Guess who these guys are voting for?

The airlines are at it again. They're laying the groundwork to dramatically cut back pension benefits for their retirees. I'm so sick of these lying bastards blaming employee salaries for their problems. Airline employees have taken huge pay cuts and have been laid off by the thousands. Labor costs are so predictable in this industry that good management and planning should more than compensate.

You can't blame 9-11 either. Congress staged a MASSIVE, $15 billion bailout -- a blank check for corporate executives to help them get their houses in order.

You COULD blame the grossly incompetent security monitoring that diverts flights when Cat Stevens gets on the plane. You COULD blame the ABSOLUTELY INSANE cost of fuel right now, since oil sits at $50 a barrel -- thanks to the terrorist actions drummed up by our president's ridiculous war and his insistence that America never ever do anything to eliminate their dependence on oil. (Bush doesn't raise taxes, he raises the cost of living instead.)

Of course, these arguments, while accurate, require a little nuance. So we can forget about any of the GOP wanting us to think about it. This is reason alone to get rid of the president. But apparently people are too scared to vote against this president -- apparently the message "terrorists will hit us if you vote for that pussy Kerry" resonates.

Eliminating pension benefits, to me at least, is worse than breaking a promise. To me, it is the face of evil -- it tells people who have already put in their time that they and their families must suffer for current mismanagement. Of course, the CEO's making these decisions will never, ever have to worry about health care or anything else for their families while they run their companies into the ground.

Think about it -- have you ever, EVER heard an airline CEO call on the president to fight for lower prices of oil? To reduce energy costs? To encourage conservation? Energy costs are easily the most volatile threat to the airline industry. And they won't say a word about it. They're too busy blaming someone who worked hard for 30 years, and just wants the health care coverage he or she was promised.

Let energy costs skyrocket, but fuck workers and retirees. Does this sound familiar to anyone?