Timebuilder
Entrepreneur
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2001
- Posts
- 4,625
While not an airline pilot specifically, I am a republican because I was a democrat for so many years. I found that my ideas as a democrat were profoundly different from the values upon which this country was founded.
Equating being a member of a union, ANY union, and being bound to the democrats is a mistake. As pointed out above, lowering taxes is good for the individual as well as business, and is likely responsible for the quick end to the recession and the avoidance of a depression. The response of our republican administration to the terrorist attacks has done a great deal to maintain the public confidence that we are not only surprisingly safe as airline passengers, but that we are also wise enough to act responsively and proactively against a secretive enemy that wishes to do us great harm.
I think you view this as a "labor vs management" adversarial relationship. I think that's a mistake, too. You can't have one without the other, and when labor asks for too much, the market takes over and the flying goes to a non-union carrier who is in a better, more cost effective position to compete. Sometimes, as we have recently seen, a carrier must seek relief from the labor contract before a bankruptcy judge in order to survive.
So go on, remain a democrat. But, think about your future. Will you get a check from Ted Kennedy when Hillary Clinton raises your taxes and punishes business and investors? What will happen when your retirement account loses value not for a few months, but for several years or more? Will being a union member help you retain a job when more and more flying goes to carriers with weak or absent unions because the big pilot's unions didn't want to deal with smaller jets or "regional" carriers? If you are one of the fortunate few who are high enough on the roster to hold a line at a shrinking carrier, you might still have a job. That won't happen because you are a democrat, it will happen because of your seniority number.
If we have a republican congress and president who will keep taxes low and reduce spending (now that we have rebuilt the military to pre-Clinton levels and dealt with political realities that were left untouched) we may have enough market confidence and growth in the economy that you get to keep your job longer than you would otherwise. You'll likely get that growing economy from republicans. You can count on the democrates to raise your taxes. Ed Rendell is already doing that in Pennsylvania.
So, make your choices, but don't complain to the party that cuts taxes to grow the economy.
You know, the economy that needs to be healthy to keep airlines flying. Yes, that economy.
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