Posted on 11/19/2012 7:51:39 AM PST by Kaslin
The demise of Hostess and Twinkies is not a national emergency, but it is certainly sad when a major business goes under and thousands of people lose their jobs.
If federal and state policymakers want to play a useful role here, they should study why Hostess couldn’t make a go of it. Were there tax or regulatory factors that stood in the way of the company earning a decent rate of return?
Unions were an important factor that pushed up the firm’s costs and reduced its operational efficiency. The policy reform here is obvious for people who appreciate market economics: repeal America’s coercive union laws. If policymakers don’t kill so-called collective bargaining, these rules will keep on killing companies.
Sugar apparently played a role in the demise of Hostess, as discussed in this excellent CSM article. Food manufacturers that use a lot of sugar are at a competitive disadvantage in the United States because federal import barriers on sugar substantially push up prices for that production input.
Perhaps taxes played a role as well. Income taxes may not have been a big factor if Hostess wasn’t earning profits in recent years. However, I suspect as a manufacturing firm, the company payed substantial property taxes. In this study, I discuss the anti-investment effects of state/local property taxes on U.S. businesses.
Some Democrats and Republicans may use Hostess as a political football, and some politicians will probably want to bail out the company. A more constructive response would be to find out what governments are doing that makes it so hard for some manufacturing firms to survive in this country.
Columbus: I love Sno-Balls.
Tallahassee: I hate coconut. Not the taste, consistency.
Columbus: [eats a Sno-Ball] Fresh.
Tallahassee: [grimly] Oh, this Twinkie thing. It ain't over yet.
They infect private employers, but MOSTLY infect Public Sectors (including youth indoctrination in Public Schoolz and Colleges), where the Socialist Workers' mentality becomes in-grained, the tenets of the Communist Manifesto are hammered home, and reliance on others as a "Right" are instilled.
For minorities, the Socialists create a generation-after-generation dependency, as evidenced by their near-unanimous voting pattern for more handouts.
There's plenty of guns and ammo out here now to protect what's left of Individual Freedom and Liberty (that's why Departments of the Federal Government are stockpiling ammo, too, so they can try to defend themselves against the coming "Resistance")
Those union members were proud! They wanted it liquidated!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2961115/posts
Hostess employees hope buyer will put them back to work
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2960918/posts
A Labor Victory over Hostess (satire)
Why work? Union strike bennies, then Fed and State unemployment bennies, then Social Security disability bennies then Social Security, with free medical care. Hell, why work?
Unions: the hands that push the polls.
Our government is increasingly comprised of Socialists who believe there is no reason for manufacturing firms to exist as entities separate from the State in the first place.
Because you got to show up to work for a little bit here and there to restart the clock on some of those bennies.
The real losers in this are the young people. These were jobs that a young person could make a decent living at without a college education. There are fewer and fewer jobs like that. Not everyone wants to go to college. After twelve years of the public education system, who can blame them? So we kill off another 18,000 jobs for the kids who want to work hard and earn a decent living and have a decent life. It’s a shame George Snuffleupagus and his buddies didn’t choke on those twinkies when they were making fun of the Hostess employees.
New? LOL
Where have you been? Unions have been cozy in bed with the mob forever.
How dare those workers freely assemble and organize for better wages! :whyyou:
and a free phone
Yep; "freely assembled" and found they priced themselves onto the public dole.....what a PLAN!
I wouldn't hire Union labor on a bet, for personal contractors, or business contractors.....
No, Unions ARE the "Mob" today.....ancient history was when the Mob and Unions were cozy. They don't need the "Mob" anymore.....
You mean like Moochelle’s “eat arugula or else” policy?
I guess the closures have nothing to do with venture capitalists Silver Point Capital and Monarch Alternative Capital wanting to gut wages and benefits for the employees while still taking huge management fees ala Bain?
I wouldn't hire Union labor on a bet, for personal contractors, or business contractors.....
Ok, that's your prerogative.
Unions have long since outlived their usefulness. They once served a useful purpose. They no longer do. They are detrimental to their own members. They are simply criminal operations engaged in legalized extortion.......
Hence the takeover from the Daley Machine in Chicago to the Obama Machine. Rahm Emmanuel as Mayor of the city? Illinois is so screwed.
Not for long.
Just as Unions put Davis-Bacon in place, to assure Unions their monopoly on Taxpayer-funded projects (consequently driving up costs, exponentially), they have infiltrated and destroyed nearly ALL manufacturing sector businesses.
For those who can't demonstrate competence on their own, nor be productive enough to be an ASSET to a business and desirable and commanding commensurate wages, we have Unions for those who must rely on the safety net of Contract Terms so they can sleep/slouch/slack their way through the day.
If you can't move on merit, move out of the way.
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