Posts filed under ‘Unions’
Tea Party Rally Thursday — Pay Attention to Your TV
Calling all news and media junkies:
The political movement that drove a busload of freshman lawmakers into office last fall will be revving up small-government feelings again this Thursday.
The Tea Party Patriots want to encourage Congress to keep pressing the pedal down on budget cuts with a noon rally on Capitol Hill.
“Members of Congress have abandoned their service to the people by passing continuing resolutions instead of cutting the $100 billion budget,” said Tea Party Patriot representatives Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin.
Tea Party notables Michelle Backman and Mike Pence will be on hand to ratchet up support. The gathering will take place at the Robert A. Taft Memorial, northwest of the Capitol building.
Let’s pay attention to the “news” on the “liberal media” Thursday and watch for coverage of this event, bearing in mind that when 80,000 to 100,000 people gathered in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, March 5 there was literally no coverage on either MSNBC, CNN or Fox. No, I didn’t watch all day but I flipped around throughout the afternoon and didn’t see a thing.
If the “liberal media” lands on Thursday’s rally and gives it many minutes or even hours of coverage, especially if there are only a few hundred people there, be prepared to be pissed.
American Corporatocracy 2011
This headline just about sums it up as to life in the United States, circa 2011: After Paying Zero Income Taxes, GE Plans To Ask Its Union Workers To Make Wage And Benefits Concessions.
Last week, the New York Times reported that, despite making $14.2 billion in profits, General Electric, the largest corporation in the United States, paid zero U.S. taxes in 2010 and actually received tax credits of $3.2 billion dollars. The article noted that GE’s tax avoidance team is comprised of “former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.”
After not paying any taxes and making huge profits, ThinkProgress has learned that General Electric is expected to ask its nearly 15,000 unionized employees in the United States to make major concessions.
This year, 14 unions representing more than 15,000 workers will negotiate a new master contract with General Electric. Among the major concessions GE has signaled that it will ask of union workers is the elimination of a defined contribution benefit pension for new employees, a move the company has already implemented for its non-union salaried employees. Likewise, GE is signaling to the union that it will ask for the elimination of current health insurance plans in favor of lower quality health saving accounts, a move the company has already implemented for non-union salaried employees as well.
In addition, General Electric may ask some workers for a wage freeze…
The reason the righties are vilifying unions is in part so their buddies in high places can do what GE wants to do here and the public (hopefully) won’t care because damn those union workers. They’re overpaid spoiled brats. Thing is, if this story comes to the fore in the “liberal media,” they’ll leave out a critical fact – the part about GE paying zero taxes and getting a $3.2 billion dollar credit (which means our tax dollars made up the difference).
It’ll be all about the supposedly coddled union workers.
The Fake David Koch — Ian Murphy — Is Running for Congress
Yep, Ian Murphy, the proprietor of the BuffaloBeast.com and the guy who pranked Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a few weeks ago in a phone call during which he pretended to be the anti-worker zillionaire, David Koch, is running for a seat in the House of Representatives.
He’s running as a Green Party candidate in New York’s 26th Congressional District. Here’s his campaign website: MurphyCanHasCongress.com.
He’s an introductory video Murphy released on Wednesday. Lighthearted yes, but hey, I agree with everything he says:
I’m angry about where this country’s going. And I’m angry about where the Republicans and the Democrats are taking it.
I’m angry that the only people with a voice in this country are those who can afford it.
And I’m angry that the billionaires create their wealth not through a hard day’s work, but by stealing from those who do.
I’m angry that not one Wall Street crook has gone to jail for wrecking the economy.
I’m angry that we’re still wasting vast treasure and lives on foolish military occupations.
I’m angry because my campaign manager thought I should wear this goofy sweater.
Here’s the audio of that now-famous call to Walker, Wisconsin’s little punk of a governor:
Good luck Ian. You’ve got guts.
(Thanks Scott!)
When a Tree Falls in the Forest…
Hey, did you hear about the big pro-union demonstration in Los Angeles yesterday? Me neither.
Christina House / L.A. Times / March 26, 2011
Alarmed by recent union losses in a Wisconsin labor battle, thousands of organized workers marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, vowing to fight a similar fate here in cash-strapped California.
Police estimated between 5,000 and 8,000 people attended the protest, which ended in a packed rally at Pershing Square. The event comes in response to the Wisconsin Legislature’s approval of a bill this month that curtails the collective bargaining rights of many unions and follows a weeks-long battle.
Marchers cheered speakers such as Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa; Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; and Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin.
Now, we all know if 5,000 to 8,000 Tea Partiers rallied, that story would be told and retold all weekend long by the ah, liberal media.
(H/t Cathy.)
The F-Word?
When is it OK to use the F-word?
Now?
Now?
Now?
Geez Louise! All of the above!
Happy Friday (thank a union).
(Thanks NA.)
Paul LePage — Follow the Crazy
Follow the goings on of Maine’s crazy Republican Governor, Paul LePage (yikes, is he French?!) here, at the best website I’ve found for that, Maine Political Pulse.
Paul LePage, Maine’s Republican Governor, Orders Mural Celebrating Workers Removed
Wow. I’m almost speechless at the ruthlessness of the Republicans: Not only do they want to take away things that benefit the middle and working class, they want to erase from our collective memory the history of the labor movement (you know, winning the right to a weekend, etc.) — including that of Rosie the Riveter:
Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting Maine’s labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor.
Acting labor chief Laura Boyett emailed staff Tuesday about the mural’s pending removal, as well as another administration directive to rename several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons such as Cesar Chavez.
According to LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt, the administration felt the mural and the conference room monikers showed “one-sided decor” not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals.
[...]
The 11-panel piece depicts several moments, including the 1937 shoe mill strike in Auburn and Lewiston, “Rosie the Riveter” at Bath Iron Works, and the paper mill workers’ strike of 1986 in Jay.
This is verging on scary. They want to rewrite history and to leave gains made by the working class out of it. They don’t want us to know or remember that we have power.
This reminds me of the Taliban blowing up ancient statues of Buddha in Afghanistan. Erase memory. Erase history.
Obama: Launch a War Against Republicans!
Mr. Change We Can Believe In hasn’t ended the war in Afghanistan. He hasn’t ended the war in Iraq.
Wooha! WTF — he invaded Libya today.
War, war, war.
Obama: How about launching a war against the Koch brothers and the insane things Republicans have up their sleeve, like this, for God’s sake.
As for this Libya thing and rallying your base, it’s a ginormous — GINORMOUS (love that word) — fail.
Gov. Scott Walker Loses Round #1
Quickie update:
Wisconsin Judge Blocks Anti-Union Law.
This is going to take months if not years to work its way through the courts. A lot of things could happen in the interim — like Republicans buying judges who will vote in Walker’s favor.
(Image via.)
Republicans Gearing Up to Destroy Recall Effort in Wisconsin
Recall Battle in Wisconsin
I predict the recall fight in Wisconsin is going to be the nastiest we’ve seen yet in American politics. The corporations are going to fight with everything they have (meaning billions of dollars) because if the people win, it will set a precedent for the rest of the country and they sure as hell don’t want that:
Here’s another sign that some folks may be getting mighty nervous about the Dem drives to recall Wisconsin GOP state senators: I’m told that a major national Republican polling firm is in the field in the state testing some hard-core anti-union messages, including ones about how pro-union forces targeted a GOP state senator with death threats. It’s another sign that the Wisconsin standoff has escalated further into a protracted, high-stakes national war.
I was unable to obtain the exact wording of the poll, but the source, who is familiar with the line of questioning, confirmed to me that it was testing messages asking whether recipients’ opinions would be changed by the following:
* The fact that union sympathizers have given Darling death threats
* The fact that the recall is being funded by out-of-state unions
* The fact that the highest paid public employee in Madison is a bus driver who made nearly $160,000 a year
* The fact that unions used collective bargaining to try to get Viagra
Again, these are approximations, but they’re telling nonetheless. The bus driver in question, of course, is the famed Madison driver who earned roughly $160,000 in 2009 thanks to union-negotiated rules allowing drivers with the most seniority to snap up lots of overtime — rules that have now been changed. The Viagra reference is to a recent effort — which has since been dropped — by Milwaukee teachers who went to court to get health coverage for the drug.
Obama’s “Union Goons”
Last week I posted about the glacial pace of the fundraising of the PAC, the “Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama.”
They have continued to fundraise since then, but today their email included the ad they’re trying to raise money to air. Here it is:
This is a classic case of tragically uninformed, misinformed brainwashed working people supporting causes that are diametrically opposed to their own interests.
If there are any “thugs” and “goons” in this story, Governor Walker — he’s a quintessential little punk — reigns supreme.
Maybe a day will come when the Tea Partiers realize that this isn’t about Democrats versus Republicans. It’s about the corporatocracy versus all of us.
And may I remind you of this ad released on March 1
by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democracy for America. Compare and contrast the two. Seems to me it’s pretty clear the Progressive Change people — the “thug” and “goon” crowd — have the people’s interests at heart.
About That $160,000 Bus Driver
The $160,000 bus driver is the 21st Century version of the welfare queen driving to the unemployment office in a Cadillac:
(Image via.)
Wisconsin GOP state senator Randy Hopper — a top target of the Dems’ recall drive — is running a new ad that slams public employees by decrying a “union bus driver in Madison making $160,000 a year.”
[...]
Mich Rusch, a spokesman for Metro Transit for the city of Madison, tells me: “It’s not fair to point to public employees as being overpaid based on this situation.”
Here are the details, as provided by Rusch. The driver, John Nelson, was able to earn $160,000 in 2009 not because of his annual salary, but because he worked a huge amount of overtime hours. He was able to do this because of previous rules, negotiated by Teamsters local 695, that allowed drivers with most seniority — and the highest salaries — to rack up large amounts of overtime. As a result, in 2009, Nelson worked 1,896 hours of straight time. And he added on a whopping 2,012 hours of overtime. This, not the exorbitant salary public employees supposedly enjoy, is what accounts for his huge haul that year.
Is Nelson overpaid? Starting bus drivers in Madison earn $17 per hour. Nelson has been working as a driver for 36 years, and his salary in 2009 was up to $26 per hour. There are other ways a bus driver can rack up more money, such as working at night or on vacation days, but all in all, his basline salary has not gone up that much . When working overtime he earns roughly $39 per hour. This, after working this job for nearly four decades.
But wait, it gets better. It turns out that pointing to Nelson as an example of what’s wrong with public employee unions is thoroughly bogus in another way. According to Rusch, the city of Madison went to the bus drivers union last year and told them the rules allowing the highest-paid bus drivers to snap up the most overtime were a major problem for them. Turns out the union agreed, and renegotiated a deal to limit overtime in a way that has left Metro Transit happy. And guess what: That deal was negotiated through collective bargaining.
Folks, if a Republican is talking, s/he’s lying.
Hey, $cott Walker
Billionaire Koch brothers funded a politician…
This video via The Political Carnival’s BLUNT.
See more BLUNT videos (“a lot like letters to the editor”) here.
What a great idea.
Madison Twitpics
I Googled “Madison Twitpics” tonight, looking for pictures of Madison, as in Madison, Wisconsin on twitter. This Madison:
This is what I got:
USA! USA! USA!
MSNBC Airing a One-Hour Special on Charlie Sheen
MSNBC is airing (7:00 p.m. ET) a one-hour special on Charlie Sheen. Ratings over the biggest news in the country today.
SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
The next time I hear someone say MSNBC is a raging liberal channel I’m going to,
SCREAM!
The Corporate Media Had No Time For This Today
(Via.)
(Via.)
That said, here’s where we are on March 12, 2011 in the United States of America:
.
The “Wisconsin 14″ Returning to Madison Tomorrow
The 14 Democrats who “fled” to Illinois a few weeks ago will return to Madison tomorrow, to join what could be hundreds of farmers on tractors who are still planning on making some major noise tomorrow even though Governor Walker signed the anti-collective bargaining bill today (in secret, because he’s a chicken shit punk).
The optics of this could be very, very dramatic. Can’t wait to see how much coverage it gets from the “liberal media.” (I’m not holding my breath.)
Governor Walker — What Are You Afraid Of? Sign That Bill
John Nichols was on TheEdShow just now and he made a good point: Why didn’t Governor Walker, the dictator of #FritzWalkerStan, sign that anti-worker bill immediately after it passed the Republican-controlled Wisconsin assembly today?
Per Nichols, he’s “huddling with his lawyers” because he knows what he’s doing is against the law.
That’s why.
He’s huddling with Fox News, the Koch brothers, John Boehner, the Chamber of Commerce, Newt and Karl, et al — crafting the spin — before he signs it — so they’ll all be on the same page: Against us.
Frightened Workers in Wisconsin
I came across this tweet a few minutes ago and I thought hey, I’ve got a blog so why not help tell the story.
So sad:
From this day forward, I hope the whole country understands that to vote Republican — never mind the glitzy ads that promise morning in America — means to vote for quashing workers — their rights and their wages — and creating a system that allows for unlimited corporate profit.
For example, do you want your Republican-run government to have the power to fire your democratically elected city council and turn the management of your city or town over to oh say, Halliburton? Blackwater (now deceptively known as “Xe“)? Or GE?
That’s the reality in Michigan as of yesterday.
Think about it.
The Coup in Madison Will Not Be Televised
Here is a YouTube video posted by BrendaKonkel of members of the media in the anteroom of the Wisconsin capitol being turned away today.
I like it because it captures the tension as well as the positive energy inside the building but also the difficult position the poor State Troopers are in. They’re caught in the middle of this whole thing, which must be so tough on them.
(I was grooving on the music for about a minute until it started driving me nuts. Can’t imagine listening to that all day.)
The larger issue here of course is that Governor Muammar Walker is trying to control the message (it’s commonly referred to as propaganda) — he doesn’t want media outlets showing video of protesters chanting SHAME!, SHAME!, SHAME! while he and his fellow Republicans complete their coup d’etat.
People Power in Madison
You won’t see this on the “liberal media:”
People power in Madison, live, right now. Listen. Watch. Pay attention.
Wisconsin is Pissed
This is what the “liberal media” doesn’t want you to see or hear:
Live from Madison.
Don’t forget: A riot is the language of the unheard. MLK.
The Coup Will be Televised
The corporate coup will be televised. Not on the “liberal media” but on twitter @ wiunion and solidaritywi.
(Image via.)
Wisconsin Repubs Pass Anti-Collective Bargaining Bill
Per TPM:
The special conference committee in Wisconsin – convened in order to strip out the fiscal elements of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, in order to pass the anti-public employee union proposals and avoid the state SenateDemocratic boycott of the three-fifths budget quorum — just met for roughly five minutes and passed the bill.
Shorter: Republicans needed a quorum — those 14 Democrats who are in Illinois — to pass legislation having to do with budget issues. So they separated the collective bargaining issue from the budget legislation and voted it in.
Yep. They love democracy and they respect the law (more on that later — they violated it).
Fox’s spin (Democrats are the dirt bags of course):
Coup.
Wingers Are Fading Fast — Thank You Governor Walker
Here’s an update on the post I put up earlier today: Fundraising for the “Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama” Isn’t Going so Well:
I just got another email (@6:07 p.m. MT). The deadline for raising $50,000 has been extended, from (last) Sunday night to tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 7:00 p.m.
Ahaaaaaaaah. This is getting good. The wingers are scratching and clawing, trying to raise money but progressives are so pissed off — Thank. You. Governor. Walker. — (see posted linked to above) they’re shelling out buco bucks.
Fundraising for the “Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama” Isn’t Going So Well
I have been getting emails from the “Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama” for weeks now, most notably in the last few days. The organization is trying to rise $50,000 for ad buys in Wisconsin and the poor things are having a very hard time.
First of all, this is the masthead on their emails:
Now check out how the money-plea portion of their recent emails has morphed. The email below was sent on Sunday evening (received in my inbox at 7:55 p.m.). Note the last sentence asking for contributions of $25, $50 etc.
The email below was sent out late in the morning yesterday. It is “stamped” in my inbox as having been received at 11:04 a.m. Note the last two sentences, particularly the second one about 12 people donating money by “6 PM tonight” (meaning Monday night):
The below email was received at 12:58 p.m. yesterday. Note the last two sentences. Three people “stepped up” with $500 or more so the request is for “only 9 more patriots” to donate the big bucks.
The below email landed in my inbox at 7:11 p.m. last night. The number of people they need to donate $500 or more has gone from 9 (above) back up to 12.
And, last but not least, the email below just arrived (@3:24 p.m. MT). The number of people who they’re asking to donate $500 or more has risen to 15 and the deadline has been extended to tonight (Tuesday) at 10 PM.
Meanwhile, in contrast, yesterday, at 12:09 p.m., I received an email from DailyKos asking for contributions to the “Orange to Blue” campaign to support the recall effort against Republicans in Wisconsin.
As of this writing, “Orange to Blue” has raised $256,074.
Yet listening to the “liberal media,” you’d think the birthers and the anti-Obama crowd is the one with the big mo.
Pat Buchanan: Governor Walker is “Winning This Battle”
Is Pat Buchanan an idiot or does he think all of us are? Probably both. He was on Morning Joe today claiming that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is just an amazing guy because he’s “winning this battle.”
Winning this battle? Really?
●●● 68% of Wisconsin independents want Walker to compromise with Democrats.
●●● Six — count ‘em, six — separate polls show Walker losing on almost every front.
Too bad we don’t have a “news” media that refuses to give airtime to liars.
