The Supply Chain
I’ve been working on this article for weeks, but the deeper I dig, I find that it's a series of malfeasance of office steps and poor policy decisions by, primarily, Nancy Pelosi and her allies. The original version is filled with reliable references, but it’s a lousy narrative. It quickly gets too complex for an average person to follow. The problem goes back to California Assembly Bill 5, which required that all contract workers be converted to employees with benefits. It was aimed at Uber, Lyft and Door Dash, but they got another bill passed to exempt themselves. That leaves the unintended consequences, truck drivers.
Most truck drivers work for a different company with every load, and LTL drivers work for multiple companies at one time. There's no employer who can be forced to fire them. There are brokers, but they were never structured to hire every truck driver. Nearly all drivers have had infection-derived immunity and refuse shots. So, they cannot move the containers from the port. Numbers are dwindling, and they charge whatever they can get. There's no alternative in California. And, the nationwide Longshoreman's Union makes the Teamsters look like a Little Sisters of the Poor Charity. Every longshoreman is paid every day to work, but only the most junior members actually have to show up. In the non-California ports on the West Coast, drivers are reluctant to enter Portland and Seattle due to Defund the Police. Same applies to New York, Baltimore, Chicago and most other ports.
When Biden threw away energy independence, there was no fuel. Without inflation, sellers were able to price based on acquisition cost. With inflation, currently running at 5.4%, sellers have to price based on replacement costs, which are always uncertain. Instant supply chain catastrophe that Progressives will never own, thus can’t solve. Now Biden has to blame We The People, or face up to the fact that “Progressives” created the problem.
All of this is worsened by refusal to look at data, insisting on shots without ever considering infection-induced immunity. And refusing to consider treatments, censoring people who talk about treatments costing less than $8K/patient. See here, and here, and here.
It is further exacerbated by the Great Resignation, referring to the phenomenon whereby literally millions of people resign or simply walk away from their jobs.
This is a catastrophe that will require at least until 2024 to resolve. That’s the time of the next presidential election. Invoking the 25th Amendment or even impeaching the President will do no good. The next two in line for the Presidency are Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi. Even on his worst day, Joe Biden is still a better choice than either of them.
Drivers appear to be the key factor. They have a lot of regulations to deal with. Given the situation they work based on the loads. If they truck from CA, where's the return load? So deadhead means they must get double compensation just to move empty trucks. Independants won't operate in CA, again due to regulation. The government needs to move quickly but government can't, so the problem simply stacks until they do move. Politicians can never admit mistake so they need some way to save face. Wonder if the DOJ can issue an federal override order? Call out the Guard to drive? A mess they created!
Great line: "Longshoreman's Union makes the Teamsters look like a Little Sisters of the Poor Charity." Thank you...I hadn't quite figured out why this was happening though I knew it was happening.