WAR EAGLE!!! 0 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 I saw Barkley interviewed on ESPN about him running for Governor in the state and he didn't help himself AT ALL!!! Barkley said several very negative things about the state of Alabama. One in thing in particular he said that Alabama was stuck in 1975 the state is so far behind. He also said if you were a republican, you were just dumb...the party is absolutely horrible. He also said that the state NEEDS him because Alabama is so backwards anyway and is not progressing... As TM would say...feel free to opine...or something like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUloggerhead 2,225 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Apparently, Charles doesn't get the whole majority-of-votes-wins concept. Good luck with that platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger12 46 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Apparently, Charles doesn't get the whole majority-of-votes-wins concept. Good luck with that platform. 252849[/snapback] I guess he just called the majority of the state stupid then. Like you said, thats not gonna get any votes. He must not be really paying attention to what is going on in the state. To make the comments he did when a republican governor has cut out the pork and gave us a surplus for the first time in who knows when, that tells me Charles is not very smart when it comes to knowing these things. He did it without a freakin' lottery! He also has a convicted criminal backing him. Good job Charles! The state is still living in 1975 huh? I guess somebody has forget to tell him about all the steel plants, automotive plants, and technology jobs that have came into the state within the last decade. I love Charles and the fact that he speaks his mind, but sometimes his mouth does get ahead of his brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vatz22au 142 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 One in thing in particular he said that Alabama was stuck in 1975 the state is so far behind. 252837[/snapback] At least he got one thing right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 It is backwards, Alabama is regressing. Wages are low and the state favors corporations over the people. Chicago City Council OKs "Living Wage" The Associated Press Thursday 27 July 2006 Chicago - The City Council brushed aside warnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to approve an ordinance that makes Chicago the biggest city in the nation to require big-box retailers to pay a "living wage." The ordinance, which passed 35-14 Wednesday after three hours of impassioned debate, requires mega-retailers to pay wages of at least $10 an hour plus $3 in fringe benefits by mid-2010. It would only apply to companies with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores of at least 90,000 square feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 146 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 It is backwards, Alabama is regressing. Wages are low and the state favors corporations over the people. You're on drugs. What the state has done to bring in all the automotive plants has helped this state's economy and created so many jobs. You need to get a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger12 46 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 It is backwards, Alabama is regressing. Wages are low and the state favors corporations over the people. You're on drugs. What the state has done to bring in all the automotive plants has helped this state's economy and created so many jobs. You need to get a clue. 253012[/snapback] Bingo! Just read my post. I went on America's Job Bank this morning and did a search for jobs in the North Alabama area. There are tons of job openings for Boeing, Lockheed, the steel plants, Redstone Aresenal (NASA and DoD), etc. All one has to do is get the proper education. Heck for a non-professional job at Boeing, all you have to is go over to Calhoun Community College and get into their two year aerospace technology machining class and you can get a job with Boeing as a machinist. This state has more job opportunities then it has ever had and the level of technology is on par with any state in the country. So please give me a break by saying we are stuck in the past. If you want stuck in the past, go live in Mississippi for a little while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterinbham 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 It is backwards, Alabama is regressing. Wages are low and the state favors corporations over the people.Chicago City Council OKs "Living Wage"   The Associated Press   Thursday 27 July 2006   Chicago - The City Council brushed aside warnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to approve an ordinance that makes Chicago the biggest city in the nation to require big-box retailers to pay a "living wage."   The ordinance, which passed 35-14 Wednesday after three hours of impassioned debate, requires mega-retailers to pay wages of at least $10 an hour plus $3 in fringe benefits by mid-2010. It would only apply to companies with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores of at least 90,000 square feet. 252991[/snapback] Bottomfeeder, do you read anything but the Daily Worker? Alabama is on a hot streak at the moment. Unemployment is down to 3.5%. Heck, Birmingham's unemployment is .1% higher than Orlando, the most fully employed major city in the country. School test scores are rising very quickly relative to the rest of the country. What's more, our average household income has shot up over the past decade to the point where we are approaching the national median. Normally, that last tidbit would not be much reason for celebration. Except when you realize that Alabama has been rock bottom since Reconstruction. The reason? A very diverse economic base, a reformed state government, and an attractive business climate. Further, a diverse economy means that we're not solely dependent on steel or agriculture or manufacturing, the way were were up until 1982, when unemployment in Birmingham was 17%. Let me give you that number again: 17%. So what's the reason for this change? Well, for 120 years after the Civil War, this state was run as the plantation of the Democratic Party, where corruption, racism, cronyism, and inefficiency were the watchwords. It wasn't until the early 90s when the GOP began making inroads into state government that there was any movement. We were still in the control of the Wallace/Baxley kleptocracy. Heck, even a drooling incompetent like Fob James did a better job than Wallace. So maybe you should bother looking around you, rather than looking backwards (Which seems to be the preferred stance of the Democratic party). Because this state has a really cool story to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Just look at the recent campaigns and the fact that the majority of candidates ran on a patform holding up, Republican, Conservative, Christian values. You don't come in bashing the State and alienating more than half the population. I may be wrong but I don't think Alabama is ready to embrace a Jesse Ventura type public figure for the highest office. Charles is very funny, opinionated and entertaining. But, he's also got a ton of baggage. He's been in fights, made racist remarks, spit on a kid among other things during his career. It just won't fly here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 The only reason the automotive companies come here is because of the LOW, LOW wages and anti-union sentiment. I have a clue; I worked at Ford Dearborn Mustang Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, through IBEW Local 58, and was paid three times what I made here. The only way to make it here is to have a college degree. Well, not everyone can afford a degree. So, they are paying folks $14.00 per hour to start, WOW! That's chicken scratch. Heck, I make more money than that just farting around with options, currency trades and penny stocks. I don't have degree, so what, all one has to be able to do is read and have a computer. That's all it takes to sweat less and have more. God said man shall earn a living by the sweat of his brow, but he didn't say how much. Alabama, Low Wages Always, LOW WAGES. ALABAMA So why don't I leave? That's personal. I would rather change things here by voicing my opinion concerning this matter out loud in WALMART and places like that. It's the only time I wear an Alabama shirt, and wear it inside out. I told people to leave the state in hopes of a savings account. And, they wonder why there's a labor shortage. There is no labor shortage; they've just found something to do in the air conditioning for the same money or more. I say let the Mexican's have it, and hope your stuff burns down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 What's more, our average household income has shot up over the past decade to the point where we are approaching the national median. What about the other 50 years? We are just catching up. WOW! I'm still not impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterinbham 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 The only reason the automotive companies come here is because of the LOW, LOW wages and anti-union sentiment. I have a clue; I worked at Ford Dearborn Mustang Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, through IBEW Local 58, and was paid three times what I made here. The only way to make it here is to have a college degree. Well, not everyone can afford a degree. So, they are paying folks $14.00 per hour to start, WOW! That's chicken scratch. Heck, I make more money than that just farting around with options, currency trades and penny stocks. I don't have degree, so what, all one has to be able to do is read and have a computer. That's all it takes to sweat less and have more. God said man shall earn a living by the sweat of his brow, but he didn't say how much. Alabama, Low Wages Always, LOW WAGES. ALABAMA So why don't I leave? That's personal. I would rather change things here by voicing my opinion concerning this matter out loud in WALMART and places like that. It's the only time I wear an Alabama shirt, and wear it inside out. I told people to leave the state in hopes of a savings account. And, they wonder why there's a labor shortage. There is no labor shortage; they've just found something to do in the air conditioning for the same money or more. I say let the Mexican's have it, and hope your stuff burns down. 253062[/snapback] Whine, whine, whine. The average line worker at Mercedes makes over 80K a year. I know this because I did a good deal of consulting for them over a three year stretch. The problem has nothing to do with wages, my friend. It has everythng to do with the unions. The fact that you were paid three times what you are paid here is actually why your former employer is sliding rapidly into bankruptcy. The key isn't low wages. It's a tax structure and legal climate that isn't punitive to large business. Case in point, the highest cost in every GM and Ford car you buy today is the UAW pension. Again, look at the rise in household incomes in this state over the past ten years, especially relative to the rest of the country. It is a dramatic rise, indeed. And none of your whining will change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterinbham 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 What's more, our average household income has shot up over the past decade to the point where we are approaching the national median. What about the other 50 years? We are just catching up. WOW! I'm still not impressed. 253066[/snapback] You also utterly missed my poiint. A century of iron-fisted Democratic misrule created our poor economic position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Okay, I'll consider it. I HOPE things get better here. Meanwhile, I'll continue to short the dollar and play options. And, wear my holy Alabama shirt inside-out to WALMART and spout near obsenities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterinbham 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Okay, I'll consider it. I HOPE things get better here. Meanwhile, I'll continue to short the dollar and play options. And, wear my holy Alabama shirt inside-out to WALMART and spout near obsenities concerning the fascist state of Alabama. 253076[/snapback] Well, leave. Go back up to the Rust Belt, where whining seems to be the most popular sport of all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Okay, I'll consider it. I HOPE things get better here. Meanwhile, I'll continue to short the dollar and play options. And, wear my holy Alabama shirt inside-out to WALMART and spout near obsenities concerning the fascist state of Alabama. 253076[/snapback] Well, leave. Go back up to the Rust Belt, where whining seems to be the most popular sport of all. 253082[/snapback] I would rather stay here, critique the incompetence of construction workers (almost like an inspector, only worse) and build my retirement through shorting other's long positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaGrad03 146 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Alabama's unemployment rate is a full percentage lower than the national average. And Bottomfeeder, i had friends who worked as CO-OPS at Mercedes while in school and made $17 an hour. You think 34,000 a year is too low for a COLLEGE STUDENT? You are on drugs. The union mentality has everyone thinking that wages should be dealt universally. But i dont think its fair when unions want to use wage rates in california where a grocery bagger makes 20 bucks an hour...to anywhere in a place like alabama. Cost of living in Tuscaloosa is nothing. And when college kids are making 34k/year that is REALLY good money. And you have MANY line workers who never even went to college making salaries 3x higher than theyd make working most any other place. So you are telling me that a college kid should be paid $45 dollars an hour to work at an automotive plant? We should pay a 19 year old $90,000 dollars a year in a state where cost of living is super low? Get a clue. I dont know anyone in Alabama who complains about wages being too low...who are actively pursuing a better life for themselves. I know construction workers who make 60k/year and are very thankful. People who make low wages in Alabama dont make low wages because Alabama is behind the times. Theyd struggle in their SAME job in any other city. I dont see why our grocery baggers and counter clerks should be driving Beamers...just for the sake of keeping up with the other state's wages. Yeah here's a smart idea...lets overpay all the 17 and 18 year olds (or grown ups who are doing jobs 17 year olds could do) so we can over inflate the value of a dollar...and completely destroy all the good salaried people's buying power... Yeah id love to be just like california. 30 year old 2 bedroom ranch style house...1200 sq feet, no lawn...750,000 dollars. (and thats in a crappy neighborhood) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerfan1234 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 What will Charles Barkley do for the state of Alabama? If the state NEEDS him like he claims, what can he do that is so special that noone else can do? Charles made a comment about being rich like Republicans, but will never be one of them. I think this comment is a complete joke. He lives in gated communities, plays golf, mingles with the wealthiest of American society, vacations at some of the most chic places on earth, dresses in super expensive designer clothes, and is a former pre-madonna NBA athlete. Explain to me how he identifies with the common everyday working American. Okay, so he is from the state of Alabama. What is Charles currently doing for the state in the form of charities, college funds, clubs, or any other good deed that people in his position are capable of? What has Charles done for Auburn University since going on to the NBA? I have never heard him promote the Auburn basketball program in any way. Is he going to donate some of his money for the new arena if it is approved? A man of his stature should have a more visible presence at Auburn University and to my knowledge Charles hardly ever appears on campus for anything. I don't mean to come across as necessarily attacking Charles, I would just like to know what he has done for Auburn University and the state of Alabama since his rise to fame. Charles is all about voicing his mind, now I want to see him back it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Mainly the wages are low in the southern part of the state where there is much work to be done. The market forces down here are practically dead. Wages for construction workers down here have not grown with inflation nor the nation average. I'm just exiting the construction market and have found another way to make more money. Moreover, freeing up time to wear my Alabama shirt inside-out at WALMART and speak near obsenities concerning the LOW LOW wages in this state. Whine, I'm not whining, rather stating fact. I'm nonunion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 And when college kids are making 34k/year that is REALLY good money. So you are telling me that a college kid should be paid $45 dollars an hour to work at an automotive plant? We should pay a 19 year old $90,000 dollars a year in a state where cost of living is super low? Any party but the Repubs or Dems. It doesn't matter who is in the capital, corporations will always have power over the people of this state, or any state; any state that is Right to Work. The cost of living in some parts of Illinois are lower than the average for this state, and union wages are three times as much. In 2002, the mean house price in Rockford, Il. $99,000, Alabama $228,000. With a mean income of $40,000 in Rockford, and mean hosue price of $99,000, there is no choice. The mean income in 2002 for Mobile, AL, then was $28,000+ per year. That's laughable. I could make, when the economy isn't governmentally oriented, $45,000 working 6 months of the year (working 6 - 10's). That gives me the other 6 months to do what I want to do. My federal withholdings were more than my gross pay in Alabama. That's embarrassing. Not to mention my annuities and pension. Annuity, I sank over $38,000 in two annuities in less than two years working the road (I had five annuties totaling over $40,000 converted). Try to do that down here, are joking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger12 46 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 BF, I know alot of people who would love to make $34.000 a year. These are people that have been working hard for a number of years. I think for a college grad to make that in their first job is pretty good money seeing how they have not proved themselves in the industry they are in yet. Trust me, if they stick with it, their degree will eventually get them good money, if they were wise in the career they chose. Like BG3 said, unions have made some of the pay scales ridiculous. Look at Delpi for interest. Here in North Alabama, their hourly workers were making a killing because the union had them making the same wages as other plants in areas with higher costs of living. They hourly production workers were making between $20-$30 an hour at jobs that should have only topped out at $18 hour at most other comparable jobs in the area. My father-in-law is a maintenance supervisor there and he even agrees that the union was half the probem for Delphi's problems. The other half was executives giving themselves big arse raises. He has worked there over thirty years and he recently took a pay cut to keep working because his in his mid-50s and not quite ready to retire yet. On the most part, Alabama's pay is equivalent to the cost of living. There are some jobs that do not pay up to the national average, like my wife's job as an X-ray and MRI tech. Because Alabama is one of the few states left that does not require the people operating that equipment to be educated and certified, you have alot of places training nurses how to push a button, so the demand for her job in this state is not as great as other states. The problem with just training somebody to push a button is that they are not trained correctly in techniques and could cause harm to patients, but Alabama has not seen that as a serious issue yet. Alabama, like any other state has its issues they need to work out, but overall Alabama has caught up with the rest of the nation as far as industry, technology, jobs go. Now we need to keep focusing on education, and if you will notice the surplus we have and all the money going to education, we are getting there. I invite you come see all the additions being made to our local community college as proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Ranger, I might take you up on that. I would love to see improvements in our education system. Really, I would love to see here what I saw up there. This is my home for goodness sake, MY HOME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerfan1234 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 So what about Charles Barkley considering running for governor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bottomfeeder 244 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 So what about Charles Barkley considering running for governor? 253122[/snapback] I'm not really concerned about it now. Wages are more of an issue with me than who the governor is. Sorry, I deviated from the original thread topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepseas 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 So what about Charles Barkley considering running for governor? 253122[/snapback] Would not get my vote and he'd probably be assassinated anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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