Brit theToady

On O'Rielly tonight Brit Hume said that if the Republicans back down and compromise on the budget bill in Wisconsin that this will give a black eye to the cause. He did not say, the Republican cause, but the cause. Can you imagine Huntley, Brinkley, Cronkite, Jennings, Brokaw, Chancellor, Rather or any of the broadcasters who took journalism seriously, so closely identifying themselves with this kind of political issue.

Their biggest mistake, in my opinion, is their conceit. They are so sure they are right and that their opponents are weak and powerless that they are going to do and say the most outrageous things. Our country will continue to be tortured, but they will continue to go too far due to their hubris and this will be their undoing.

Causes and Culprits

From Common Dreams...

Energized by the images of Wisconsinites night after winter night —and filling the state Capitol with chants of “What’s disgusting? Union busting!”—unions across the country are beginning to outline clear and uncompromising agendas for defending public services and the rights of public workers.

One of the strongest statements has come from Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, who explained “what all working families should know:”

1. Who caused the economic crisis? Banks, Wall Street speculators, mortgage lenders, global corporations shifting jobs from the U.S. overseas.
2. Who is profiting in the recession? Corporate profits, 3rd quarter of 2010, were $1.6 trillion, 28 percent higher than the year before, the biggest one-year jump in history. Meanwhile, average wages and total wages have fallen for all incomes, except the wealthiest Americans whose income grew five-fold.
3. Who is not paying their fair share? In U.S. states facing a budget shortfall, revenues from corporate taxes have declined $2.5 billion in the last year. In Wisconsin, two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes, and the share of state revenue from corporate taxes has fallen by half since 1981. Nationally, according to a General Accountability Study out today, 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.
4. Are public employees overpaid? State workers typically earn 11 percent less, local public workers 12 percent less than private employees with comparable education and experience. Nationally, cutting the federal payroll in half would reduce spending by less than 3 percent.
5. Would pay and benefit concessions by public employees stop the demands?The right has made it clear it wants A- cuts in public pay, pensions, and health benefits, followed by B- restricting collective bargaining for public sector workers, followed by C- prohibiting public sector unions.
6. Will the right be troubled if cuts in working standards make it harder to recruit teachers and other public servants? No. Take public teachers, many of whom have accepted wage freezes and other cuts in recent years. Many in the right have a fairly open goal of privatizing education, and destabilizing public schools serves this purpose. The right also salutes the shredding of government workforce, part of its overall goal to gut all government service and make it harder to crack down on corporate abuses or implement other public protections and services.
7. Will the right stop at curbing public workers rights? Employers across the U.S. are demanding major concessions from private sector workers, and breaking unions. Rightwing governors and state legislators are seeking new laws to restrict union rights for all private and public employees.
8. Does everyone have a stake in this fight? Yes. It’s an old axiom that the rise in living standards for the middle class in the 1950s was the direct result of a record rate of unionization in America. It is of course unions that won the eight-hour day, weekends off, and many other standards all Americans take for granted that are now often threatened with the three-decade-long attack on unions spurred by that rightwing icon Ronald Reagan. The corollary is that increased wages and guaranteed pensions put money into the economy, with a ripple effect that creates jobs and spurs the economy for all.

Mr. Rogers

The Courage to Teach a Senator.
This reminds me of Frank McCourt in Teacher Man.

100,000 Rally in Wisconsin...

...and thousands in state capitols across the country.

Shame

The Republicans are wrong on so many levels it staggers the imagination. Public employees making on average ~$50,000 a year are accused of being fat cats. Wall Street drove the economy into the ground and not a single person has been prosecuted. The Bush tax cuts have been in effect for over ten years and deregulation is the Republican gospel. If this is such powerful medicine for the economy, where are the jobs? Robert Reich is right; tax the rich. The more you make the higher your tax rate should be. The rich will still be rich and everyone will benefit.

The moves in several states to eliminate collective bargaining rights have nothing to do with economics and everything to do with politics and 2012. They want to eliminate the political clout of unions and take the Senate and the country.

Scott Walker in the fake call with "David Koch" said that he would agree to meet with the Democratic Senators who left the state to prevent a vote on the union-busting bill. Talking implies good faith communication. In this unguarded conversation he said the only purpose for the meeting would be to get the Senators to come back from Illinois so the state senate could vote and pass his bill unchanged. No negotiation, no compromise, no real talk, just the power of the majority to have its way.

Early in the wee hours of this morning the Wisconsin state house Republicans called a vote and passed the legislation without even enough time for all the Democrats to vote and then left the chamber.

What Do Teachers Make

Tell Us What You Really Think

This is a Wisconsin Badger!

Running the Show

• Corporations are sitting on 2 trillion dollars and not hiring.
• Our leaders cut taxes for the rich by 800 billion.

The pump seems to be primed (according to Republican economic philosophy).

• Cut funding for home heating oil for the poor and make seniors pay taxes on their pensions.
• Eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Who is running this show?

Legitimacy?

Wisconsin voters protesting the effort to abolish their collective bargaining rights.







The Brooks Brothers riot in 2000.

Republican congressional operatives flown in from Washington D.C. to thwart Florida state law and stop the recount of votes in the presidential election.

Norma Rae

A point is reached from which there is no going back.

Solidarity Forever

We praise it in Poland, Egypt and elsewhere.

There is Power in a Union

Obama says Wisconsin proposal unduly harsh. Unduly harsh? Unduly harsh! Harsh this.

The governor spent over a hundred million dollars in order to intentionally create this crisis and crush the union movement in Wisconsin. Just how harsh should he be? Snark.

Can You Spell A-g-e-n-d-a

Rahm Emanuel is ignorant or a liar. Watch. Vote.