Letters: GOP shows true colors for blue-collar workers; Revealing headlines
GOP shows true colors for blue-collar workers
The Republican Party claims to be big supporters of blue-collar workers, but their true colors showed when it came time to support those workers.
For almost a year, railroad unions and managers of the seven major railroads worked to come up with a new contract. The major sticking point is that union workers have no paid sick leave. What’s worse, if workers need to take off because of illness, or to see a doctor, they must use vacation days — and vacation days need to be scheduled, and approved, in advance. In other words, if you’re a union railroad worker, you’d better be able to forecast the future, because if you’re going to be sick, you need to schedule your sick time in advance of getting sick.
The major companies even impose disciplinary measures if an employee takes off for a medical emergency. As a result, union workers often delay needed medical care, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Last year, one union engineer who postponed a doctor’s visit because he hadn’t scheduled a vacation day for it died on the job of a heart attack a few weeks later.
To forestall a strike, House Democrats passed legislation giving union workers seven days of paid sick leave.
In contrast, nearly all House Republicans, who, by the way, receive taxpayer-funded unlimited sick leave, voted against the bill, supporting the seven major railroad companies who made $27 billion last year, nearly double their profits 10 years ago.
So much for Republicans supporting blue-collar workers.
Revealing headlines
Dec. 3 headlines:
“Trump’s pre-runoff message: Terminate the Constitution” - Politico
“Trump: Constitution should be terminated” - Axios
“Trump calls for ‘termination’ of election rules in Constitution to overturn 2020 election” - The Hill
“Trump Admits the U.S. Constitution Is Against Him: He wants to get rid of the parts that prevent him from overturning the 2020 election” - New York Magazine
“Trump calls for ‘termination’ of the U.S. Constitution in Truth Social post” – UPI
“Donald Trump’s Call to ‘Terminate’ Constitution Sparks Fury” – Newsweek
“Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, established authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interest of sedition.” Source: Wikipedia
Mosaic Concert wows again
How many people Google searched the Chinese instrument, “Guzheng,” after the always wonderful annual Mosaic Concert Sunday at Eisenhower Auditorium? Thank you for teaching these wonderful musicians who share their amazing talents with our community. Question: When will you surprise us again with another Blue Band finale?
Country in need of election reform
There are three things that I know for sure:
1. I learned from my mother, “if you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything.”
2. I learned from the good Sisters in Catholic school, “hatred, and its twin jealousy, are both sinful.”
3. I learned from just living for 94 years, “some people are crooked! (dishonest); the only reason that they are not more crooked is because they haven’t thought of it. They are very willing — they just haven’t conceived of the dishonest idea.”
Keeping these philosophical concepts in mind, our country is sorely in need of election reform. Term limits for Congressional members; imposing dollar spending limits; rules governing “character assassination; elimination of mail-in balloting along with requiring voter ID; and maybe some additional rules. It appears to me that our present voting system is clearly out of hand.