Hullabaloo <http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/> Tuesday, February 22, 2011
American Infighting by digby Greg Sargent makes a point<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/02/why_wont_governor_walker_accep.html>that really can't be made enough: the Wisconsin public employee unions have already capitulated on all financial requests. They did so early on. What they will not give in on is their right to be unionized. All of Walker's arguments about this being a budget issue are therefore moot. This is just about breaking the unions, plain and simple. I watched a fair amount of gasbaggery yesterday and this wasn't made clear by either the press or the Democratic defenders. The other side just rolled out its usual misdirection and babble of nonsense and the point consistently got lost. And this is terribly important. Here's Greg again<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/02/the_morning_plum_191.html>with the latest polling: Key finding: When read a very detailed explanation of Walker's proposal, 52 percent of Wisconsin voters oppose it, 42 percent strongly so. Meanwhile, 42 percent support it, only 24 percent strongly. The poll finds that since the standoff began, "Walker has seen real erosion in his standing, with a majority expressing disapproval of his job performance and disagreement with his agenda." And: "When asked more specifically, 58 percent oppose eliminating collective bargaining, 57 percent oppose reducing wages for public employees and 50 percent oppose reducing pension benefits for public employees." And 59 percent of independents oppose the collective bargaining piece, too. Of course, at this point, one presumes Walker's intended audience is national conservatives, not his own constituents. The full polling memo is right here<http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/wiaflm1%20%28public%20memo%29.pdf> . *(Greg's right that this is a national union busting campaign.) * These results show that when people understand what is happening, they side with the unions, not the Republicans. Even a lot of Republicans side with the unions. After all, it's kind of hard to argue about freedom and liberty if the only people who have it are employers. But then this is a sour country right now, full of angry disappointed people who've been sold a bill of good for a long time. Many of them, as has been true since the beginning of the Republic, are drawn to the Resentment Tribe<http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2005/02/resentment-tribe-other-day-i.html>, which has politically organized itself as the GOP for the past few decades. Sadly, this is how it's manifesting itself<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/us/22union.html?hp=&pagewanted=all>in these troubled times: Among the top five employers here are the county, the schools and the city. And that was enough to make Mr. Hahan, a union man from a union town, a supporter of Gov. Scott Walkers sweeping proposal to cut the benefits and collective-bargaining rights of public workers<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/us/12unions.html?scp=3&sq=Gov.%20Scott%20Walker&st=cse>in Wisconsin, a plan that has set off a firestorm of debate and protests at the state Capitol. He says he still believes in unions, but thinks those in the public sector lead to wasteful spending because of what he sees as lavish benefits and endless negotiations. Here in Janesville, a city of about 60,000 an hour southeast of Madison, Crystal Watkins, a preschool teacher at a Lutheran church, said she was paid less than public school teachers and got fewer benefits. I dont have any of that, she said. But Im there every day because I love the kids. In Palmyra, a small village bounded by farmland and forests, MaryKay Horter remembered how her husbands Chevy dealership had teetered on the brink of closing after General Motors declared bankruptcy, for which she blamed unions. Ms. Horter said she was forced to work more hours as an occupational therapist, but had not seen a raise or any retirement contributions from her employer for the last two years. All told, her familys income has dropped by about a third. I dont get to bargain in my job, either, she said. And in nearby Whitewater, a scenic working-class city of 15,000 that is home to a public university, Dave Bergman, the owner of a bar, was tending it himself on Sunday. He has been forced to cut staff and work seven days a week. There are a lot of people out of work right now that would take a job without a union, Mr. Bergman said. This is the result of the aristocracy's strategy since time began --- pitting the serfs against each other to fight over an ever shrinking piece of the pie --- while the nobles enjoy the fruits of their labor. In our democracy the way to do that is by exploiting the long standing resentments and cultural divisions that have been with us since the beginning. It's very effective as we can see. If you think I'm wrong, take a look at this and ask yourself why any working person should be fighting another working person over wages and benefits: <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3RuPJjoSwmA/TWP9yLeSBgI/AAAAAAAAB7k/-Ya8U2EbqEQ/s1600/inequality-page25_1.png> That chart is from Mother Jones, which has put together several great visual aids <http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph>to simply and easily explain how the average worker in America is being screwed. Why so many of them side with the oligarchs is probably more psychological than anything else. But it's a long tradition here --- Americans may hate "the Man", but they often hate their fellow man more. . *digby **2/22/2011 10:31:00 AM*<http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/american-worker-infighting-its-what-we.html> Comments (8) <javascript:void(0);> Monday, February 21, 2011 The Nuge Weighs In by digby Finally, a serious discussion<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/4/americans-have-been-used-strung-along-ripped-off-m/?page=2>of Social Security from someone who really knows what he's talking about. Here's wealthy celebrity Ted Nugent sharing his deep knowledge of the program with the readership of the Washington Times: Sometimes you wanna start higher and sometimes you gotta start low Some people think they gonna die someday I got news ya never got to go Oh wait, that's one of his musical masterpieces<http://www.elyrics.net/read/t/ted-nugent-lyrics/stranglehold-lyrics.html>. Here's his policy analysis: Americans have been used, strung along, ripped off, manipulated and frightened for decades by runaway gangs of power-mongering, deceptive politicians. I give you Social Security. As usual, it is the exact opposite of what we have been told. This classic Ponzi scheme is anti-social and insecure. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created Social Security 75 years ago. As with many other Fedzilla programs, Americans got suckered into believing Social Security was a healthy, wealthy and wise program. Social Security is bloated, broke and busted. FDRs New Deal turned out to be the Rip-off Deal. There is an IOU for $2.5 trillion in the Social Security trust fund. Our elected bandits stole all the Social Security taxes collected over the years and spent it on who knows what. The Congressional Budget Office recently stated that Social Security will pay out $45 billion more this year than what it takes in. Deficits such as this are projected until Social Security rolls over and goes completely belly-up 25 years from now. The only way to truly reform Social Security is to sink it. Settling for anything less than the total destruction of this financial sinkhole would be perpetuating the problem and allowing Fedzilla to continue to pick the pockets of future generations of Americans. He goes on to suggest that we raise the cap and the retirement age immediately and start means testing while forcing anyone under the age of 45 off the program cold turkey. After all, if they have any balls at all they too can become rich rock stars just like Ted and won't need any social security. I think it's great that the right wing has such articulate spokespeople for their philosophy. No wonder they're winning this argument. H/t to The People's Pension Blog<http://peoplespension.infoshop.org/blogs-mu/2011/02/21/fixing-social-security-ted-nugent-speaks-truth-to-power/>who made this dry observation: At this point in his demented career, The Nuge Tedly, Uncle Ted, what have you is an American institution, a living, breathing parody of contemporary rugged individualism that Glenn Beck and the Tea Party would have to invent if he wasnt already roaming the Upper Midwest... Although I rarely offer advice, I would counsel you to do everything possible to encourage the Great Gonzo as he lays siege to the citadel of the right, demanding to know why they arent getting serious. Right on, right on. . *digby **2/21/2011 08:01:00 PM*<http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finally-ted-nugent-weighs-in.html> Comments (62) <javascript:void(0);> Let's hope it didn't break the camel's back by digby Madison, WI, this afternoon: <http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uN8KydH8ZRI/TWMjaohjs5I/AAAAAAAAB7U/TnWoIasxU2g/s1600/r0rj.jpg> Rumors are that John Oliver is the rider. Hopefully he'll be light with the whip hand. . *digby **2/21/2011 06:54:00 PM*<http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/last-straw.html> Comments (17) <javascript:void(0);> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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