GM ceases Venezuela operations after government seizes plant

[grayhair]

2 hours ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

Rowdy, the tracks are publicly owned and the railroad operator pays to use them, besides the saved wear on the parallel roads.

Not true.  The railroads own and maintain their railways.  And hundreds of government bureaucrats continue to piss away taxpayer monies studying the economics of intramodal, infrastructure impact, avoided highway maintenance cost, etc., etc . You can read all about it here:  https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0528

Edited April 23, 2017 by grayhair

[TeamsterGrrrl]

I know the numbers, that's why I don't own a big truck.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

10 minutes ago, grayhair said:

Not true.  The railroads own and maintain their railways.  And hundreds of government bureaucrats continue to piss away taxpayer monies studying the economics of intramodal, infrastructure impact, avoided highway maintenance cost, etc., etc . You can read all about it here:  https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0528

More "alternative facts"- In this and several other cases the counties along the tracks bought the railroad to protect the asset with an eye to resume service. The counties own the tracks, but lease them to a private sector operator. We have several shortline operations like this in Minnesota and surrounding states. One of the largest is in South Dakota, where the state bought up all the Milwaukee Road tracks in the state when the railroad went bankrupt in the 1980s. Most of these tracks are in use again, and the state has sold some of the tracks to BNSF. BTW, the "government bureaucrats" you hate are largely our overworked and underpaid rural county commissioners, who have shepherded these abandoned railroads back into service.

[grayhair]

1 hour ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

 

2 hours ago, grayhair said:

Not true.  The railroads own and maintain their railways.  And hundreds of government bureaucrats continue to piss away taxpayer monies studying the economics of intramodal, infrastructure impact, avoided highway maintenance cost, etc., etc . You can read all about it here:  https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0528

More "alternative facts"- In this and several other cases the counties along the tracks bought the railroad to protect the asset with an eye to resume service. The counties own the tracks, but lease them to a private sector operator. We have several shortline operations like this in Minnesota and surrounding states. One of the largest is in South Dakota, where the state bought up all the Milwaukee Road tracks in the state when the railroad went bankrupt in the 1980s. Most of these tracks are in use again, and the state has sold some of the tracks to BNSF. BTW, the "government bureaucrats" you hate are largely our overworked and underpaid rural county commissioners, who have shepherded these abandoned railroads back into service.

 

I stand  by my statement.  The major railroad companies own their own track with the exception of Amtrak.  Amtrak operates on tracks owned by freight railroads, not public owned. Sure there are some short-line tracks that may be publicly owned but that track would be completely useless if the majors like Union Pacific, CSX, BNSF, etc. didn't exist.  And the majors DO own their rails.

I was taking exception to your statement "Rowdy, the tracks are publicly owned and the railroad operator pays to use them"

 

2 hours ago, grayhair said:

 

 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

I was talking about one specific railroad, the Minnesota Prairie Line. You're also missing other facts: Amtrak owns some of the tracks they run on such as the Northeast Corridor, etc.. And to get you studying, who owns Amtrak?

[Dirtymilkman]

There's do'ers and there's talkers. Most politicians are talkers. They've never experienced real life situations. It's all numbers. I can take numbers before the start of a fiscal year and tell my self there's no way to keep going. But you always make it work. People that haven't done, really shouldn't talk. Experience is way more educational than a report or a bunch of numbers. Teamster says she wouldn't start trucking because she knows the numbers....So how are we making it? Maybe it's called actual hard work. I won't criticize the food in prison because I haven't tried it. 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

I know how it's done... Guys buy their own truck, then cheat on their logs and fix the truck on their one day off a week... Then they whine about the Teamsters who demand more than sub minimum wage for their labor.

[41chevy]

So every independent trucker does that? Good to know. Obviously I've been doing it all wrong for 35 years.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

So you got no problem with electronic logs?

[Dirtymilkman]

1 hour ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

I know how it's done... Guys buy their own truck, then cheat on their logs and fix the truck on their one day off a week... Then they whine about the Teamsters who demand more than sub minimum wage for their labor.

This just nullifies anything you may have ever said that was remotely intelligent. 

[RowdyRebel]

I have a problem with the megas making a bad business decision, then lobbying the government to force their bad business decision onto the rest of the industry to "level the playing field".

I have a problem with the government telling me I have to spend $40+/month to buy a monthly subscription for a service that accomplishes the same damn thing as the $1.99/month I pay for paper logs.

I have a problem introducing a doorway into my truck's computer, which up until an ELD is installed, can ONLY be accessed by a direct link, but because of the ELD it will be "connected" and will be accessible remotely.

I have a problem with ANYBODY having "real-time" access to my location, route, speeds, how quickly I accelerate or decelerate, or any codes my truck may or may not be throwing.

I have a problem with people ASSUMING that THEY know what is best for ME...be it how to run MY business, or what MY healthcare needs might be. You meddling dickheads do NOT know me, and your assumptions are so far off base it really makes your ignorance shine. I work 45-50 hours per week at most, so falsifying my logs is something that rarely needs to happen. When it does? It's because of a delay somewhere along the way that has my government bureaucrat approved workday ending 30 minutes from the house. That is going to happen whether I'm on elogs or not, because NOBODY is going to tell me I have to stop 30 minutes from the house and buy a motel room instead of going home. Don't like it? Tough. My truck doesn't shut down until I get home. Period...and unless maintenance is due or something broke? Once it's parked at the house, I don't think about it again until I climb in to fire it up again.   

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Well Rowdy, If you're smarter than the gov'ment, how come you're not rich?

[carlotpilot]

RICH has many definitions

[Underdog]

8 hours ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

Well Rowdy, If you're smarter than the gov'ment, how come you're not rich?

The government is not rich, either. They just have their hands in our deep pockets.
 

[TS7]

The one that cannot accept the facts is you Teamster. Venezuela is falling apart because of socialism.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Back on topic, Venezuela is in an economic crisis because oil prices are down. They let there economy become too dependent on oil and are suffering for the lack of economic diversification. North Dakota is having the same problem, though to a lesser degree. 

[Underdog]

I yes Venezuela is planning to diversify by taking over GM. Maybe they became too dependent on oil revenues because of a lack of free market opportunities under socialism.
 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Seems to be working quite well in Europe. And maybe you guys didn't get the memo a quarter century ago, but "socialism" is no longer the enemy, it's been replaced by "islam".

[RowdyRebel]

8 hours ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

Well Rowdy, If you're smarter than the gov'ment, how come you're not rich?

I never said I was smarter than government, but I would put my IQ up against those working in government and would likely be near the top. Would bet dollars to donuts I'd beat 95% of government employees (especially the elected ones) on a civics test. Hell, even on the ASVAB, I scored in the 99th percentile. That wasn't my point, though. They don't know me. They've never met me. They don't know my unique situation, or what my unique needs might be. Government tends to paint broadly with a "one-size-fits-all" brush that in reality, fits very few. The INDIVIDUAL is the only entity that knows what they need. Remember, we have the Right to PURSUE happiness, but there is no guarantee to FIND it. Having government tell me what THEY think ought to make me happy AND DEMANDING I do it? That is a sure-fire way for me to be extremely unhappy...because again, they don't know me, and they haven't the slightest clue what makes me happy because I'm not a mind-numbed idiot blindly following union leaders off a cliff. Government never gets it right when they start meddling where they don't belong.

 

Our nation has thrived because it is the one place on this planet where the individual has been free to pursue his dreams...where property rights are secure for both physical and intellectual property...and because government has, for the most part, stayed out of the way. That has changed here in the last few decades, and we're starting to run into problems we've never had before as a result.

[RowdyRebel]

6 minutes ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

Seems to be working quite well in Europe. And maybe you guys didn't get the memo a quarter century ago, but "socialism" is no longer the enemy, it's been replaced by "islam".

Working well in Europe? The EU is disintegrating before our very eyes as Britain exits and France is on the verge of following suit. Their economies pale in comparison to ours, and their militaries are a joke because they've diverted such a large portion of their budgets to the socialist agenda. If it weren't for us guaranteeing their defense, they would be nothing. Let's watch as Trump demands these European moochers pay their own way, contributing to their own defenses as a condition of us helping them with those defenses. Which socialist programs do you suppose will be cut first?

 

Socialism is and always will be the enemy of freedom. Radical Islam is there, too, but in a different way that does not diminish the threat posed by socialism. Socialists want to run your life...deciding what they think is best for you and making you do it.  Radical Islam simply wants you dead. Neither one is acceptable to me.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Nice try, Rowdy. For an "individual", you sure seem to slavenly follow Faux News philosophy... I hear the same lines from you as I hear from a few million other olde white guys impoverished by giant corporations they can't even comprehend. But fear not, you're still free to sweat it out in your old Mack and await the flood in your double wide down by the river. And Euro economies pale in comparison to ours? Germany probably has the strongest economy in the world, and most of the EU ain't doing so bad either. Meanwhile, the world's huge corporations are building plants here because we undervalue our labor and environment almost as much as China. Which economic model do you want your country to follow? As for "Radical Islam", It's hard to consider a movement so weak and disorganized that it has to resort to terrorism a serious threat, but they're slight more serious a threat than socialism, which ain't much of a threat at all.

[RowdyRebel]

One of these days you'll get your head out of your ass long enough to see how wrong you are on everything. I haven't had access to Fox News in well over 3 years since telling Dish to go f*ck themselves, so it would be difficult to "slavenly follow" somebody I can't watch. My thoughts are my own, which I can't help if millions of others also have similar thoughts. Second, I've never lived in a trailer, doublewide or otherwise, not that it should matter. Your attempt to talk down at me, implying that I'm white trash because I'm capable of taking care of my own needs without relying on your big government nanny state. And that "weak, disorganized" group you don't think is a threat IS a threat for that very reason. They don't have a well-developed network that can be tapped into and infiltrated for information, and most of their attacks are of the lone-wolf variety, where an individual decides to be inspired by the group and act on their behalf. Problem with that is, you don't know when or where...but they'll kill you just the same. They want you dead, and there is no alternative for them. Socialism, on the other hand, is dickheads like you who think you know what is best for me...and you don't. You think your social programs are desired by everyone...and they are not. You tell us, the people who have no want or need for your social programs that WE have to pay for them. Spend your own money, and keep your grubby little paws out of MY pockets. You think charity ought to be a role the government plays, but it isn't. You claim that by me not wanting to pay higher taxes to fund the government handouts that I'm somehow less of a Christian, but I tell you the truth when I say charitable giving doesn't mean anything if it happens at the barrel of a gun. A Christian (or any other "good" person, for that matter, whatever their religious beliefs might be) ought to take care of their neighbor by choice, out of the goodness of their heart, because they care about their neighbor, NOT because the government told them they must. Go back and read our Declaration of Independence. Read our Constitution. Read the documents and papers that helped to form the government we have. Read the speeches given by the Revolutionaries. That SAME spirit still resides within freedom-loving Americans like myself. It existed long before Fox News, and will continue to exist long after Fox News sinks into the gutter with CNN, MSNBC, and the national networks. There's a reason CNN, MSNBC, etc. have bad ratings...and that is because they cater to the beliefs of a small, almost insignificant number of people who think like you. You are NOT in the majority. You are a part of a very vocal minority...people with the TIME to go out and protest in the streets because they don't NEED a job, because the government is subsidizing their pathetic existence. The rest of us are trying to live the American dream DESPITE the many roadblocks set up by you fools on the left. We're here plugging away while "the corporations" get rich because YOU pushed for policies which allowed it. Elogs don't benefit the little guy, but a fleet of 1000 might see some benefits. Obamacare didn't help the little guy, but the big corporations loved it because it made it that much more difficult for the little guy to challenge them.  Same with the minimum wage...large corporations can afford to take the hit as they wait their competition from the little guy to dry up and go under. That right there is WHY you don't view socialism as a threat...because you believe in it. To your side, freedom and individual liberty is the REAL threat, because it does not allow you to have the power you seek to make the personal choices for the individuals you wish to control. You can even tolerate a group of religious lunatics trying to kill you, as long as those around you aren't free to think and live in a manner inconsistent with your screwed up values.

[Dirtymilkman]

Germany's economy is doing just ok. Europe is not in great shape. Greece is dead, France will collapse if they don't change and at least Britain had the foresight to leave the EU. Venezuela was impoverished when oil was high. There were food shortages back then and people couldn't take care of themselves. DO NOT FORGET HISTORY or it will repeat itself. But this time it may be the white race or American race that gets wiped out due to ignorance. 

[TeamsterGrrrl]

Thanks for telling us what you really think, guys! Rowdy, being as you don't need gov'ment and that levee we built for you, we'll take the fill and repurpose it for light rail lines. Milkman, sorry, but hauling that white stuff around your rural "white homeland" won't make you any whiter. As for saving your "white race"... What "white race"? Science tells us that we all trace our genetic roots back to Africa!

[Dirtymilkman]

2 hours ago, TeamsterGrrrl said:

Thanks for telling us what you really think, guys! Rowdy, being as you don't need gov'ment and that levee we built for you, we'll take the fill and repurpose it for light rail lines. Milkman, sorry, but hauling that white stuff around your rural "white homeland" won't make you any whiter. As for saving your "white race"... What "white race"? Science tells us that we all trace our genetic roots back to Africa!

Who do you think paid for the levees?! ANYTHING the government subsidized is still paid for by the people. I mean white race as in the people that live and work and support America. I don't see people as being black or white or red. We're all on the same team if you love this country. But let the radicals run free and you'll see what happens.  The majority of our people these days are sheep. Look how long it took Hitler to take over Germany and do the damage he did. Like it or not, you need Rowdy and people like him. And he needs lefty people too. We gotta keep our country in check.