After many years as conservative leaning Democrat (and a brief stint as what passes as a moderate Republican)I am a happy Independent these days like the majority of Americans. I remain a center leaning community and political advocate (now entering my 37th year). I am still a member of the writer’s union, though we get little to no recognition from the "big dogs" in the Labor movement. My goals remain bringing about a better quality of government, irrespective of (or perhaps in spite of) political party as well as a more vibrant and safer community. I believe Labor is not so strong as not to need friends on both sides of the aisles, and especially in the middle where the average American household lives. I can not believe, with the dramatic decline of organized workers in the private sector, that some unions will not accept friends where they can find them.
From what I’ve seen in my 37 plus years of political experience, our unions are treated like cash cows while getting little bang for their collective buck. I find it hard to believe that rank and file members are content to be in anyone’s back pocket. That’s not our way. I’ve personally witnessed individual union leaders decide who was and wasn’t getting their endorsements without putting the matter before the members. I’ve repeatedly seen Democrat candidates openly make fun of unions or those with no unions background (or sometimes, not even using a union “bug” on their campaing material) get endorsements (and money) just because of the letter behind their name while GOP candidates who were stewards or active union members were rejected. That’s wrong in my opinion. I see unions as being a pro-active force that supports each other and what’s in the best interest of working men and women, not being a patsy of some political party, which, in turn, is controlled by the same corporate interests as the other party. Both times I ran, while receiving few endorsements, I did have the support of conservative and moderate union rank and files volunteers, and that meant more to me than any endorsement.
There’s much Labor can do to regain its former strength and status. First, support pro-union candidates regardless of political party (and that includes Indies). Labor needs allies on both sides of the aisles, locally, state, and nationally. If the Democratic Party knew it had to work for the support of workers, it might not be so willing to take them for granted the way it has done over the years (and other groups as well). Meanwhile, if the Republican Party knew working class American’s votes were up for grabs, they might be a little less eager to unilaterally back big business. Second, look at building support among white collar workers. What growth in Labor there has been in the private sector has been primarily among white collar employees. This doesn’t necessarily have to be in the form of traditional locals. It can be employer or industry specific employee associations which focus on job security and availability of insurance or other benefits. Labor must adapt.
Third, look at the illegal and legal immigration issue as an opportunity to expand unions globally. Not every immigrant wants to live here. Some just want to earn some money; send a little home; and ultimately leave. For those individuals, they represent an untapped source. Why not bring them in; train them; teach them English; and in the process, educate them about the benefits of unionism? Unions can help get temporary work permits for them, thus relieving them of the “illegal” status while creating a work clearinghouse to help them get legitimate jobs. When they return home, they’ll take this knowledge with them and, hopefully, start organizing locally (which has the added benefit of cutting back on the reason for illegal immigration in the first place while improving the quality of life and building a stable middle class back home). For those intent of staying, unions can help secure green cards and employment by acting a job clearinghouse while, again, offering English language and organizing classes. They can secure sponsership while they work to become legal US citizens. It’s a win-win scenario for everyone.
Lastly, America is the only industrialized nation which doesn’t have its own unique labor oriented political party. With the largest segment of voters now registered as Independent and the irreversible disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country, now would be an excellent time for Labor to come together and form such a political party.
It is said that the twin sister of crisis is opportunity. It's time for Labor to step up to opportunities this economy presents; to think outside of the box and take charge of its future by take the road less travelled.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Obama Cuts Military
Today, as we are faced with more dangerous enemies than at any time in our history, President Obama has decided to cut back our military forces. China, our philosophical adversary and economic Pied Piper to whom we now dance, is on an all out march to increase its military presence throughout the Pacific, with apparent intentions to expand that presence to the Indian Ocean (they currently a new aircraft carrier undergoing sea trials which apparently caught Western---and US intelligence agencies off guard). Iran, with its unstable president, is flexing its miniscule muscle in the Gulf of Hormuz in an attempt to threaten Western oil flow while it works feverously to develop nuclear weapons to "create a world without Israel or America". They’ve come quite a way with their missile system, thanks in part to the Chinese. North Korea remains as threatening as ever, especially with the untried wet-behind-the-ears Kim Joug-un as leader. For some time this bankrupt but nuclear Stalinist nation has been itching for a fight. Let's not forget Pakistan, another nuclear nation verging on going rouge. Afghanistan and Iraq could easily slide down the path to Islamic extremism.
Terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda are expanding their presence in the Pacific region and in Africa while Somali pirates continue to attack oil tankers, commercial fishing boats and civilian cruise ships, and inflicting billions in costs. In fact, despite the pro-democratic "Arab Spring", almost to a country, extremist Anti-Western parties have walked away the winners. Militant Islam is spreading rapidly throughout the world. Drugs lords are winning the war in Mexico and South America with Mexico teetering on becoming nothing more than a huge narco-terrorist state, which is increasingly spilling across US borders (The Obama Administration has already ceded three Arizona counties to them...seriously), and there is talk of perhaps a partnership of convenience between the narco-terrorists and the Islamic terrorists. Illegal immigration has become rampant, not just in America, but in Europe as well with an infusion of poor, illiterate Moslems swelling to towns and cities of Europe, putting a breaking strain on their economic systems. One doesn't have to be a historian to recall the fates of the Roman and Byzantine Empires when, for economic reasons, they cut their back on their militaries.
Let's take look at the numbers. American maintains approximately 1200 bases around the world (give or take a CIA station or two). Our military budget in 2011 was $549 billion with an estimated $150 billion in foreign reserve and gold in case things get dicey (some estimates put the number as high as $692 billion). That's about 4.9% of our GDP, or 43% of what is spent on the military globally. We have just over 1.4 million active duty men and women and another 833,616 reservists. At this point in history, I dare say just about all are combat experienced. Our current naval ship strength is 285 vessels, including 47 auxiliary (supply) ships, 14 mine sweepers and 11 carriers, bringing our surface fleet to 123 ships to cover the world's oceans and 21 key naval ports and terminals. This is down from 592 ships when Ronald Reagan left office.
The Army has just over 56,000 land vehicle, along with some 200,000 logistical vehicles and over 9000 tanks, 2163 pieces of towed artillery, plus a mess of other heavy firepower designed to put a hurt on the bad guys. We have over 18,000 aircraft, not to mention 6,214 helicopters capable of flying out of 15,097 designated airports. So, with all this "bad day" military might, one would think we're strong enough. Well, not so fast.
As I pointed out above, we have half the fleet we did covering a much more hostile ocean, not to mention 12,363 miles of US coastline. Our military has already seen a 37% reduction. Now, how does that compare to other nations? Well, China has a total military force of 4,585,000 (and the Pentagon has estimated they will have a fully modern military by 2020) despite a 28% reduction in overall growth. Taiwan has 290,000 active duty personnel with an estimated 1,200,000 in reserve. Iran has 3,833,000 (compare this to Israel’s 749,550) while reducing military related expenditures by 16% (is this the result of a shift to “non-military” research?). Russia can field a force of 21,476,000 (including their reserves. Their active military strength is 1,027,000), which is still impressive given a 71% reduction. Despite its size and economic importance, Saudi Arabia has only 249,000 troops. North Korea has a force of 9,495,000, of which 1,106,000 are regular military. Compare this to its neighbor, South Korea, which has only 687,000 full time military, though their military expenditures have been increase by 14%. Germany and Japan have 250,613 and 230,300 respectively, not including their reservists. Japan has back off its military expenditures slightly, by 3%, partly as the result of recent natural disasters and its economic impact. Despite being the economic powerhouse of Europe, Germany has backed off by a mind numbing 56% (our key ally, England, has been forced to cut back its military growth by a whopping 36% while France, has cut back 37%).
We all realize that America is deep financial trouble, thanks mainly to mismanagement and incompetence by both political parties in Washington. However, to cut our military budget is invite danger. While we are more technologically sophisticated than we were just 10 years ago, we are also more at risk to cyber-attacks and systems failures. We need to accept that while large scale military engagements are a thing of the past, so too is the concept that reliance on technology can replace boots on the ground or ships at sea.
Obama Unveils Sweeping Military Cuts
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/DefenseStrategy/2012/01/05/id/423099
US Navy Active Ship Levels, 1886 to Present:
http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org9-4.htm
Active Duty Military Personnel, 1940 to 2011
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004598.html
The Official Home of the US Department of Defense
http://www.defense.gov/
List of Countries by Troops
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_troops
Armed Forces Growth Statistics
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mil_arm_for_gro-military-armed-forces-growth
Military Expenditures by Country:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending
Terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda are expanding their presence in the Pacific region and in Africa while Somali pirates continue to attack oil tankers, commercial fishing boats and civilian cruise ships, and inflicting billions in costs. In fact, despite the pro-democratic "Arab Spring", almost to a country, extremist Anti-Western parties have walked away the winners. Militant Islam is spreading rapidly throughout the world. Drugs lords are winning the war in Mexico and South America with Mexico teetering on becoming nothing more than a huge narco-terrorist state, which is increasingly spilling across US borders (The Obama Administration has already ceded three Arizona counties to them...seriously), and there is talk of perhaps a partnership of convenience between the narco-terrorists and the Islamic terrorists. Illegal immigration has become rampant, not just in America, but in Europe as well with an infusion of poor, illiterate Moslems swelling to towns and cities of Europe, putting a breaking strain on their economic systems. One doesn't have to be a historian to recall the fates of the Roman and Byzantine Empires when, for economic reasons, they cut their back on their militaries.
Let's take look at the numbers. American maintains approximately 1200 bases around the world (give or take a CIA station or two). Our military budget in 2011 was $549 billion with an estimated $150 billion in foreign reserve and gold in case things get dicey (some estimates put the number as high as $692 billion). That's about 4.9% of our GDP, or 43% of what is spent on the military globally. We have just over 1.4 million active duty men and women and another 833,616 reservists. At this point in history, I dare say just about all are combat experienced. Our current naval ship strength is 285 vessels, including 47 auxiliary (supply) ships, 14 mine sweepers and 11 carriers, bringing our surface fleet to 123 ships to cover the world's oceans and 21 key naval ports and terminals. This is down from 592 ships when Ronald Reagan left office.
The Army has just over 56,000 land vehicle, along with some 200,000 logistical vehicles and over 9000 tanks, 2163 pieces of towed artillery, plus a mess of other heavy firepower designed to put a hurt on the bad guys. We have over 18,000 aircraft, not to mention 6,214 helicopters capable of flying out of 15,097 designated airports. So, with all this "bad day" military might, one would think we're strong enough. Well, not so fast.
As I pointed out above, we have half the fleet we did covering a much more hostile ocean, not to mention 12,363 miles of US coastline. Our military has already seen a 37% reduction. Now, how does that compare to other nations? Well, China has a total military force of 4,585,000 (and the Pentagon has estimated they will have a fully modern military by 2020) despite a 28% reduction in overall growth. Taiwan has 290,000 active duty personnel with an estimated 1,200,000 in reserve. Iran has 3,833,000 (compare this to Israel’s 749,550) while reducing military related expenditures by 16% (is this the result of a shift to “non-military” research?). Russia can field a force of 21,476,000 (including their reserves. Their active military strength is 1,027,000), which is still impressive given a 71% reduction. Despite its size and economic importance, Saudi Arabia has only 249,000 troops. North Korea has a force of 9,495,000, of which 1,106,000 are regular military. Compare this to its neighbor, South Korea, which has only 687,000 full time military, though their military expenditures have been increase by 14%. Germany and Japan have 250,613 and 230,300 respectively, not including their reservists. Japan has back off its military expenditures slightly, by 3%, partly as the result of recent natural disasters and its economic impact. Despite being the economic powerhouse of Europe, Germany has backed off by a mind numbing 56% (our key ally, England, has been forced to cut back its military growth by a whopping 36% while France, has cut back 37%).
We all realize that America is deep financial trouble, thanks mainly to mismanagement and incompetence by both political parties in Washington. However, to cut our military budget is invite danger. While we are more technologically sophisticated than we were just 10 years ago, we are also more at risk to cyber-attacks and systems failures. We need to accept that while large scale military engagements are a thing of the past, so too is the concept that reliance on technology can replace boots on the ground or ships at sea.
Obama Unveils Sweeping Military Cuts
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/DefenseStrategy/2012/01/05/id/423099
US Navy Active Ship Levels, 1886 to Present:
http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org9-4.htm
Active Duty Military Personnel, 1940 to 2011
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004598.html
The Official Home of the US Department of Defense
http://www.defense.gov/
List of Countries by Troops
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_troops
Armed Forces Growth Statistics
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mil_arm_for_gro-military-armed-forces-growth
Military Expenditures by Country:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending
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