Frequently Asked Questions About the union
- Thread starter irudedog
- Start date
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
Speaking of failing miserably........How about you and Ground's FMCSA crappy scores?
What have you done personally to help improve them? Besides heckling Express couriers?
They were after the Repubs took over Congress. Thanks Bill!
Don't look now, but Obama has a good chance of pulling off the same.
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
Your complacent attitude will only get you to help absorb Fred's ever increasing insurance costs sooner or later.
Have fun.
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
All I'm saying is that you are prime example of what the GOP likes to call entrepreneurship. That means that you (the capitalist) get all the profits, while your employees get the shaft. You (and Fred) get more profit because you are able to outsource insurance costs onto the taxpayer, as well as public assistance in quite a few cases. The only thing you don't do is whine about social programs, because in the case of Ground, such programs work to your advantage.
I think you need to change political parties, because you are really sounding like a....Republican.
thedownhillEXPRESS
Well-Known Member
Yeah, and NAFTA was a huge Clinton mistake because he listened to republicans and tried to be bipartisan.The republican idea that was NAFTA helped destroy this country just like all republican ideas do.
Don't you ever get tired of all the hyperbole? It must be exhausting.
Should we get rid of Steve Rattner? President Obama himself? Ed Rendell?Let me know where your litmus test kicks in. I'd be highly surprised t see democrats hold any branch of government where you draw the lines.
The only thing Clinton did concerning NAFTA was sign the bill. NAFTA has been very good for Hispanics in the border states and they were due. It also put alot of desperately poor people in Mexico to work. Goes back to my theory about plenty. Settle for plenty and things go well. Think you are entitled to luxury and the rug gets pulled out from under you eventually. The workers who got affected most by NAFTA were union workers who felt entitled to living large. Unions are never going to have the strength they once had if workers aren't willing to meet management halfway. And before anyone starts reaming me I'm disgusted by the way management is hogging all the wealth. Seems to me with superior numbers workers could get legislation enacted that would modify their compensation. But pushing a company to the brink because one thinks one is entitled is an unrealistic view of our place in a competitive world market and a sure fire way to go down the drain just like members of other unions have.
MrFedEx
Engorged Member
No hyperbole. Ground sounds like a Republican dream.
Republicans want to put people back to work believe it or not. Generally if you get the national unemployment under 5% the ones not working either can't or won't. Low unemployment means things are booming and there are opportunities for people willing to risk and work hard. Keeping a large % of the workforce on the public dole means the economy is in the doldrums. Sure large corporations are doing well in this environment but we could be doing much better. And even with the emphasis on Ground we at Express would be doing much better in a booming economy. Our President needs to stop the class warfare and do what's necessary to get things in gear. First and foremost is getting fuel prices considerably lower. And we all know that's not going to happen.
MAKAVELI
Well-Known Member
The president doesn't control fuel prices, big oil does. Our production is at an all time high and demand is down but the oil companies are keeping fuel prices high to produce the record profits they take in. Fuel prices were on the rise well before Obama. The only class warfare going on is in the republicans heads.
And you pay more in taxes per gallon than the oil companies make in profit. Obama is prohibiting new drilling off our coasts, and on federal land. And gas prices at the end of Bush's 2nd term were half of what they are today. And Obama has given speech after speech pushing for higher taxes on those making considerably less than the super rich he finally settled for. And his Obamacare has yet to kick in, and it's going to hammer the economy. Good luck with that.
You still haven't helped me determine where you want the line drawn so that we can tell which of us Democrats have to leave. Claire McCaskill? Mary Landrew? I keep naming all these conservative Democrats and I really do wonder who would be left. The Montana governor? I forget his name. Is he too far right?
Van, that is incredibly disingenuous of you. Your comparison of gas prices at the end of Bush's term? Really? If you know anything about the energy markets, you know full well that we don't have supply problems. There is no shortage. That is not what keeps prices elevated. Much deeper than supply and demand. Its not at all a "free market", it is completely controlled by big oil and the profit they demand.
Ricochet1a
Well-Known Member
Talking about the price of oil in a thread supposedly about "FAQ about the union"....
OK....
The government of Saudi Arabia is what pretty much sets the price of a barrel of oil. They have sufficient production capability, that they can decide at what price level they want to see a barrel of oil to be (world market), then adjust their production to either increase or decrease the price oil.
Pretty much all other producers of oil operate at or near full capacity. The OPEC cartel attempts to distribute production quotas to its member countries based on a variety of factors (maximum production capacity within a member country being the foremost), but virtually all OPEC members other than Saudi Arabia commonly exceed their production quotas. This leaves Saudi Arabia as the real manipulator of world wide oil prices.
The Saudi government decides where IT wants to see the price of a barrel of oil to be, then it adjusts its monthly production volume to meet that price point. This is why the US government is so adept at kissing the butt of the Saudis (to get them to keep production at or slightly above what is needed to satisfy world demand) - and why the government of Saudi Arabia desires a strong American presence in the Persian Gulf (to protect them from Iran now, and 25 years ago from both Iran and Iraq). It is a bit of a kabuki dance between the two nations (who have VERY different goals otherwise).
As far as a "conspiracy" to set world oil prices....
The price of crude has followed a trend which has easily explained reasons for price variations.
'73 - Arab Oil Embargo. Demand exceeded worldwide supply, real prices spiked (almost tripled). This was a natural response to the Arabs gaining complete control of the oil production within their countries (prior to that, the oil companies had the major determining decision as to production, and consequently price level).
early 80's - Iran-Iraq War. Conflict always creates uncertainty and increases prices. In addition, each combatant was attacking the others capability to export oil in an attempt to wage economic warfare to achieve a favorable result. Both the Iraqis and Iranians were attacking tankers carrying the other's oil. Remember the 'reflagging of tankers"... Prices almost doubled from the '73 levels.
mid 80's - real prices drop to '73 levels then a bit lower. The US intervened in the Gulf, protecting tankers from attack. in the process, a US Navy frigate is hit by an Iraqi missile (USS Stark).
1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait (as a direct consequence of the war it had just concluded with Iran). Prices jump but not markedly. The US intervenes in the situation to ensure the steady supply of Saudi oil and prevent the Iraqis from gaining too much power. I remember this well, I spent some time in the Gulf while wearing a uniform.
mid-late 1990's - prices gradually fall to what is pre-'73 prices in real terms. Stability in the aftermath of the "2nd Gulf War" (Desert Storm) along with the Asian meltdown result in an oversupply of oil. Oil falls to $15 or so a barrel, and if memory serves correctly, gasoline prices in the US in early '99 hit a low of about 90 cents a gallon (half of that price was gas taxes). Gasoline was cheaper per gallon (minus the taxes) than a gallon bottle of distilled water at the supermarket. At this time OPEC institutes a MAJOR cut in production in order to get the price of a barrel of oil back up (it works).
2000s - Peak oil has hit, and spare productive capacity has practically disappeared. All through the decade, the price of oil takes an upward climb hitting briefly $140 a bbl in 2008. This was truly a speculative bubble, and the price subsequently collapsed in early 2009. The "Arab Spring" took Libyan production off the market for a few years (Saudi made up most of the shortfall), but the weak US dollar resulted in oil prices climbing back up to the $90 bbl level.
There is no conspiracy. There are only 4 factors really at play. 1) Uncertainty in supply due to conflict. 2) Role of Saudi government in determining both worldwide supply and consequently worldwide price of oil 3) Degree of US presence in Persian Gulf 4) Strength or weakness of the US dollar (all oil is priced in US Dollars).
Given worldwide demand for oil will only increase and production has pretty much reached its limits (peak oil), the price of oil should and will continue to steadily climb. If conflict breaks out in the Gulf again, prices will spike. If the US continues its "quantitive easing", prices will climb faster. If the government of Saudi Arabia makes a decision to restrict production, prices will skyrocket.
No conspiracy... just macroeconomics at work in combination with what is known as International Political Economy.
OK....
The government of Saudi Arabia is what pretty much sets the price of a barrel of oil. They have sufficient production capability, that they can decide at what price level they want to see a barrel of oil to be (world market), then adjust their production to either increase or decrease the price oil.
Pretty much all other producers of oil operate at or near full capacity. The OPEC cartel attempts to distribute production quotas to its member countries based on a variety of factors (maximum production capacity within a member country being the foremost), but virtually all OPEC members other than Saudi Arabia commonly exceed their production quotas. This leaves Saudi Arabia as the real manipulator of world wide oil prices.
The Saudi government decides where IT wants to see the price of a barrel of oil to be, then it adjusts its monthly production volume to meet that price point. This is why the US government is so adept at kissing the butt of the Saudis (to get them to keep production at or slightly above what is needed to satisfy world demand) - and why the government of Saudi Arabia desires a strong American presence in the Persian Gulf (to protect them from Iran now, and 25 years ago from both Iran and Iraq). It is a bit of a kabuki dance between the two nations (who have VERY different goals otherwise).
As far as a "conspiracy" to set world oil prices....
The price of crude has followed a trend which has easily explained reasons for price variations.
'73 - Arab Oil Embargo. Demand exceeded worldwide supply, real prices spiked (almost tripled). This was a natural response to the Arabs gaining complete control of the oil production within their countries (prior to that, the oil companies had the major determining decision as to production, and consequently price level).
early 80's - Iran-Iraq War. Conflict always creates uncertainty and increases prices. In addition, each combatant was attacking the others capability to export oil in an attempt to wage economic warfare to achieve a favorable result. Both the Iraqis and Iranians were attacking tankers carrying the other's oil. Remember the 'reflagging of tankers"... Prices almost doubled from the '73 levels.
mid 80's - real prices drop to '73 levels then a bit lower. The US intervened in the Gulf, protecting tankers from attack. in the process, a US Navy frigate is hit by an Iraqi missile (USS Stark).
1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait (as a direct consequence of the war it had just concluded with Iran). Prices jump but not markedly. The US intervenes in the situation to ensure the steady supply of Saudi oil and prevent the Iraqis from gaining too much power. I remember this well, I spent some time in the Gulf while wearing a uniform.
mid-late 1990's - prices gradually fall to what is pre-'73 prices in real terms. Stability in the aftermath of the "2nd Gulf War" (Desert Storm) along with the Asian meltdown result in an oversupply of oil. Oil falls to $15 or so a barrel, and if memory serves correctly, gasoline prices in the US in early '99 hit a low of about 90 cents a gallon (half of that price was gas taxes). Gasoline was cheaper per gallon (minus the taxes) than a gallon bottle of distilled water at the supermarket. At this time OPEC institutes a MAJOR cut in production in order to get the price of a barrel of oil back up (it works).
2000s - Peak oil has hit, and spare productive capacity has practically disappeared. All through the decade, the price of oil takes an upward climb hitting briefly $140 a bbl in 2008. This was truly a speculative bubble, and the price subsequently collapsed in early 2009. The "Arab Spring" took Libyan production off the market for a few years (Saudi made up most of the shortfall), but the weak US dollar resulted in oil prices climbing back up to the $90 bbl level.
There is no conspiracy. There are only 4 factors really at play. 1) Uncertainty in supply due to conflict. 2) Role of Saudi government in determining both worldwide supply and consequently worldwide price of oil 3) Degree of US presence in Persian Gulf 4) Strength or weakness of the US dollar (all oil is priced in US Dollars).
Given worldwide demand for oil will only increase and production has pretty much reached its limits (peak oil), the price of oil should and will continue to steadily climb. If conflict breaks out in the Gulf again, prices will spike. If the US continues its "quantitive easing", prices will climb faster. If the government of Saudi Arabia makes a decision to restrict production, prices will skyrocket.
No conspiracy... just macroeconomics at work in combination with what is known as International Political Economy.
I think "peak oil" is a bit of a misnomer. Haven't they found and established ways of getting oil since the declaration of reaching "peak oil"? Couple that with increased efficiencies and the concept of peak oil drops
in relative importance.
The idea that this is all supply and demand related seems just plain off. There is simply no shortage. Open up the Keystone pipeline and it would also do nothing for US prices. It is all at the global level where prices are managed. The US does the same thing with natural gas supplies. They have so much of it they shut down facilities in the hopes that the artificial shortage will drive up.demand and prices.
in relative importance.
The idea that this is all supply and demand related seems just plain off. There is simply no shortage. Open up the Keystone pipeline and it would also do nothing for US prices. It is all at the global level where prices are managed. The US does the same thing with natural gas supplies. They have so much of it they shut down facilities in the hopes that the artificial shortage will drive up.demand and prices.
