Twinkie: Whodunnit?
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Twinkie: Whodunnit?
The killer of the Ring Ding is not whom the "lamestream media" would have you believe:
But while headlines have been quick to blame unions for the downfall of the company there’s actually more to the story: While the company was filing for bankruptcy, for the second time, earlier this year, it actually tripled its CEO’s pay, and increased other executives’ compensation by as much as 80 percent.
At the time, creditors warned that the decision signaled an attempt to “sidestep” bankruptcy rules, potentially as a means for trying to keep the executive at a failing company.
The New Yorker has a smart and fair-and-balanced (no, this time, really) take on who killed the Twinkie (h/t Atrios):
The real issue here is that people’s image of unions, and their sense that doing something like going on strike is legitimate, seems to depend quite a bit, in the U.S., on how common unions are in the workforce. When organized labor represented more than a third of American workers, it was easy for unions to send the message that in agitating for their own interests, union members were also helping improve conditions for workers in general. But as unions have shrunk, and have become increasingly concentrated in the public sector, it’s become easier for people to dismiss them as just another special interest, looking to hold onto perks that no one else gets. Perhaps the most striking response to the Hostess news, in that sense, was the tweet from conservative John Nolte, who wrote “Hostess strikers had pension. PENSIONS! What is this 1962?” It was once taken for granted that an industrial worker who worked for a big company for many years would get a solid middle-class lifestyle, and would be taken care of in retirement. Today, that concept seems to many like a relic. Just as Wonder Bread does.
And finally here's a look inside "the Hostess Bankery."
There's a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday, but I know I'll be thankful for the men and women who fought so hard in the past for a decent middle-class lifestyle, and for the courageous people -- like these workers at Wal-Mart fighting for basic fairness -- who continue the fight today, at enormous risk to themselves and their family. Make a wish and I'll see you next week.
Anybody see 'Lincoln' yet?— wokmaster- Not yet but I am looking forward to it. So don't spoil it and tell me how it ends, K?
- Don't tell you he gets shot and dies?
— habitualloser2 - Every White Liberal Male looks exactly like this- and this guy is the world's biggest fem.
Whats up with Liberals and their cats? What girly men.
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRov0sQtC9bMM3lf84Ut3l16jz— Keep The Change - *Reading your post and imagining an obese redneck from Perkasie who's missing most of his teeth* — wokmaster
- “Hostess strikers had pension. PENSIONS! What is this 1962?” . . . . . And these one-percenters dare to wonder why the People love their socialism.— montani semper liberi
- Of course the right immediately, reflexively blames the unions. Truth is, the previous years' contracts weren't the problem. The problem, unequivocally, was that Hostess makes awful products, that some may call poisonous. Sure, everyone, including Sean Hannity, just loves Twinkies -- they just don't buy them often. When income rises, people stop buying cheap crummy nonsense (like Wonder Bread). Oh but look, management, having run this company into the ground, rewards themselves pay increases and bonuses. Seriously, how does this continue to happen? Where is the Board?— Murrayman
- Turns out, the CEO got a 300% pay increase, while asking workers to take an 8% pay cut, plus a 32% benefit cut. Nine executives get pay raises ranging from 66% to over 100% during the time of the second bankruptcy. So...the problem must be with the union workers. Really??— wokmaster
- Imagine...with a Romney presidency the Hostess workers could give back their wages and benefits and then they would be OK: "..they would not die in their apartments of a heart attack, they would get treatment and then it would be paid for by charity or the government.."— mick-of-the-moment
Comment removed.- At what point in history, and in which society, has every single person made their life's goal to own their own business or become extremely wealthy? Maybe some people CHOOSE to put a higher premium on being a good father or husband or engaging in a career which pays little but brings a sense of satisfaction. Why do Republicans find this so hard to understand?? — wokmaster
- Comment removed.
- Please what? It's true. You'd think that the only people that are worth a da*n anymore are the so-called "job creators". — wokmaster
- Rightwing nutjob Allen West finally concedes.— wokmaster
- 'Rightwing nutjob Allen West finally concedes."
Yeah, because as it turns out, there's no such thing as "Most Fabulous and Exalted Ruler of the State of Florida". So when is he going to concede the House race?— Hamlet
- Andrew Sullivan
- Blinq
- Blogorrhea
- Blonde Sagacity
- Free Republic
- Instapundit
- James Taranto
- ScrappleFace
- The Corner
- Buzzmachine
- Eat the Press
- Editor and Publisher
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Media Bloodhound
- Mickey Kaus
- Pressthink
- Romenesko
- The Inksniffer
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Above Average Jane
- BlankBaby
- Citizen Mom
- Keystone Blog
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- Phawker
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Philly Future
- Phillyblog
- Phillyist
- The Clog
- The Next Mayor
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Young Philly Politics
- Afro-Netizen
- All-Spin Zone
- Atrios
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- Booman Tribune
- CorrenteWire
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- iFlipFlop
- Kiko's House
- MyDD
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Rowhouse Logic
- Slacktivist
- Suburban Guerilla
- Tattered Coat
- upyernoz
- AmericaBlog
- Andy Borowitz
- BuzzFlash
- Crooks and Liars
- Cursor
- Daily Kos
- David Sirota
- Drudge Report
- Echidne of the Snakes
- Fire Dog Lake
- Glenn Greenwald
- Hullabaloo
- Jesus' General
- Jon Swift
- Josh Marshall
- Juan Cole
- Kevin Drum
- Mad Kane
- Majikthise
- Matthew Yglesias
- Oliver Willis
- Raw Story
- Swing State Project
- Talk Left
- Taylor Marsh
- TBogg
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Think Progress
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- A Citizen's Blog
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Beer Leaguer
- Dick Polman
- Phillies Nation
- Philling Station
- Shallow Center
- The 700 Level
- The Good Phight
