts of cash that the campaign paid for that bus and likely paid those people to be there.

The best part of the evening is that just as the people across the street were getting ready to leave a spontaneous rendition of "God Bless America" came up from the Noem supporters.

God Bless America indeed.

South Dakota's choice

Well I warned you that I would post some things about politics and there is no time like the present. As stated in my previous post I am a conservative. For the most part I have been a conservative all of my adult life. I have never really been politically active however. I registered to vote at the age of 18 when I registered for the draft. (To make this clear this was in 1987, even as I begin to feel my age I am not old enough to have been involved in the Vietnam war). I have voted in every presidential election since then and have voted in most of the congressional elections as well.

Until earlier this week I had never contributed to a campaign of any candidate, nor had I ever seriously volunteered for one. This time I do not believe that I have a choice. I feel that I must help in any way that I am able. Our country has taken an abrupt left turn since January 2009 and we must stop this turn and try to correct the course of our nation before things go any further.

I have many problems with President Obama's administration, but by far and away the biggest is his health care reform act. I have many problems with it, first of all in the entire history of the nation never has every citizen been required to purchase a product. I have heard the argument that "well, you are required to purchase auto insurance". This is true, IF you own a car. If you do not want to purchase auto insurance you have the option to walk, take a bicycle or bus or horse-drawn carriage if you would like. My point is this, if you do not want to buy health insurance you have no option other than suicide.

Also, if you are somewhat well off, (at least in the state of South Dakota) you can self-insure your car. I have not looked in to it in quite a while, but it used to be that if you posted a rather large bond with the state, you would be considered self insured and therefore not have to pay an insurance company. There is no such provision in "Obamacare".

My rather lengthy point is this. All companies, mine included are out to make a profit. You perform a service and charge a little more than it costs you to perform that service. So in theory any one of us can self-insure. All insurance rates are based on actuarial tables. The insurance company charges you a little more than they think they are going to pay for covering someone like you for a specified length of time. If you are adventurous you could simply place that money in an account (where it earned you interest) and take out what it costs for your health care expenses as you go. If you put in at least what your premiums would have been you had a good chance of coming out ahead. Admittedly this was a risk, should something happen you could be on the hook for serious money, but a lot of people did it.

Now that has changed. In South Dakota we have 4 elected people that had a chance to influence that change.

#1) President Barak Obama.
#2) Senator John Thune
#3) Senator Tim Johnson
#4) Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin

I personally wrote to every one of these people asking them not to pass this legislation as it would be a terrible financial burden on our country, and would likely cause me to not expand my business because of increased health care costs. I would like to let you know what responses I received and what I plan to do now.

First President Obama, I got a form letter email back from the white house saying that my message had been received and then nothing. Let's face it. we are stuck with him until at least January 2013. However you can bet that I will do everything I can to help him find the way back to Chicago then.

Next we have Senator Thune. I got an email from his office that looked like it was a form letter and it stated that he was against the legislation. He then voted against the legislation, Way to go Senator Thune! He is up for re-election this year but is running unopposed. Even if he weren't I would certainly vote for him.

Then we have Senator Tim Johnson, Senator Johnson sent me a letter through the postal service that said that one of the proudest moments he has ever had was voting for the bill. I guess he must have misread my email. Not only did he waste money sending me a form letter, he would have done better not sending it. Really Mr. Johnson? One of your proudest moments was insuring that I could not grow my business? Really? Mr. Johnson is up for election again in 2014... I am salivating and hoping to help his opponent with great amounts of my time and money.

Lastly we come to Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. I got a letter mailed from her as well. This was long after the vote, and explained why she voted against it. While it is technically true that she did vote against it, she waited to cast her vote until after the bill had already received enough votes to pass the house. She then made a deal with a doctor that was planning to run against her in the democratic primaries this year that she would oppose dismantling the bill if he would withdraw his candidacy. He did and this June she followed through with her promise to him and voted against a bill that would have removed the individual requirements in the law.

So this is where I make my stand. Last Tuesday I started making phone calls for Kristi Noem, Rep. Herseth Sandlin's opponent this November 2nd. And while I have not contributed to her campaign yet it will happen. I feel that it is my duty to do everything I possibly can to make certain that the America that my grandchildren inherit is more than just a pile of debt that nations like China and Saudi Arabia hold and a lot of lost dreams.

I will close with this plea to you. This November take some time to really think about your choices. Look at each candidate and what their stated beliefs and past votes do for or to you. For Heaven's sake do not vote for someone just because your Dad or Mom did, or because you think that they are "a good person".

If you disagree, by all means comment away! Please think about your comment before you post and do not just smear someone on a personal level. I would love to have an intellectual discussion about anything that I post, but name calling will be ignored and deleted.

Until next time,
Paul