Here we go

[Tommy knocker]

You do have a choice, either get health care or pay a penalty

What's next? Buy solar panals or pay a penalty? Buy cotton Teeshirts or pay a penalty? Buy blue socks or pay a penalty? Where does it end? And decides?

[acmanko]

It started with the anti smoking laws. As soon as one persons freedom was taken away by government for the good of the people, the door was left wide open for all these BS laws. if you are a nonsmoker and support the nonsmoking laws, then you did it do yourself

[Roncool]

I really don't understand why people are freaking out about tax cuts expiring. The Bush tax cuts were in effect in the 90's and business did ok back then. If new taxes were going into effect it would be one thing. Obamacare may well be a tax but why are you not providing your employees with some type of health care coverage? It's not like you have to pay 100% of the premium. Or is it you don't want health insurance for yourself?

Why this is why . You just can't keep dumping on business it will push back . This company is looking at a 2K per month fine for no health insurance times 18000 employee
Hostess Brands, the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said it has sought court permission to go out of business after failing to get wage and benefit cuts from thousands of its striking bakery workers.

Hostess said a national strike by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that began last week had crippled its ability to produce and deliver products at several facilities.

The liquidation of the company will mean that most of its 18,500 employees will lose their jobs, Hostess said on Friday.

The 82-year-old company said it took the decision to shut down after determining that not enough employees had returned to work by a deadline on Thursday.

The company, which filed for bankruptcy in January for the second time since 2004, said it had filed a motion with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in White Plains, New York, for permission to shut down and sell assets.

The Irving, Texas, company has 565 distribution centers and 570 bakery outlet stores, as well as the 33 bakeries. Its brands include Wonder, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Drake's, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita, but it is probably best known for Twinkies -- basically a cream-filled sponge cake.

"We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," Chief Executive Gregory Rayburn said in a statement.

"Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders," Rayburn added.

Union President Frank Hurt said on Thursday that the crisis at the company was the "result of nearly a decade of financial and operational mismanagement" and that management was trying to make union workers the scapegoats for a plan by Wall Street investors to sell Hostess.

Hostess said its debtor-in-possession lenders had agreed to allow the it to continue to have access to $75 million to fund the wind-down process.

"There's no way to soften the fact that this will hurt every Hostess Brands employee. All Hostess Brands employees will eventually lose their jobs - some sooner than others," Rayburn said in a letter to employees.

The company has canceled all orders in process with its suppliers and said any product in transit would be returned to the shipper.

In its filing with the court, the company said it would have incurred a loss of between $7.5 million and $9.5 million from November 9 to November 19 in lost sales and increased costs.

"These losses and other factors, including increased vendor payment terms contraction, have resulted in a significant weakening of the debtors' cash position and, if continued, would soon result in the debtors completely running out of cash," it said.

Hostess had already reached agreement on pay and benefit cuts with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, its largest union.

[chaard]

I'm so pissed over this. It should be illegal to force a company out of business via strikes, especially when its in bankruptcy court.

I only like Wonder bread.

They also make Butternut and Homepride.
Are we going to have a bread shortage?

[hvacker]

Ya can't have it both ways. Corporate CEO's fail and point fingers at the workers that made none of their stupid decisions. The conservative spokesperson Romney who so many here supported would have said "Let them go bankrupt. Now your saying NO, No it's the workers fault, don't let a mismanaged company fail.
Industries so often blame workers when they fail to peddle their products. When workers get $crewed their only recourse is often to strike. Unless the "Right To Work For Less" State has stripped them of that right and spent a fortune bad mouthing Unions.
You make it sound like the workers want to loose their jobs. That's ridiculous. Many corporate execs bleed the companies of capital then look for an excuse for their shareholders.
Papa John Pizza sold his fear tactic before the election about BO care. Then the bean counters reported BO care would raise Papa John pizza 11-14 cents. Scary huh.
We have companies going bankrupt and collecting bonuses at the same time.
Often strikes are not about money but watching mismanagement $crew you out of your job.
I hope the American worker wakes up to the fact that w/o a union, they have NO voice. Things you enjoy as a worker like a forty hour work week, minimum wage, job safety and more, all courtesy of Unions.
What the Union President said was likely the problem all along. Many corporates suffer under excutive greed.

[hvacker]

What's ironic is that a majority of the people who voted Obama in will be the ones getting screwed the hardest by him. Which are lower to middle income people blaming the rich. They think they get healthcare, but instead get no healthcare and their hours cut. As Romney said during the first debate to Obama, it doesn't matter who is president, the rich will be rich and nothing we do will really affect them. They will find ways around it. I think that statement spoke volumes.

Don't you realize that the way health care is costing you and businesses in not sustainable. The business of health care is being pulled apart by for profit hospitals that want to fill beds and insurance co. that want to make money. Americans are in the middle. The present model costs business way too much and w/o a solution the sky's the limit.
Law says you need to buy car insurance, Social Security, Medicare. Experience will tell you that's money well spent. Some might say we shouldn't be forced to pay for any of it. You really need to give those ideas more thought. Today, all of us that buy insurance get to pay for those that don't or won't. I don't like that! BTW, the BOcare fine is still a lot less than most health insurance costs. So many that $itch about BOCare are getting theirs through employers and don't think it costs them. Bennies are bucks. If you are getting health coverage the cost is in your bottom line.
I hope if businesses place workers on part time to avoid being responsible the congress readdresses what part time is. Business shouldn't be allowed to "Pull A Walmart" to avoid their responsibility.

[bmathews]

Don't you realize that the way health care is costing you and businesses in not sustainable. The business of health care is being pulled apart by for profit hospitals that want to fill beds and insurance co. that want to make money. Americans are in the middle. The present model costs business way too much and w/o a solution the sky's the limit.
Law says you need to buy car insurance, Social Security, Medicare. Experience will tell you that's money well spent. Some might say we shouldn't be forced to pay for any of it. You really need to give those ideas more thought. Today, all of us that buy insurance get to pay for those that don't or won't. I don't like that! BTW, the BOcare fine is still a lot less than most health insurance costs. So many that $itch about BOCare are getting theirs through employers and don't think it costs them. Bennies are bucks. If you are getting health coverage the cost is in your bottom line.
I hope if businesses place workers on part time to avoid being responsible the congress readdresses what part time is. Business shouldn't be allowed to "Pull A Walmart" to avoid their responsibility.

What is WalMart's responsibility and who gets to define it? What if I want to define it, or you, or my neighbor or my grandmother? Who gets to assign the responsibility to the person providing the definition? Guess what, the Walton's own Walmart and can do as they wish with their business. Nobody is forcing anybody to buy from them or work for them. When nobody works for them or buys from them, then they will change their business model or shut down. Just like the Twinkie maker did. It's free market. It fixes itself. Gov't just delays the inevitable.

[Roncool]

Ya can't have it both ways. Corporate CEO's fail and point fingers at the workers that made none of their stupid decisions. The conservative spokesperson Romney who so many here supported would have said "Let them go bankrupt. Now your saying NO, No it's the workers fault, don't let a mismanaged company fail.
Industries so often blame workers when they fail to peddle their products. When workers get $crewed their only recourse is often to strike. Unless the "Right To Work For Less" State has stripped them of that right and spent a fortune bad mouthing Unions.
You make it sound like the workers want to loose their jobs. That's ridiculous. Many corporate execs bleed the companies of capital then look for an excuse for their shareholders.
Papa John Pizza sold his fear tactic before the election about BO care. Then the bean counters reported BO care would raise Papa John pizza 11-14 cents. Scary huh.
We have companies going bankrupt and collecting bonuses at the same time.
Often strikes are not about money but watching mismanagement $crew you out of your job.
I hope the American worker wakes up to the fact that w/o a union, they have NO voice. Things you enjoy as a worker like a forty hour work week, minimum wage, job safety and more, all courtesy of Unions.
What the Union President said was likely the problem all along. Many corporates suffer under excutive greed.

really do you really think corporations want to fail really they want to go out of business. Do you really think the big bad CEO wants his nane in the same light of a bankrupcy. All companies are faced with challenages from all sides . Romney wanted to void Obama care because he saw it was another burden on companies and in some cases the last straw. he ran a company or two. He understood we could improve our health care without socializing the whole system . This was all avoidable had the election went the other way. Obama care was and is bad even in a good economy. Liberal agendas are sending thousands of pink slips out as we speak in the coal industry . 18,500 at hostessl and 5000 layed off coal workers. those are facts those are real people . So unless you can point to how the great leader is saving our economy with real facts , not sound bits and good speaches and platitudes then shut up sit down and just see what a mess this country is, and will be as long as Jobs keep evaporating. We just substituted the trickle down theory, that is factories close then the town shops dry up .

[behappy]

Timely post.....

Just yesterday I went to an appliance parts house. I have been knowing these guys for about 30 years.
8 months ago they were bought out buy a larger chain. 2 weeks after the election they were told no more O.T., a couple of the guys were put on part time and the company paid health insurance is no more, zip....

I truly believe a lot of companies will follow suit.
CHANGE H o p e ........

[energy star]

Yeah I rather some rich ahole crap on his employees by NOT providing health insurance so he can shower himself with new boats and houses, then when an employee gets sick they can meander their way to the emergency room so WE can all pay for it.

[bmathews]

Yeah I rather some rich ahole crap on his employees by NOT providing health insurance so he can shower himself with new boats and houses, then when an employee gets sick they can meander their way to the emergency room so WE can all pay for it.

As I said previously, if you don't like what an employer has to offer, no one is forcing you to work there. If nobody will work there, the business owner will be forced to change their policies or shut down. It takes care of itself.

[energy star]

Exactly

[flanders]

How can you say something like that. Most people who cannot handle reality end up committing suicide. You act as if 4 years is an eternity. First thing I would recommend is to move out of California. After that I would just disconnect from the internet, sell my TV's and radio's and live a simpler life.

You're assuming that he plans on leaving in 4 years. I wouldn't bet on that!