Liberal Supermajority

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by saden1

Imagine that, a company from a socialist country having the upper hand. Hopefully the democrats will be able to duplicate their success politically, socially, and commercially (without the mistakes of course ).

I haven't done my homework on the details of Japan's health care system, but it sure sounds something like a program we already have in the U.S., Medicare. The legacy health costs the US automakers are/were shouldering are a result of stupidity/greed on the part of their boards and the leadership of the IAW.

If the Democrat party in the U.S. held these ideals, I would certainly have no problem with supporting them:
The LDP traditionally identified itself with a number of general goals: rapid, export-based economic growth; close cooperation with the United States in foreign and defense policies; and several newer issues, such as administrative reform. Administrative reform encompassed several themes: simplification and streamlining of government bureaucracy; privatization of state owned enterprises; and adoption of measures, including tax reform, needed to prepare for the strain on the economy posed by an aging society. Other priorities in the early 1990s included promoting a more active and positive role for Japan in the rapidly developing Asia-Pacific region, internationalizing Japan's economy by liberalizing and promoting domestic demand, creating a high technology information society, and promoting scientific research. A business-inspired commitment to free enterprise was tempered by the insistence of important small business and agricultural constituencies on some form of protectionism and subsidies.

As for 8588's posts, they're nothing more than dickish rants. There's nothing correct about calling them under-worked and overpaid.

As far as the "rant" part, that's between you guys. I agree with points made by both of you, the end result in most union shops is that the workers are less-worked and paid higher compared to their non-union counterparts. But also, the rank and file of the unions shoulder only a small portion of the blame (as do GM/Chrysler/Ford stockholders) for the current state-of-affairs. The rank and file are mostly hard-working folks just trying to do the best they can for their families.