Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

December 24, 2024

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SGT
December 24, 2024

Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

December 24, 2024

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CURRENT EVENTS

Fetterman continues to be a voice of reason for Democrats.

Our take: Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman entered office with a lot of controversy. After suffering a stroke during his election campaign, Fetterman refused to step down. After entering office, he took time away from the Senate to get treatment for some mental health issues he was struggling with. It seems like all this work may have put him in a great mental space.

On several previous occasions, Fetterman has been a voice of reason for his party, urging them to abandon the hardline, partisan approach that has infected both sides of the aisle for the past several years. He continued that approach while doing his job of vetting the president-elect’s cabinet nominations.

He urged all senators to do their job and ease up on their obsession with the president-elect. "I've been warning people, like, 'You gotta chill out,'" Fetterman said of the Trump Derangement Syndrome that has plagued many in his party since 2016.

We continue to warm up to Fetterman. While we disagree with many of his policy positions, we commend him for using common sense and trying to work with people to get things done in Washington. We hope he continues this approach and is successful in getting others to follow his lead.

COURTESY: MSN

Harris tried to strong-arm Teamsters before endorsement snub.

Our take:The recent presidential election cycle was unique in many ways. One candidate stepped down after earning his party’s nomination. One candidate survived two assassination attempts. One party installed a stalking horse candidate who never received a single vote or delegate in a primary. And for the first time since 1996, the Teamsters did not endorse any political candidate.

As the dust settles, we are finding out more about how the Teamsters, a Democrat Party stalwart for the past 30 years, wound up as independents. Teamster’s President Sean O’Brien stated that in their meeting with Vice President Harris after she was installed as the Democrat candidate, she told them they “needed to get on board, and get on board soon.” He also said she told them she would “win with or without you” before leaving their meeting 20 minutes early and taking only 3 of 20 scheduled questions from the Teamsters.

Harris would go on to lose the campaign, absorbing a devastating electoral college loss. The Teamsters represented a 1.5 million-person block of voters, many in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia that Harris lost.

The postmortem on the election revealed that many working-class voters felt like the Democrat Party had abandoned them, not listening to their concerns and taking them for granted. The Harris campaign has not responded to requests for comment on the story. Unless O’Brien is lying, this approach by the Harris campaign is not going to help change that narrative.

COURTESY: MSN

Starbucks workers in 12 cities strike over pay dispute with coffee giant

Our take: Starbucks employees in 12 cities, including Boston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, continued their efforts to pressure the company to reach an agreement with workers. The biggest hurdle is compensation rates, with both sides smearing the other in the press.

3 years ago, unions successfully organized a store in Buffalo, New York. Since then, the union has organized over 100 stores and is working on more stores across 45 states.

We have mixed feelings on this topic. We are not coffee drinkers, but we recognize many people love their coffee. With that said, making coffee for a living is not a highly skilled job.

In our opinion, most people think about compensation the wrong way. They look at trading their time for money instead of trying to bring value to the marketplace and get compensated for the value they bring. If what you do can be easily replicated by many other people, you are not going to be able to demand outsized pay. If you can do things almost no one else can do, you will get paid handsomely for it. This is why professional athletes, entertainers, and others like them are paid so well. They provide something to the market place that most people cannot.

We hope both sides can reach an agreement here. If they don’t, everybody loses. Plus, we don’t want to deal with all the caffeine junkies who are looking for a fix because they can’t get their coffee.

COURTESY: THE NEW YORK TIMES

TIP OF THE DAY

During the holiday season, slow down and really enjoy the time you get with friends and family. Experiences and relationships are the best things in life.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” —Colin R. Davis

SOURCES: