[Destroyer]

RW and Ridge, I completely agree with both of you. There is give and take necessary on both sides. We are in a new, leaner, more competitive world, and we need to understand that there are countries out there that are actively trying to dethrone us as top dog. They do so with cheap labor, underhanded labor practices, lack of safety for their workers, etc etc etc.. but the bottom line is if we continue to support them by buying their products, then really, who do we have to blame but ourselves?
Lenin once said that the defination of a capitalist was a person that sells you the rope that you use to hang him. Point being that we need to be less greedy and get back to good old yankee horse trading. That's where we excel better than any other Country on this planet. It's our strength.
As far as the contracts with state workers goes, I would remind everyone that my own house is on the razors edge also. My wife works for the NJ state MVC (dmv), so we're on the same bubble. Ridge, if you look at what I said previously...quote "One a personal note though, I will say that when the public sector (union and non-union alike) gets better pensions and health care than the people that are actually paying for it (the taxpayers) then I think it's time to at the very least revisit everything". Unquote I was agreeing with you 100%. The non union people I was refering to were the fat cats at the top with the special pensions and the undefined jobs. Sacrafices should not come just on the backs of the rank and file... they need to start at the top and continue down to everyone, and it needs to be done fairly and without rancor. But we all need to realize that what we have right now, in a lot of States, is simply unsustainable. Changes must be made, and the sooner they are made the sooner we can get back to the business of making money for everyone's benefit.