From: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net (Orville R. Weyrich)
Subject: Re: Why do Americans get so little vacation time?
Reply-To: uunet.uu.net!weyrich!orville
Organization: Weyrich Computer Consulting
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 14:36:10 GMT

In article <greg.718340195@octopus> greg@octopus.dpsi.com (Gregory R. Travis) writes:
>orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net (Orville R. Weyrich) writes:
>
>>Not true -- if you want to maintain the standard of living of the past, you
>>can probably get by just fine with a single "bread-winner" plus a full-time
>>"home-maker".
>
>Wishful thinking Orville...Are you single or married?  And, if married,
>does your wife work?

I am married, thank you. And yes, my wife works and makes more than I do.
And yes, if either one of us chose to be a full-time home-maker, we could
make ends meet. We have while one of us alternatively attended school or
was unemployed.

>>>Bush's mean-spirited and cynical veto of the Family Leave bill makes
>>>this even more acute as families wishing or forced to expand are faced with
>>>a number of rather unattractive choices:
>
>>Personally, I see nothing mean-spirited or  cynical about it -- the  economy
>>simply has no resources to pay for this without eliminating some other
>>fringe-benefit.
>
>I never understood this line of reasoning.  I grew up understanding
>that the United States was both the most powerful and richest
>nation on the planet.  Yet, you argue that we cannot afford basic
>governmental support of the family while several other, smaller
>and poorer, nations are doing just that.

We were. But people let the "power" go to their heads and forgot to balance
the budget and foreign trade -- now a sizeable proportion of our work each
week goes just to pay the interest on the national debt.

Sure -- there are lots of new programs that I would like to see to make
life more comfortable. But we are over-extended now. So I ask again -- if you
want all of these new programs, how are you going to pay for them? It is my
opinion that it will take a miracle to simply preserve the benefits we now have
and balance trade and federal budgets at the same time. And if we don't balance
those things, we will find ourselves in the same basket as the Soviets.

>>And I would pay for it by castrating/sterilizing those on the
>>public dole that have more than two children.
>
>Oh, that's real sweet.

I am open to alternative suggestions that would allow those who really WORK
to have money for their own children after paying taxes to support the
children of those that don't choose to work.

>>>2.  National Health Care.
>>>3.  Paid family medical and crisis leave of up to one year.
>>>6.  Mandatory minimum five week vacation.
>
>>Paid for by whom?
>>You have to pull the resources to pay for this out of some other part of
>>the economy, which will lower some other aspect of the standard of living.
>
>Sure, in the richest nation on the planet.

Sure. In the nation that spends the most time in front of an idiot box and
has our elected representatives arguing over how much cable TV should cost
rather than trying to balance the budget or the trade deficit.

It is true that we can afford anything that we really want. But we can't
afford EVERYTHING, and nobody in Washington seems to be willing to set 
priorities such that we can live within our means.

>Bloomington, IN			     greg@indiana.edu (For the others)

Oh yeah, that's where those dang-fools that think that pi is the ratio of
two integers live! I had forgotten exactly where it was! :-) BTW, I'm from
Ohio and have nothing against Indiana -- but a lot against Congress and state
legislatures that show the kind of vision that the "pi" bill and the house 
checking scandal represent.

orville

--------------------------------------   **************************************
Orville R. Weyrich, Jr.                        Weyrich Computer Consulting
Certified Data Processor                     POB 5782, Scottsdale, AZ 85261
Certified Systems Professional                   Voice: (602) 391-0821
Certified Computer Programmer            Internet: orville%weyrich@uunet.uu.net
--------------------------------------   **************************************
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.misc