The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

“Old Worn Out Suits And Shoes,
I Don’t Pay No Union Dues”

Posted on | February 17, 2014 | 39 Comments

by Smitty

Stacy already covered the delightful news about organized crime–I mean, UAW–getting told to twerk off in Chattanooga, TN by a vote of 712 to 626. The schadenfreude-licious fact missing from Stacy’s writeup is (emphasis mine)

VW didn’t fight the UAW campaign, which may have cost as much as $5 million and lasted more than two years, said Gary Chaison, a labor law professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
A victory would have added momentum as the UAW seeks to sign up workers at a Daimler AG factory in Vance, Ala., and other foreign automakers, known as transplants, that settled in the southern United States to take advantage of tax breaks, non-union labor and easy access to market.
Now, the UAW must regroup, he said.

This is nearly as good as Wisconsin rejecting public sector union efforts to unseat Governor Walker. Kudos all around.

I should say that private sector unions had their historical place, and I support the right of workers to vote for unions to pick their pockets, distort the labor market, and scare away jobs to whatever degree workers see fit. However, factors such as OSHA and social media seem to have really blown up the use-case for unions, and it cheers the heart to see these Tennessee Volunteers not volunteering for auto-economic asphyxiation. (Is the UAW, itself, auto-economic asphyxiation? Now there’s a gag that we should explore. (Do you ever feel like your jokes may be swerving all over the road?))

In other don’t-unions-just-suck news, the EvilDiabolicalSatanic Koch brothers

OpenSecrets.org tallied the top donors in federal elections between 1989 and 2014. Koch Industries — privately owned by the Evil Koch Bros — is on the list, to be sure, but doesn’t appear until the 59th slot, with $18 million in donations, 90 percent of which went to Republicans.
So who occupies the 58 spots ahead of the Evil Koch Bros? Six of the top 10 are … wait for it … unions. They gave more than $278 million, with most of it going to Democrats.
These are familiar names: AFSCME ($60.6 million), NEA ($53.5 million), IBEW ($44.4 million), UAW ($41.6 million), Carpenters & Joiners ($39.2 million) and SEIU ($38.3 million).
In other words, the six biggest union donors in American politics gave 15 times more to mostly Democrats than the Evil Koch Bros.

In summary, kids, remember: a union is a corporation without a product, and a political party is a union that strikes at elections. And, by the way: my family owns two VW TDI diesels, and they are outstanding little units.

Category: Unions

Comments

39 Responses to ““Old Worn Out Suits And Shoes,
I Don’t Pay No Union Dues””

  1. vermontaigne
    February 17th, 2014 @ 9:06 am

    RT @smitty_one_each: “Old Worn Out Suits And Shoes,
    I Don’t Pay No Union Dues”
    http://t.co/alGJwP7OE6 #TCOT

  2. ariyadesai01
    February 17th, 2014 @ 9:07 am

    RT @smitty_one_each: “Old Worn Out Suits And Shoes,
    I Don’t Pay No Union Dues”
    http://t.co/alGJwP7OE6 #TCOT

  3. JeffWeimer
    February 17th, 2014 @ 9:22 am

    A union is also a mutiny in progress.

  4. Kirby McCain
    February 17th, 2014 @ 9:39 am

    Lakewood GM – closed. Doraville GM – closed. Ford Hapeville – closed. Lockheed Martin in Marietta once bustling as the producer of transport planes is now just a few hundred. Boeing gets all the military contracts now. To claim the south is non union isn’t exactly true. But the south has certainly seen it’s union jobs sent up north.

  5. WarEagle82
    February 17th, 2014 @ 10:17 am

    Man, I loved that song when I was a kid. And Randy Travis did a nice cover of it some years ago.

    Those were the days, when music was music and the commies were all in the Soviet Union, China and Cuba…

  6. Rather be anon
    February 17th, 2014 @ 10:31 am

    Some of you might be tempted to look at the top of the list and pat republicans on the back for not being so special-interest influenced.

    Not so fast.

    Look at the enormous amounts of republican pork that gets through republican-controlled congresses under Clinton, Bush, and Obama. And it’s no fluke, as probably around half of republican governors since the mid 90s have expanded their state governments faster than prior trend. Finally, look at where republican-leaning special interests start showing up in the list. National Association of Realtors? What kind of policies do you figure they advocated for? Answer: Almost anything that had to do with increasing mortgage debt, pumping up home prices to unsustainable levels, and turning our banking system into a mess that was worse than the S&L crisis. Also, why do you think republicans got along so well with Fannie and Freddie in spite of the way Freddie functioned like part of the Washington revolving door parade for Democrats? Big name republicans, plus Newt Gingrich, went to bat for Fannie and Freddie and they left the taxpayers on the hook for around $150 billion. On the way there, they made an important contribution to the overindebtedness and financial fragility of America.

    Not saying the democrats aren’t bad either, but, don’t miss an opportunity to do some soul-searching.

  7. Rather be anon
    February 17th, 2014 @ 10:34 am

    I was trying to be super fair here, so I didn’t even name Ted Stevens. But you could come up with others almost as bad, if you wanted.

  8. Rob Crawford
    February 17th, 2014 @ 11:02 am

    My soul is clean.

  9. Rob Crawford
    February 17th, 2014 @ 11:05 am

    Ted Stevens? You mean the guy who was “convicted” and then had the conviction vacated because the corrupt prosecutor railroaded him?

    Bad example.

  10. rustypaladin
    February 17th, 2014 @ 11:20 am

    “Almost anything that had to do with increasing mortgage debt, pumping up
    home prices to unsustainable levels, and turning our banking system
    into a mess that was worse than the S&L crisis.”

    So… Dodd-Frank was sponsored by Republicans? Look at those names real close.

  11. rustypaladin
    February 17th, 2014 @ 11:22 am

    You’re forgetting that one of the reasons Boeing opened a plant in South Carolina was because the unions had shut down production in Seattle a couple years prior.

  12. lizzieatfm
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:49 pm

    RT @smitty_one_each: “Old Worn Out Suits And Shoes,
    I Don’t Pay No Union Dues”
    http://t.co/alGJwP7OE6 #TCOT

  13. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:23 pm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoUVBYHYy4s

    A Southern man don’t need him around, anyhow…

  14. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:28 pm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BrtNKTRhiI

    Are you suggesting that those union members squeezing Boeing in Washington are in for a rude awakening? That might explain why the workers rejected the machinist union’s proposal and went with management there.

    Old socialists do eventually die.

  15. Kirby McCain
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:28 pm

    Didn’t forget. I remember the White House opposition to the plant. And if you Google News for it you’ll find it gets nothing but bad press. Have you ever heard a Yankee say, those people are taking ‘our’ jobs? IMHO, there’s an agenda to rebuild the rust belt at the expense of the south.

  16. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:35 pm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx3TDSyNXmU But their real allegiance?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BIvqbyku5g Sing the Internationale to protest the Chinese government crack down at Tiananmen Square? Where Seger and Bragg were coming from.

  17. John Kerry Chides Volcano, Gets No Respect | Regular Right Guy
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:35 pm

    […] “Old Worn Out Suits And Shoes,?I Don’t Pay No Union Dues” […]

  18. DaveO
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:42 pm

    While “Rather be Anon” would like to hijack the thread, there’s more to the VW-UAW story. The first is that VW already works with strong unions in Germany – VW is pro-union. It was the UAW leadership and its brand that is anathema. The second is that the TEA Party has the opportunity to advocate for an alternative to unions as they are – corporate unions (currently illegal, and we know why) that protect workers and are a positive to worker and owner and customer alike.
    Right now, the Chamber of Commerce, corporations owned by Dems and Republicans, and the national parties are trying to import next-to-slave labor in order to maintain profit because Americans are too lazy and too untrained to do the work. There’s a lot of positive to be had from the UAW’s loss.

  19. Kirby McCain
    February 17th, 2014 @ 12:57 pm

    Also, Airbus built a huge facility in Mobile Alabama AFTER it lost a historically huge defense contract to Boeing. The love affair with Boeing began under Clinton. The fighter contract at Lockheed, cut short. Domestic competition for military aviation contracts will soon be nonexistent. The northern states are envious of the foreign investment in the south. Boeing’s move to South Carolina, survival.

  20. MattRoss
    February 17th, 2014 @ 1:34 pm

    I think it’s funny that if a union wins by cracking skulls and intimidating people, it’s “democracy.” If they lose, it’s not “democracy” and it’s someone else’s fault. Then, they usually ramp up the intimidation and violence until they win.

  21. Quartermaster
    February 17th, 2014 @ 1:43 pm

    “Do you ever feel like your jokes may be swerving all over the road?”

    Your jokes are suffering from 200 proof schadenfreude.

  22. richard mcenroe
    February 17th, 2014 @ 3:25 pm

    Leave us not mention Tom “Exonerated” Delay.

  23. Shawny
    February 17th, 2014 @ 3:46 pm

    The very notion of letting workers decide for themselves makes unions piss their tennies.

  24. Shawny
    February 17th, 2014 @ 3:46 pm

    The very notion of letting workers decide for themselves makes unions piss their tennies.

  25. Shawny
    February 17th, 2014 @ 4:05 pm

    Survival is right. The cities of Renton and Everett WA have steadily milked that Boeing cow in exorbitant taxes while the machinists union has held on time delivery hostage for decades. While the unions here are buying more liberal politicians with their millions in member dues, Boeing is spending their money on worker incentives in SC.
    http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140214/PC05/140219567

  26. Shawny
    February 17th, 2014 @ 4:05 pm

    Survival is right. The cities of Renton and Everett WA have steadily milked that Boeing cow in exorbitant taxes while the machinists union has held on time delivery hostage for decades. While the unions here are buying more liberal politicians with their millions in member dues, Boeing is spending their money on worker incentives in SC.
    http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140214/PC05/140219567

  27. Adjoran
    February 17th, 2014 @ 5:10 pm

    The German companies aren’t fighting the union elections because they don’t want labor trouble at home. But many of the workers are on record as saying one reason they wanted the job at VW in the first place was because there was no union! Great news for all. Next up: how to get rid of the public sector unions, and the long and sorry decline of the “labor movement” will be done.

    RE: Koch. George Soros alone gives more every year to Think Progress alone than all the donations the Kochs give to all political organizations and candidates in a year.

    The Kinks had the union thing right in 1970:
    http://youtu.be/yHXtfT7D1uI

  28. Shawny
    February 17th, 2014 @ 5:14 pm

    The unions have been shutting down production in Renton and Everett for decades. When Phil Condit took the Boeing helm things started changing and he’s been doing just exactly what he told everyone he’d do. That the unions or the state of Washington chose to ignore him at their workers peril just shows how tightly they believed they had Boeing by the balls all those years. The S.C. plant should have been no surprise.
    http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Boeing-Moving-Headquarters-2939801.php

  29. Bob Belvedere
    February 17th, 2014 @ 5:16 pm

    Old socialists do eventually die.

    One hopes either sadly as they recognize the horrible error of their ways or painfully.

  30. Bob Belvedere
    February 17th, 2014 @ 5:18 pm

    They were here; it’s just that they lied about who they were and a naive American Public bought it.

  31. Bob Belvedere
    February 17th, 2014 @ 5:21 pm

    Ray Davies is what used to be called a Country Tory.

  32. DaveO
    February 17th, 2014 @ 5:34 pm

    Would you provide a definition, please. Can’t find one on the net. Just red and blue tories.

  33. rustypaladin
    February 17th, 2014 @ 7:25 pm

    It ain’t working. Business is going to go where it can be the most profitable. Right now that’s the south. There’s a reason I’m not moving back to Ohio.

  34. cmdr358
    February 17th, 2014 @ 8:09 pm

    Barbara Mikulski
    Barbara Boxer
    Dianne Feinstein
    Patty Murray
    Harry Reid

    And those are just the women. I could come up with Democratic men at least as bad, if I wanted.

  35. cmdr358
    February 17th, 2014 @ 8:11 pm

    +1 for the use of “tennies” in a sentence.

  36. Quartermaster
    February 17th, 2014 @ 9:47 pm

    I think that Boeing will eventually leave the Puget Sound region entirely, and their HQ will leave Chicago as well (that move made no sense). Where Boeing’s center of gravity will be in the end is anyone’s guess, but some right to work state(s) will probably be it.

  37. Adjoran
    February 18th, 2014 @ 1:07 am

    The Kinks couldn’t perform in the US from 1965-1970 (BEFORE this song) because of a union boycott, they wouldn’t agree to use only union labor on concert gigs and touring.

    Songs like “Sunny Afternoon” gave early hints of where Ray was coming from.

  38. K-Bob
    February 18th, 2014 @ 8:17 am

    I think if Unions had to fight to earn the right to represent workers EVERY YEAR then most of the worst aspects would be greatly reduced.

    If workers could opt out or in to a union (preferably competing unions) each year, kind of like we used to do back when we had insurance that actually covered medical procedures, then I think they’d do a much better job of representing the workers.

    And by “do a much better job of” I mean “get off their asses and do the job they claim to be about, which is”

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