There are a lot of people who said they could care less about the post voting system and also don’t understand all the noise that is being made about it, esp. in a dedicated thread that was opened about the use of duplicate IDs by one member for voting.
But the post voting system is a PUBLIC feature of this board, in contrast to the PM system and other features which are not intended for all to see. Activity under the post voting system is public and changes to the board make it even more so. Thus, it becomes all the more necessary to ask questions about why certain posters have such high levels of voting activity for or against one person just as it would be expected that text responses have to be defended. No one has to defend why they vote but because the voting system is public, neither should it be a surprise when someone does ask. The board has built in accountability into all of the public actions on the board – exactly what I support.
The reason why I am making an issue of it is because it has been apparent for a long time – well before the new board came online – that there were a handful of people who were responsible for the vast majority of my negative votes. Some of those same people then turned around and used my negative vote count as a tool to argue against my credibility.
I chose to create a second user ID solely to counter the impact of the negative votes that were coming from a handful of users since the board provided about a 4 or 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative posts. Some of these same people then howled with protest that I was using a second ID despite the fact that it is not against board rules for any member to do so (hope the board is ready for a wave of new ID requests).
I chose to further push the issue because some of these same people wanted to throw accountability back in my face, even while they continued their practice of using multiple IDs and voting down my posts en masse, even while they made a public spectacle of the fact that I had multiple IDs – to counter their own voting massive negative votes.
I don’t care about the reputation score. I weigh my reputation on the accuracy of what I say about the airline industry and whether it stands the test of time to be proven to be right or not.
But some people, particularly those who have posted statements about the industry which turned out to be wrong want to define credibility by the number of times they can push a red button AGAINST someone else – in other words, if you can’t compete in the market place of idea, discredit your opponent using what was once a secret voting process. But it is public now.
Once again, it is not against board rules to have more than one user ID, including to vote on other posts. You might question WHY someone would have two IDs, though, and when the evidence supports that a person has multiple IDs, then the question becomes why that person had multiple IDs.
I’ve posted my reasons.
As I suspected, though, I’m not the only one who has ever used a multiple ID, even if it is to vote.
And as I suspected, Eric, you have just admitted that you have had more than one ID on this site. Why did you do that, Eric? Was it perhaps that because as an employee of American Airlines there were things that you wanted to say that could reflect on American Airlines, or more significantly, you as their employee? Apparently it was ok for you to maintain two identities, one public and one private, so that you did not prejudice your position as an American Airlines employee yet you felt it was wrong that other people who chose not to use two IDs but instead use only one and speak from a position of anonymity. You in fact tried to out some people who didn’t use two IDs, posting confidential material.
So, let’s be clear that you used two IDs to post, even if years ago, since the voting system was only relatively recently added BUT you had a field day pointing out that someone else was using two IDs to vote? Do I have that right?
Eric, could you tell us the user ID that you once used? Can you also testify that you have not used that user ID to post or to vote with since you left AA, which would also happen to coincide with the time frame in which I returned to this board after several years as an inactive user? To reiterate, you haven’t used that ID EVEN ONCE in the past say, two to three years?
Tell you what. We can make it a whole lot easier for all of us.
You and I can just make this whole little issue go away IF you will:
1. Forever cease and desist any commentary regarding the use of multiple IDs since it would be hypocritical to expect something of someone else which you weren’t willing to do for yourself.
2. Cease and desist using that second ID for all purposes – or be willing to stand up to the reality that it is connected to you, and ultimately your other name on this forum, which you do use for professional purposes.
3. Recognize that this board exists for the exchange of ideas from all users and that what is said and done on the board is public; what is not said or not done on the public features of the board are private and need to stay there.
In return, together we will work to exchange ideas based on the level of disclosure each participant wants to provide – which is what internet forums are all about - and recognize that some of us have expertise in some areas while others have expertise in other areas.
I’ll not point out the inaccuracies of what others have said and will also tone down my own bragging about being right.
Fair?
Now moving on…..
Analysis of the Wisconsin voting results will take a long time, but I believe what it shows is that American voters are in fact realizing that there is a limit to what we as a country can spend to maintain social benefits. Pension benefits are extraordinarily costly, esp. in a period when stock markets are weak. It was precisely the roaring stock market of the late 1990s that made defined benefit plans cheap for employers… and that same weak and retreating stock market over the past 10 or so years has meant that companies have had to fund the majority of their DB benefits with cash because stock market returns weren’t providing much if anything to help.
I suspect analysis of the election will show that Americans are willing to say that DB benefits, like costly social programs, were great when we could afford them but have to be cut now that the economy doesn’t support them. Europe has made a lot more social promises and has a weaker economy; they are facing enormous social upheaval because unwinding those social promises are a whole lot harder than they are in the US.
If those pension/social programs have to be unwound, then the question becomes how best to do it to minimize impact on those who were promised benefits in the past and future as well as on those who are left holding the bill.
Specific to the airline industry, when UA and US filed for BK, it was much more difficult to restructure and save pensions and like the steel industry before, terminating pensions wasn’t unexpected – companies paid insurance to the PBGC to ensure that pensions would survive should a company fail.
DL and NW proved that it was possible to freeze rather than terminate most pensions and it could turn out to be better for the other creditors not to terminate the pensions, reducing the size of the claim against the company. Plus, there was less of a burden on employees who would have to keep working for the company after the reorg was completed.
Enter AA whose creditors are now trying to freeze rather than terminate all of their pensions, including the pilot pension which has a similar lump sum distribution feature to what doomed PMDL’s pilot pension.
I hope that AA can save ALL of its pensions, just as I hope that the voters in WI and every other state can figure out how to change FUTURE benefits while protecting accrued benefits….essentially a freeze. (likely) Based on what Signals has said, that is apparently the approach North Carolina has taken… a tiered approach to benefits that brings today’s workers in line with reality.
Of course it means that ensuring that those accrued benefits will still be paid has a price to the companies/societies that will remain faithful to their word. UA and US don’t have an obligation which DL has and AA might very well join DL as having those same obligations, perhaps covering their entire workforce.
AA and DL will either have to be more efficient in other costs and/or generate higher revenues in order to ensure they continue to support their frozen pension plans, instead of expecting the PBGC to do it, which might require a government bailout if another large company or two’s pensions are added to it.
It is then up to AA and DL to figure out how to ensure their business plan can support their remaining pension obligations. DL is taking the approach of limiting the amount of additional debt it takes on. AA’s business plan is still being developed…. That’s what happens in BK as they are able to cut some things but have to continue to work through others and make adjustments based on what doesn’t get cut.
Remaining faithful to promises that have been made is not easy and often times is much more costly than expecting someone else to pick up the tab.