The 1 percent killed Twinkies

[marmar]

from Salon.com:


Vulture capitalism — not unions — killed Twinkies
Hedge funds took profits and piled on millions in debt at Hostess. They created this bankruptcy, not unions

By Jake Blumgart


As the final Twinkies, Sno-Balls and those glowing orange cupcakes were stuffed with cream and wrapped in cellophane on Friday, the business world and much of the news media knew who was to blame for this dying American icon. It was the unions.

The Wall Street Journal described the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union as “The union that brought the 85-year-old baker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread to its knees.” Over at RedState, a headline tried to mix anti-union sentiment with conservative humor: “The Demise of Twinkies? Yes, It’s True. Parasitic Unions Kill Their Hosts (or, in this case, Hostess).”

As Hostess moved to end its operations last week — a bankruptcy judge asked the company Monday to try mediation with its unions; those talks are scheduled to begin today — commentators were eager to blame the rigidity of unions.

But the story is far more complicated than that — and in some ways, the exact opposite of the tale pushed by those on the right. It’s the story of two bankruptcies, hundreds of millions of givebacks from Hostess unions and hundreds of millions of debt piled onto the company by venture capitalists. It’s a story of management that boosted its own salaries, while failing to make agreed payments into workers’ pension funds. And it’s a story of changing tastes and diets. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2012/11/20/vulture_capitalism_not_unions_killed_twinkies/

[RKP5637]

1. K&R !!! K&R !!! K&R !!! K&R !!! K&R !!! n/t

[CurtEastPoint]

2. And yet on local radio this AM ('all news', not RW) it was the unions fault.

I hate the lies that get spread as truth.

[99Forever]

3. These corporate fuckers have no shame..

... or concern for anything other than lining their own pockets. This is the story across the Nation.

There is a storm brewing. A big, destructive, unstoppable storm. A global storm CAUSED by the 1%, may they all rot in Hell.

[RKP5637]

4. It is Global, people are really getting fed up with the corporate freeloaders that are

parasites on all of the rest of us the world over.

[99Forever]

6. I personally believe...

.. that this "austerity" horsecrap will be the spark that ignites The Revolution. There are literally millions of us that have NOTHING left to lose and our numbers grow larger every day. The day reckoning will come.

[RKP5637]

7. Yep! "Austerity" is just another excuse to plunder the majority of humans the world over. I'm really

tired of the bullshit and it seems I'm far from being alone.

[RKP5637]

8. Also, Capitalism is obsolete for the 21st century. It's an obsolete system that by default

handsomely rewards the few and screws the rest ... and today, with leveraged money over the past couple of centuries, many of those at the top of the pyramid are nothing but freeloaders. They often got where they are by someone else's effort and initiative. That said, a lot of the other 'isms' are pretty bad too, but we need a better system designed for the 21st century and for the future, not for just the freeloaders at the top of the pyramid that SH** on everyone else. Capitalism rewards some of the worst of human nature.

[99Forever]

9. Couldn't agree more.

For one thing, (not that I know how to accomplish it) we have to stop believing that greed is good and that caring and helping our fellow human beings is a sign of weakness. Generational wealth is killing this Nation and in a larger sense, the ecology of the entire planet. How those at the top of the pyramid think that somehow it won't affect them, is impossible for a sane person to understand.

[Gigabiting]

5. irreplaceable Twinkies

However you feel about them, Twinkies are irreplaceable.
You can try to bake some cream-filled sponge cakes at home, but there's just nothing like the real thing.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Twinkies, David Leavitt, Vice President of Snack Marketing for Hostess attempted to describe their special magic:

Deconstructing the Twinkie is like trying to deconstruct the universe. Some people look at the sky and think it’s beautiful; others try to count the stars.

http://gigabiting.com/the-80-year-old-twinkie/