Thread: Reganomics

Originally Posted by Toad

Originally Posted by Gonzo0100

What ever happened to "Its not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".

As someone who works for the FAA, if some president were to freeze my wages then I'd find a job in the private sector contracting to the government for at least 10-20% more than I make now, with my parent company billing the government for at least 50%-100% over what I make now. I and many other government employees are already pulling 50 hour weeks doing skilled labor to help our country's airspace stay safe and efficient... if that country decides that I don't deserve a raise for years on end, people aren't going to sit there smiling. Freezing federal employee salaries is just stupid. You risk losing a bunch of the smart, "true believer" employees if you mistreat them that much and keep the bad/lazy ones, who aren't going anywhere because they're unemployable.

As someone with experience, were you by chance around during the Reagan presidency and that debacle? Is there any talk "within the profession" about what Reagan did?

I'm not a controller and have only been doing engineering work for the FAA for 6 years (originally with a contractor before transitioning over but it was the same job, same people before and after). However, the type of work I do (systems engineering) gives a lot of insight into how 'the game' works and where your taxpayer dollars go. With proper oversight and contract writing and enforcing, contractors help the government provide good solutions to the needs of the American flying public. Without that, which happens far more than it should, you get private industry giving the American people the waste they so abhor.

Regarding PATCO, it's tough to get the whole story. If anyone knows a good, unbiased resource please let me know. I know that a lot of the current old timers got their start as either scabs or replacement hires, so they don't like Reagan much but aren't seamlessly integrated with their old PATCO buddies. Most of the PATCO guys who didn't get fired are gone now, since controllers can't work past something like 50 in most cases due to the stresses of the job. There was also a lot of friction between PATCO and NATCA (the new ATC union) starting in those early days, I suspect because of the fact that NATCA members replaced PATCO guys who struck.

www.faafollies.com is an interesting blog written by a controller that's given a bit of an inside look into their world. The guy that writes it puts forth his points pretty well, but is definitely biased to the left. He lays out his reasons well, though, and most of his blogs are written for controllers about the problems they've faced. Considering that Clinton gave the controllers a sweetheart deal and Bush treated them like garbage, it's no surprise that most controllers are Democrats right now. The comments can be pretty interesting at times, although sometimes it's just random pissed off controllers venting their spleens.

Originally Posted by deathgodusmc

Originally Posted by Tuck

Originally Posted by ***COMMANDER***

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

What do you think these statements are addressing? They seem like broad, fairly meaningless platitudes.

I'm also surprised nobody has mentioned the epic fail of Reagan's "war on drugs".

Someone did but in another thread and couldn't back the statement that the war on drugs was an epic fail. So by all means enlighten us on how it's an epic fail.

If you need to been shown then your mind is closed already.

It does not take a rocket scientist to realize the war on drugs has failed.

Have we won, or made progress?

Its ok keep fighting the war with the same old plan from almost 30 years ago and never change it.

Keep everything the same!

.....

According to Regan logic there is no use for medical approved states......

but yet we have 13 states who are in support of it and have the proper laws.


He was all about keeping it schedule 1 and that means no use and no studies.

I hope he is turning in his grave to know how far we have progressed.

Originally Posted by jason_jinx

Originally Posted by deathgodusmc

Originally Posted by Tuck

Originally Posted by ***COMMANDER***

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

What do you think these statements are addressing? They seem like broad, fairly meaningless platitudes.

I'm also surprised nobody has mentioned the epic fail of Reagan's "war on drugs".

Someone did but in another thread and couldn't back the statement that the war on drugs was an epic fail. So by all means enlighten us on how it's an epic fail.

If you need to been shown then your mind is closed already.

It does not take a rocket scientist to realize the war on drugs has failed.

Have we won, or made progress?

Its ok keep fighting the war with the same old plan from almost 30 years ago and never change it.

Keep everything the same!

.....

Just when they think we're gonna flank em, BAM! We surprise em by hitting them the same way we have for the last 30 years, perfect!