GM, Blackwater, economic hard times and no gas

The economic crisis hit home for me today as my dentist of 35 years is now charging for using the old nitrous oxide, one of the few remaining pleasures during hard times. I need nitrous just to talk to a dentist. Still, I'm in better shape than  a friend of mine who's been laid off and is about to lose his medical coverage.  He can't afford to pay the $1600 for his him, his wife and three children anymore.

It's sacrifice all around. I see that the UAW has settled with GM in a contract that is designed to help the auto investors remain profitable and competitive.  The deal does raise the pay a little for GM's lowest paid workers but more of its Labor costs are linked to "profitability and quality."  The workers', who have no say in how auto production is developed or how capital is allocated in this sector (despite the taxpayer owning 27% of GM) will receive compensation based on how profitable the sector is. 

The UAW leadership and GM bosses have basically designed a deal that will safeguard some of the best paying jobs in a limited way.  It will buy out higher paid workers whose living standards were won when the UAW and organized Labor in general was much less an arm of the company and totally on board with the Team Concept as a junior partner, and will allow GM to hire a future generation of low paid Unionized workers.  "In these uncertain economic times, we were able to win an agreement with GM that guarantees good American jobs  at a good American company" said  John Ashton, a UAW negotiator.  "Now that GM is posting strong profits, our members as a result of this agreement, are going to share in the company's success." he added. How short sighted and empty the policies of the strategists of organized Labor are. They have taken the "shared sacrifice" policy to the extreme, the workers' organizations are a subsidiary of the firm----the market rules.

It's always "difficult times" according to to important forces in society, capitalists and top Labor officials, despite the fact that capitalist's are hoarding cash, trillions of dollars of it.  The greatest sacrifice of course in difficult times is public expenditure.  For the chief negotiators of the details that affect workers' lives with a vengeance, it wouldn't enter the heads of Labor's hierarchy to delve in to the underlying causes of an economic crisis like the one we are experiencing at the moment. But not all public expenditure is bad either, funds are available for some.

The former mercenary organization Blackwater  has had a makeover and is now called Xe Services LLC. It's new boss, Ted Wright hopes to shed the Blackwater image as the company was kicked out of Iraq after murdering 17 civilians during a gunfight in Baghdad.  You can bet these were the tip of the iceberg for these mercenaries who are paid a lot more than the working  class youth in the military---the Iraqi people have suffered tragically at the hands of these thugs.  We should consider this when we think of the siege of Falujah, a war crime if there ever was one.  This was brought about after US mercenaries hired by Blackwater were brutally killed by angry Iraqi's.  The US media reported them as "armed military contractors" but we need not kid ourselves, these were mercenaries.  After they were killed by Iraqi's defending themselves against a foreign invasion, the Marines were sent in to punish the Iraqis with savage consequences.

The new owners of Xe is a private equity company USTC holdings that Bloomberg reports is comprised of private equity firms Manhattan Partners and Forté Capital Advisers. Trying to find out who actually owns these companies is not easy.  No one claims we have economic democracy here.  It is apparent that former government officials are on Xe's board including John Ashcroft, the former right wing US attorney general under the imbecile Bush. Former high ranking military figures are also involved.

The mercenary business is a face of America that many people have to deal with in their everyday lives with tragic consequences.  Throughout the world, groups like these defend this interests of US corporations and businesses as they bribe, cajole, kill and maim anyone that prevents private equity from being a profitable enterprise.  

Thanks to the reliable US taxpayer whose offspring will, with a bit of luck and if profits are good, get to work in a unionized auto plant in the US for $8  an hour with no pension or health benefits there might be a job as a mercenary for US capitalism that pays a little better. Some 95% of Xe services' revenue comes from the US government.  Billions more has gone in to the pockets of those nameless figures that own Halliburton, Bechtel, Northrop and other war profiteers. The US military bombs a country in to antiquity and Bechtel gets to rebuild it, what a good set up; and we Americans get to learn about geography and where other countries are in this way when we watch the news.

Meanwhile, the previous owner, Erik Prince, who still owns the Blackwater name is providing our youth with other alternatives other than shooting Iraqi's.  According to the Wall Street Journal he's "entered the entertainment business" with a  Blackwater "first person shooter" video game scheduled for release next month. I would bet the US military is also involved in that venture as it is in the production of these violent video games.

Mr. Prince is doing his best to help our youth in these difficult economic times bless him.