Alpa Endorses Kerry?

[Hugh Jorgan]

KERRY



Although I will not vote for Kerry, I have no problem with ALPA endorsing him on the grounds of a single issue - - LABOR.


ALPA IS, after all, a LABOR UNION, and I am, after all, an hourly wage earner.

Sheesh, four pages of posts and finally, someone gets it. It's not about who YOU support, it's about who ALPA is supporting. To say a LABOR union should support anything other than the Democratic candidate is to say to those around you that you weren't paying attention in Political Science 101 class. ALPA is simply playing along in their role in the political process. Get it? Vote for whomever you choose, but a little understanding of political alignments might help before you step in the booth.

 

[radiofly er]

Kerrry!

 

[moscowcfi]

Sheesh, four pages of posts and finally, someone gets it. It's not about who YOU support, it's about who ALPA is supporting. To say a LABOR union should support anything other than the Democratic candidate is to say to those around you that you weren't paying attention in Political Science 101 class. ALPA is simply playing along in their role in the political process. Get it? Vote for whomever you choose, but a little understanding of political alignments might help before you step in the booth.

Now I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. By throwing in unconditional support to the Democrats (and it has definitely been pretty much unconditional), the unions have accomplished two things. First, the Democrats now take them for granted. Whereas in the past parties had to work hard to earn union support, Democrats check the Union column in their favor without even having to think about labor issues. Second, by consistently and vehemently lashing out at Republicans, unions have effectively burned the bridges between them and a political power that regularly holds power. Why in the world should Republicans do anything for labor when they are spat upon by labor constantly? There is no room for dialogue - only name calling. This kind of scorched-earth politiking has hurt workers in this country, not advanced their cause. And when you consider that a large percentage of those workers are Republicans themselves, these kinds of tactics are despicable.

 

[AFELLOWAVIATOR]

Sheesh, four pages of posts and finally, someone gets it. It's not about who YOU support, it's about who ALPA is supporting. To say a LABOR union should support anything other than the Democratic candidate is to say to those around you that you weren't paying attention in Political Science 101 class. ALPA is simply playing along in their role in the political process. Get it? Vote for whomever you choose, but a little understanding of political alignments might help before you step in the booth.

Who the hell do you think "YOU" is? Pardon my grammar. A Union is not some "thing". It is a group. A group of "people". Whether you support Kerry or not is your business, but I do question your views on what a Union is.

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

Now I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. .

It's not any more nonsense than the Democrats taking for granted the environmentalists, the pro-abortionists, the minorities, Hollywood elite, gun control advocates, urban areas, etc. It's not any more nonsense than the Republicans taking for granted the anti-abortionists, the religious right, the military, big oil, rural areas, etc. Generally, the republicans vote for management-friendly bills and the democrats vote for labor-friendly bills. It's very partisan and very factual. It's also part of what is broken, in my view, with our system as it stands today, but that's another conversation altogether.

As for what a labor union is (and by the way, who I vote for truly is my business alone, you don't see me advocating a candidate here), yes, it's comprised of people, just as any political party is. But the Union is still an entity, like it or not. That enity, just like a party, has to take a general stand and it would be ludicrus for a labor union to take the conservative stance based on the paradigms of our system. If I'm wrong, please help me to understand why. In case you are still not sure who YOU is. You are you. I am me. We (I assume) are part of the same union, but not all of us may agree issue for issue on who we feel WE (as individuals) should support. You vote for who you want. I'll vote for who I want. When I go to bed tonight, I'll still know who's on which side of what and the silliness in Washington will continue.

 

[JonnyKnoxville]

KERRY...Didn't any of you Bush supporters read flying the line Vol. II on ALPA's history and how every republican f*cks unionized pilots over?

 

[100-1/2]

Which came first?

Deregulation or ALPA?

Deregulation created competition and jobs. With out either, there would be less pilots, airlines and need for existence of ALPA. Conservativism stimulated growth and opportunity through this deregulation... liberalism, liberitarism and greenism have just benn getting stimulated.

BUSH... although, he spends too, much time trying to get along with everyone. He needs to be more Reagan'esque' and just lay it all out on the table and run with any one that will follow in rebuilding the legacy liberals so elloquently trashed for eight long years.

...you asked. Just my set of copper Lincolns.

100-1/2

 

[threegreen123]

I have lived in MA my whole life and I have one thing to say about Kerry. He has voted to raise my taxes 47 times...

just the facts

Well I have one thing to ask then...how would you pay for the (unnecessary) war then?? People bitch and moan about paying more taxes, but the second they see the opportunity to kick some a$$ they say lets go. This whole administration just has lack of common sense written all over it, I mean...is Bush really serious about the stuff he says (democratic civil Iraq soon)? Ask yourself this...is the world really safer from terror now? I would say its no better, and maybe worse. Can this many people really overlook all the things that were said that weren't true?? I mean, people wanted to get rid of clinton cause he got a da#n BJ, and this administration flat out lied or half-truthed us. How can you find that acceptable? Oh wait, its the media. I forgot. Oh wait Bush was misinformed. I forgot. Oh wait...(insert this and that excuse). I forgot. I just really can't believe any one would vote for Bush. Kerry is no gem, but comeon, he can't be worse.

 

[BFE]

KERRY...Didn't any of you Bush supporters read flying the line Vol. II on ALPA's history and how every republican f*cks unionized pilots over?

You mean like what Clinton did to the APA at AA in Feb 97?
Can we say PEB? Oh but he's a dem, we'll just forget that.

 

[prodigal]

No brainer. BUSH.
Libertarians have a lot going for them but are as yet unelectable (and would only serve to elect the Dem candidate) and are too far out there on some issues. Now if we could only merge the Libertarians and the Republicans. Oh, here's an idea . . . the Republicans could go back to their ideological roots and quit trying to outspend the dems (security issues aside).

 

[broken spoke]

Bush!!

Democrats vote democrat because they are democrats. It doesn't matter what Kerry stands for. Fact is, he doesn't stand for anything!! Most folks hate Pres. Bush because he is a Christian man with decent values. That's all. God Bless America!!

Cheers!!

 

[bpapaDC8]

BFE,

Yet, anti-labor Clinton (paraphrasing you) allowed the Northwest pilots to strike on August 28, 1998. What is the difference between these two events a year apart?

Every PEB is not necessarily an anti-labor device. Just ask the Eastern pilots who were screaming for Bush senior to appoint a PEB that never came.

Just my 10 cents, the first 2 cents are free

bpapa

 

[MJG]

Most folks hate Pres. Bush because he is a Christian man with decent values. That's all.

That is one of the most ignorant statements that I have ever read.

"Most" folks do not like Bush because of how he and his administration have run the country over the last four years, not because of his religion or moral values. Personally I think he is a respectable person despite his checkered history. But in my opinion he's been a lousy President. I could care less which religion he subscribes to or what his moral values are. He's failed to get the job done, period. That's why "most" of us don't like him as President.

 

[TonyC]

Yet, anti-labor Clinton (paraphrasing you) allowed the Northwest pilots to strike on August 28, 1998. What is the difference between these two events a year apart?

APA and ALPA


Difference between APA and ALPA, you ask?




AFL-CIO

 

[T206driver]

After the 9/11 act of war, Bush was supurb in the leading this country. On the other hand Bush's oil buddies are screwing us into the ground. Our jobs and our lifestyles are on the line with these outrageous fuel prices. THEY MUST COME DOWN or our recovery is toast. Point number two. Think about it, unions keep management, usually, from screwing the workers silly. Unions need manage ment to keep the paychecks coming in. A good balence and we can all keep our jobs.

 

[bpapaDC8]

Tony C,

The question was to provoke some thought. As a young CRAPer (Consevative Republican Airline Pilot) I posed a similar question about the APA PEB to my crashpad mate (Legislative Committee Chairman) who was trying to get me to vote for Gore. Needless to say some of the events surrounding the APA PEB made it clear that Clinton was not trying to screw labor and I am no longer a CRAPer.

Regarding APA versus ALPA I agree 100% about the AFL-CIO. I would be interested to hear you (A FedEx pilot) educate some folks about the differences in what a company union can do for you versus ALPA (AFL-CIO)

bpapa

 

[RichO]

Hey JonnyKnoxville, didn't you know it really is not Bush/Republicans screwing the Pilot's union, it's the pilot's themselves.....Each time a pilot group bends over, they're screwing the industry much more than Bush/Republican's can do.......

 

[JonnyKnoxville]

RICHO

It is the Republicans screwing pilots over which is fine with me...This just means that it is in our best interest as organized labor to vote democratic.

I see that you are/were in the military and I don't fault you for voting republican, it is in your best interest.

Simple as that.

 

[acapilot2003]

Bush of course

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Bush of course

Can you explian why or does the big font and bold red speak for you? BTW, Cuz isn't a good answer.