Said the founder of a hedge fund....that's a person "pure as the driven slush"!! (quote stolen from the late great Tallulah Bankhead)

I would rather see the unions destroyed than the state ending up like Detroit which is where it was heading.

@meanjarhead Recently finished reading another article in the NY Times about how Detroit is on the way back in a big way. I also read an article on Flint Michigan which may also be on the way back. Cleveland is on the way back too. The common denominator is the homes that need fixing up are a major drawing card for the young and creative. As the article said Brooklyn is becoming rapidly gentrified some people are taking the money and going to Detroit to buy cheap real estate.

@meanjarhead : I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying I wish it were that easy. I'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but I do have a subscription to a weekly international business magazine that I read cover to cover. I don't understand it all, but here's what I know: there are SO MANY factors that shape our economy that honestly, any economist worth their salt will tell you that no one, and I mean no one, can REALLY predict the economic future.A truly honest economist will tell you that there are SO MANY forces in play that yes, predictions can be made, yet no one really knows how it will end up because there's just too much in play at once. Don't take my word for it. Just pick one reliable economic publication, start reading it regularly, and you'll see what's in play. But you don't have to. It's just advice.

@QuispNQuake All it take is one OPEC country to jack with oil prices and thing go stupid real fast. The wall street people panic and it goes from there.

@QuispNQuake Hop in the car, get on 74 west, get off at any Galesburg exit. Go look at all the production at Maytag, Butler,Ncs, briggs, bixby zimmer, eby brown , ADM. or go the othe way on 74 get off at exit 125 and see how many cars are in the parking lot on the workers side of that plant.and then agree or disagree with me.

@EyeintheSky : Yes, I agree, although I personally believe there's a legit reason why Wall Street freaks when that happens. But that's a long explanation. I hate it when markets collapse based on the price of oil.

@meanjarhead : Really, I agree with you. What I personally can't answer is how in the world do we get these companies to stop taking these jobs out of the US? Even if there are no unions, I ask myself, "Do we really want every company treating their employees like Walmart does right now?" Yes, I agree with you. Yet I've mentioned this before, to the shareholders it's all about the price of the stock, and nothing more. I'm not saying this to argue with you. I'm saying this out loud, wondering what the solution is.

some of the ideas they are using in Chicago on Michigan Ave have merit. Hit the companies where it hurts bottom line don't buy from them and watch how fast they change their tune. It takes a HUGE amount of people to be involved to make it work though.

@QuispNQuake Look up Princeton Indiana.

@EyeintheSky :It happened the day after the Russian plane was shot down. Oil the next day immediately went up 3% and gold went up about 2%

@billybob Detroit is the number one city in the U.S. to start a Business. However it is the state government that is the reasoning behind that. The Detroit school district is a road map that D150 is following where the only thing kids get on their tests is drool.

@meanjarhead What happens is the young ones without children move in and buy the homes and fix them up. They start having children and bring pressure to improve the schools. Improvement often comes like that. There are some neighborhoods around here that became gentrified and they demanded improved schools which in many cases has happened. That age group also, most of the time, votes in numbers well above the average. That REALLY makes a difference too.

@billybob Dan Rather did a 2 hour documentary on the Detroit school district they brought in Bill Cosby back before everyone knew he was a creeper had a guy come in who has fixed several districts and the school board fought him so much and ended up running him out of town.

If companies are leaving the COUNTRY because of unions, what's the point of "right to work states"?