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You want a rant? THIS is going to be a rant!

I absolutely came unglued this morning on my way to work. Something that I already knew suddenly stop and go, WHAT?!? The construction workers working on I-290 are on strke. What I suddenly noticed this morning...or paid attention to, for the first time time in 112 days...was the signage that lets all the motorists know that the project is funded by the "Community Re-investment Act of 2009." You remember this...the government gave away $589B of our tax money (that's $4,496 per taxpayer, if you're one to do the math) to projects and pork-barrels in an attempt to jump-start the economy. I *still* say that giving each taxpayer that amount in a refund check would have cost the same amount, except that the money *actually* would have been spent jump-starting the economy....but I digress....
In Chicago, hundreds of millions of it are being spent to repave the least needy expressway that we have. What suddenly pushed me over the edge is this. Here are hundreds of workers who were, because of the recession, assumedly unemployed. So, their company is given hundreds of millions of dollars to put them back to work and what do they do? work? be happy to have a job? no...they STRIKE. Now, at this point, I honestly want to go get every one of them a nice big glass of shut-the-hell-up. Pick up your shovel, quit crying like a school-girl and go earn your paycheck. Because, quite frankly, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who would take your job in a heartbeat if it were offered to them...not to mention, Arizona would *happily* ship out their illegal immigrants that the Federal Government is so gung-ho on protecting at the costs of its own citizens.
Now, before I get pegged as anti-union, let me tell you that I am not anti- or pro- anything when it comes to labor. I believe that investors (business owners) have a right to get a return on their investment, and I believe that a worker has the right to be compensated for their efforts. An imbalance of power on *either* side is equally destructive.
I just don't understand the need to push...in this economy...for anything more than is being offered. Most of us have gotten little or no raise in the past 2 years. Many of us have actually taken pay cuts. I hope that these lazy workers are replaced and unemployed. See how well THAT pays....