New Twinkies won't have the union label

Unions helped kill Hostess. But the brands will be back--sans Big Labor.

From Breitbart:

Buried amid the generally gloomy news last week was a development that is a true cause for celebration. By July, the Twinkie, and other favorite Hostess brands will return to store shelves. Two investment companies bought assets of the bankrupt snack company and plan to re-open four plants and hire 1,500 workers in the coming weeks. Labor unions, however, will not be invited back.

Hostess Brands, the venerable 86-year maker of Twinkies, Zingers, Ho-Hos and other popular snack cakes closed its doors last November. The company had said it needed wage and benefit concessions from its largely unionized workforce in order to survive. The Teamsters, the union representing the largest number of Hostess workers, agreed to the concessions and urged other unions to join them. A little known union, the Bakers and Confectioners workers, however, refused to accept the modest compensation cuts. As a result, the company shuttered its doors, throwing all of its workers into the unemployment line.

The chief executive of the new Hostess Brands has said the new owners will pump $60 million in new capital investments into the company. Without labor bosses demanding uncompetitive wages and benefits, the company has a good chance to survive.

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LA Times reporter: Time for public sector unions to pay more

Steve Lopez, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, says members of public sector unions to cough up more cash.

It's time for public employee unions to wake up and take a look around. Government services are shrinking, cities are crumbling, and they're enjoying pay and benefit packages that many in the private sector would kill for. They need to give a little back. Yeah, I know, some of them already have. But it's time for a little more.

On healthcare contributions. On raises. On pensions. On retirement ages.

Why?

Because up and down the state of California, and beyond, public officials foolishly negotiated contracts they can't pay for without taking a cleaver to basic services, including police and fire protection, park maintenance, street repair. It's not just the fault of those contracts. There's also the economic dip and the housing crash, which put a squeeze on revenue. But that perfect storm has led to big trouble in San Jose and Stockton and Fresno and San Diego.

Technorati tags: pensions Politics economy news government taxes

Huffington Post: Last year's drought, this year's heavy rains caused by global warming

Skokie, IL--April 18

Some people just can't make up their minds. From the Huffington Post: Extreme weather swings from record drought to flood may be sign of climate change.

Related post:

(Photos) Spring 2013 Chicago area spring flood

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Pat Quinn in April 2012: "I know that I was put on earth" to fix pension mess

Illinois: Lost in Quinn's desert

On April 20, 2012, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said of the state's pension sinkhole at a press conference, "But I’m here to solve it. I know that I was put on earth to get this done."

Since that Moses-like proclamation, nothing, I repeat, nothing has been accomplished by the Chicago Democrat or the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to fix Illinois' public employee pension system which is now underfunded by nearly $100 billion. The Prairie State is still wandering in the desert and hemorrhaging cash.

Illinois pension shortfall grows by $17 millions each day. Clearly Quinn is wrong about himself. Illinois voters can drive that point home next year at the voting booth.

Hold on, I stand corrected. Quinn's office introduced a cartoon character, Squeezy the Python, to set things straight on pensions.

Technorati tags: pensions Politics economy news Patrick Quinn pat quinn government taxesillinois politics

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(Video) Matthew Dowd on Obama: Too many photo ops, not enough outreach

Political consultant Matthew Dowd, while appearing on ABC's This Week, says of Obama's leadership failures that he has done too many photo ops with Congress, but not enough outreach to legislators.



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(Photo) Classic car: 1983 Bertone X/19

Originally manufactured by Fiat, then Bertone, the X/19 was dubbed the "mini-Ferrari" when is was first produced in 1972. This rear-wheel drive sportscar beauty was known for its superb handling and its detachable hardtop.

The last X/19s were built in 1989.

Related posts:

• (Photos) Morton Grove Classic Car Show 7/27/12
• (Photos) Morton Grove Classic Car Show 8/10/12
• (Photos) Morton Grove Classic Car Show 8/24/12

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Fiat 500 sweatshirt (Google Affiliate Ad)

Krauthammer on Bush: "He kept us safe"

Charles Krauthammer hits it out of the park again.

Clare Boothe Luce liked to say that “a great man is one sentence.” Presidents, in particular. The most common “one sentence” for George W. Bush is: “He kept us safe.”

Not quite right. With Bush’s legacy being reassessed as his presidential library opens in Dallas, it’s important to note that he did not just keep us safe. He created the entire anti-terror infrastructure that continues to keep us safe.

That homage was paid, wordlessly, by Barack Obama, who vilified Bush’s anti-terror policies as a candidate, then continued them as president: indefinite detention, rendition, warrantless wiretaps, special forces and drone warfare, and, most notoriously, Guantanamo, which Obama so ostentatiously denounced — until he found it indispensable.

Quite a list. Which is why there was not one successful terror bombing on U.S. soil from 9/11 until last week. The Boston Marathon attack was an obvious security failure, but there is a difference between 3,000 dead and three. And on the other side of the ledger are the innumerable plots broken up since 9/11.

Technorati tags: politics freedomrepublicans gop politics

Obama's NLRB "recess" appointment case moves to Supreme Court

Those so-called "recess:" appointments made by Obama to the NLRB, which were ruled illegal by a lower court, is moving up the system.

From ABC News:

The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court today to reverse a lower court decision that held that the President violated the Constitution when he made recess appointments last year to the National Labor Relations Board, an independent agency that enforces employee and employer rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB consists of five members appointed by the President.

The Recess Appointments Clause of the Constitution permits the President to make temporary appointments, without Senate approval, during times when the Senate is not in session.

But in January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the President's appointment of three members to the NLRB was "an unconstitutional act" because it took place when the Senate was in an “intrasession” recess (a recess within a session of congress), rather than an "intersession" recess (occurring between sessions of Congress).

The court held that the President could only fill those vacancies that arose during the intercession recess in which the appointment was made.

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