Now would be a great time to tell MsChris how closing the plant helps her on that personal level. You know the way that plant closing and capital flight helps the average American.

Anyone?

To quote... Carville, was it? "It's the economy, STUPID!" Plants close. It happens. Deal with it. As demand changes, supply must adapt. Thus, you have to find another job where your skills can be useful to someone who can make money with them. It's a rare person that doesn't have to adapt at some point in their career.

Just how do you know the plant was running at a loss? Your crystal ball again?

Plant closes so that someone else can go and make more money elsewhere. Capital flight. Oh, yes it's a good thing when people get tossed out of work. Grand in fact. Toughens them up so's they can get used to disappointment.

Still capital needs labor. Labor needs capital. Neither is supreme in the symbiotic relationship. However, due to my favor of humanity over money, I side with labor in the contest.

But the question that needs to be answered is what does the United States and it's citizens do as money and the labor to create product is shiped off shore?

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I have been floated to this spot this hour
On a series of events
I cannot explain
--
Olivia Tremor Control
****
Read chapters one and two of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! Read, read, read, read, read me now.

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Or get more training. Sure, you can get unskilled labor in Mexico, but a good, say, actuary is hard to replace, even here.

Still I wonder what one will do once we've shiped out all the jobs lower than a CEO to Mexico.

We were informed a few months ago that our facility (out of several - six, I think) was the only one that was making a profit. In a meeting yesterday, we were told that because of the size of the facility and overhead, the corporate board members elected to sell our facility to recoup some losses. Why ours? Well it's the nicest - $11 million dollars nice! Out of 240,000 sq. ft, we are only using about 170,000. Personally, I would think that it stands to reason that they would move stuff to our facility. Makes too much sense - too easy. All of the other facilities are old, dilapidated, and have alot of safety regulations. The baord members are looking strictly at the financial aspect of all this.

Now here are some of the contradicting issues. They moved the production to another facility whose labor rates are 12% higher than ours. But hey, the other facility is having to go to prison facilities to get workers. They have a horrendous reputation and can't keep employees - but then inmates are just about free labor right? All I can really say in this regard is "What the hell? You have a good honest family struggling to make their way in this world and this company takes their jobs and gives them to inmates!"

Another contradicting issue...The facility that the production is moving to has basically cut their own throats. You see, when the lines came to our facility - they came from the facility they are moving back to. The customers are pissed that it's going back, the suppliers (vendors) are pissed. The customers can't get anything on time from them - and can't get anyone to return a call either. The vendors were left hanging with open balances on Purchase Orders - giving them incentive to NOT supply them again.

There's other things too, but it's really too much to get into at this point. The way I see it, the board members have set this company up to fail. I am curious to see how it all turns out, but I don't think I'll be able to keep track of it.

And does anybody here know how much overregulation costs business each year?

According to Hopkins (Economist at Rochester Institute of Technology and former administrator of the Office of Management and Budget), government regulation costs the average USA household between $4000 and $5000 each year. _(Bandow, Citizens against Government Waste, Issue Brief #8, 1993.)

The Government spent 1.251 trillion on regulation in 1990. that amount has surely gone up.

Regulations add 33% to the cost of building an airplane engine and as much as 95% to the cost of a new vaccine.

Now, I'm sure that MANY regulations are helpful and good... but at THIS price?? Is it any wonder that so many companies are failing to turn profits?

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"Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master

Learn some fucking compassion, people...

I've been looking in and out of these really, really divisive JeffK /Omega/ etc. feuds (I refuse to call them fights or battles - they really are personal sometimes), and I've never contributed in any appreciable way or means to the wrangling.

I have however reached one conclusion:

I'm SICK TO THE BACK TEETH of them!!

Fight away. Insult each other till nightfall and beyond.
This is the Flameboard.
That's yer business, and one which you've every right to indulge in.
I'm just ranting over the dragging of politics into everything.

I'M NOT FINISHED!!!

OK, I am.

BTW, how's it going, Chris? "It" meaning "stuff".

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Go Mad.
Go Evil.
Just GO.

I'm just not real happy having to twiddle my thumbs from January 15th (the day my lines are moving out) until February 16th. Oh the boredom! My supervisor recommends using the net to find other job opportunities *raised eyebrow*! I'll either flood this board with utterly useless posts/threads or have long drawn out conversations with everyone I can think of over the phone. Anyone care to donate their phone number to a good cause?