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San Diego hotels: labor in revolt
There was certainly a time when unions were needed to protect workers against grossly unfair compensation and unsafe working conditions. But now there are laws that protect against those sorts of things. I can respect the idea of collective bargaining in trying to get fair compensation. But I cannot respect all the stupid productivity-killing rules and mentality that unions inevitably force on employers - rules making it practically impossible to fire bad employees, rules making efficiency improvements through technological improvements difficult, seniority-based rather than merit-based raises, ridiculous overtime pay scales, etc.— February 23, 2013 7:49 p.m.
San Diego hotels: labor in revolt
I hear it's not a good idea to relieve yourself on the fence.— February 22, 2013 8:52 a.m.
San Diego hotels: labor in revolt
So here's my take on the illegal immigration issue at this point anyway. Democrat leaders favor open borders and amnesty because this appeals to their base and legalized immigrants will lean towards voting Democratic. Many GOP leaders favor open borders and amnesty because wealthy business owners employ cheap labor and want it to stay really cheap. Some GOP leaders make a lot of noise about stopping illegal immigrants because it appeals to their base. There are a few (very few IMO) people in both parties who aren't heavily influenced by politics and actually care about trying to come up with the most fair compromise to a difficult issue - difficult to do when well-intentioned people may have much different views about what is fair. My take on the most fair solution moving forward would be the following plan: Comprehensive reform = Secure the border first, amnesty second. 1. Come down hard on employers hiring illegals. Mandatory e-verify for all employers, violations: fines $10K minimum per illegal employee first offense, $100K/employee 2nd offense, mandatory JAIL TIME for responsible hiring managers at 3rd or more repeat offender employers. 2. Build the damn fence already. 3. Armed security along the entire border - bring in the armed forces if you have to. 4. Once 1-3 are in place, grant amnesty to illegals in the U.S. who can demonstrate 2+yrs living in U.S., 2+ yrs paying taxes (if adults) and no criminal record. Amnesty = 5yrs green card with path to citizenship after 5yrs paying taxes and no criminal record. Anyway, that's my plan. I don't really see any chance of this passing but this is what would seem like a reasonable compromise to me - but of course others might have much different ideas about what "reasonable" means.— February 21, 2013 11:42 a.m.
San Diego hotels: labor in revolt
Hey! I see an huge elephant in this room! The elephant's name is "illegal immigration"— February 21, 2013 11:28 a.m.
Oops! NFL team official slips up and tells the truth
As TomJohnston's articles state, the NFL's worst case possibilities for a NYC-area Super Bowl include moving the game to Saturday. Would only happen for a Sandy/Nemo type storm which is statistically unlikely - but not impossible.— February 18, 2013 2:24 p.m.
"Mayor Mo" stole $2 million from late husband's foundation
The image of Lady Justice with the blindfold comes to mind. I think this is the ideal the justice system should strive for. In principle, a serious crime should get treated seriously - whether the crime by a 22 year old gang member covered in tattoos, an aging former mayor, a hedge fund manager, or whoever. Maybe there should be some reasonable amount of lattitude in sentencing but I think for the justice system to be fair the magnitude of the crime committed should be a major factor - probably the primary factor - in deciding sentencing. Just my opinion.— February 18, 2013 10:03 a.m.
"Mayor Mo" stole $2 million from late husband's foundation
Oh I see. So it's like for my typical Vegas weekend I might spend, lets say, 5 hours making $10 bets at blackjack or craps tables and maybe win (or more often lose) something like $200 for the weekend. But if I counted every bet maybe I'm playing 100 bets / hr which works out to $5000 gambled.— February 15, 2013 5:43 p.m.
"Mayor Mo" stole $2 million from late husband's foundation
I don't understand the $1B. She won and lost over $1 Billion ? And this isn't considered unusual? To me, the $1B number seems like a very large number - even in Vegas terms. When I googled "largest Vegas win or loss" it turns up 8 figure numbers - not 10 figure (e.g. Archie Karas, Kerrie Packer) Maybe I'm not understanding the $1B number correctly or I'm comparing apples to oranges?— February 15, 2013 4:14 p.m.
San Diego's convention center expansion would build into a glut
To me, this one seems pretty simple. Here's what I think. The real beneficiaries of more convention business are the hotels on Harbor Drive within walking distance of the convention center. The Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton. Maybe throw the Omni in there. These hotels will fill up to capacity at $400+/rm/nite during a big convention - vs. less than full occupancy at maybe $250/rm/nite other weeks. There are some other economic impacts (e.g. bars and restaurants get more business) but I'll bet it's a much smaller impact to those businesses than to the Harbor Drive hotels. If those 3 hotels on Harbor Drive want to get together and pay for a convention center expansion, let them. If not then, don't expand it. That's what I think.— February 15, 2013 1:09 p.m.
Oops! NFL team official slips up and tells the truth
I think the NFL's recent statements regarding the NYC SB also highlight the value of a taxpayer subsidy vs. the economic impact of a SuperBowl. The value of hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies to the NFL is SO great that the NFL is willing to risk the losses from shifting the game from Sunday to Saturday.— February 14, 2013 5:29 p.m.