Peacenik thinks that if public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed in Wisconsin, then public sector collective bargaining can be destroyed anywhere in North America, including Canada. There are lots of movies about the development of unions in North America. Watch one. It was a tough battle. And now after years of having the right to bargain collectively, the right to join a union, and the right to worker safety laws, it is now all at risk. Some wingnut in Missouri is even trying to ban child labour laws. And who is standing up to defend worker rights. Is Obama? Is Bill Clinton? Is Hillary? A lot of common people are, along with the captain of the Green Bay Packers. If the governor of Wisconsin wins this battle, the United States of America will make Libya look like a tea party. Not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But sooner than anyone wants. Collective bargaining is part of the fabric of society. Rip it apart, and watch out.
MADISON - Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau was created in 1968 by a Republican governor, Warren Knowles, and a Republican-controlled state legislature.
The purpose was to establish a non-partisan agency that would provide honest fiscal analysis and information for Wisconsin Legislators. Across more than four decades, the bureau has done just that, earning the respect of legislators from both parties, including a young Scott Walker, who frequently cited the bureau when he served in the state Assembly.
Less than a month ago, a Fiscal Bureau memo reported that the state had a $121.4 million surplus through the remainder of the current fiscal year.
That is a fact that is now under attack by Governor Walker, who the conservative publication Human Events refers to as the “new hero” of the Republican right. Walker argues-- as Republicans and Democrats have acknowledged for some time -- that the state’s fiscal house is not in order and that unsettled issues relating to a payment due Minnesota after the canceling of a tax agreement, as well as rising health care and prison costs, could well create a shortfall before the end of the year.
So it is possible that Wisconsin might need a budget repair bill of the sort Walker has proposed before the fiscal year is finished, as it has in many years.
Read on...
Showing posts with label protests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label protests. Show all posts
2/18/11
Radical States: GOP Forcing Their Nightmarish Right-Wing Vision on People Who Elected Them
The scary thing is that these people are getting elected in the first place. The U.S.A. is a very sick place, Culturally, politically and economically. And it may take more that some protesting to cure it. And Canada may not be much better off. Tea Bagger Ford got elected mayor of Canada's biggest city. Ford has already declared war on the cities unions. Can Canada's economy improve without the U.S. economy improving? Peacenik doesn't think so. If Wisconsin can become Egypt, can Guelph become Egypt too. Peacenik thinks so.
When President Obama took office amidst the worst recession in three generations, he immediately focused his energy on enacting a comprehensive plan to revive the nation's economy. Newly elected Republicans, however, have interpreted their temporary rise to power in an entirely different way. Where Obama saw an immediate need to grow the nation's economy, GOP leaders are seizing their moment to force longstanding GOP fantasies upon the people they govern. Several GOP-led states are pushing plans to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights. Twelve states are considering unconstitutional bills "nullifying" the Affordable Care Act. Arizona Republicans are lining up behind a plan to unconstitutionally strip citizenship from millions of Americans. New Hampshire Republicans have returned to the GOP's favorite pastime of denying gay Americans their constitutional rights. Given the opportunity to lead, far-right politicians have decided instead to ignore the nation's needs and pursue their own narrow, unpopular ideological vendettas.
"What's Disgusting? Union Busting!" Chant Wisconsin Crowds That Swell to 30,000; Key GOP Legislators Waver
This is beginning to look a lot like Egypt. Peacenik knows some rightwing whacko first suggested this but that doesn't mean it is necessarily untrue. Or that there is something wrong with comparing a mass protest in Wisconsin to a mass protest in Egypt. Protests are going to be a way of life around the world very soon. The good news is that the protesters in Wisconsin are not being tasered, and shot at with rubber bullets. This is a beginning in Wisconsin. Regular people are standing up to Tea Party bullies. It is a good beginning.
"I have never been prouder of our movement than I am at this moment," shouted Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Phil Neuenfeldt, as he surveyed the crowds of union members and their supporters that surged around the state Capitol and into the streets of Madison Wednesday, literally closing the downtown as tens of thousands of Wisconsinites protested their Republican governor’s attempt to strip public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights.
Where Tuesday’s mid-day protests drew crowds estimated at 12,000 to 15,000, Wednesday's mid-day rally drew 30,000, according to estimates by organizers. Madison Police Chief Noble Wray, a veteran of 27 years on the city’s force, said he had has never see a protest of this size at the Capitol – and he noted that, while crowd estimates usually just measure those outside, this time the inside of the sprawling state Capitol was “packed.”
On Wednesday night, an estimated 20,000 teachers and their supporters rallied outside the Capitol and then marched into the building, filling the rotunda, stairways and hallways. Chants of "What's disgusting? Union busting!" shook the building as legislators met in committee rooms late into the night.
Update: Chomsky weighs in.
4/23/09
April 22 2009 2: Not If But When.
Ilargi: Today was one sad day among many to come. General Motors finally gave up on survival today, a development which is deeply tragic for its employees and pensioners, more than most of them realize right now. And perhaps someday we'll know why Freddie Mac's acting CFO David Kellerman was found hanging in his basement. The upcoming revelations of large scale defaults on the firm slash federal agency slash toxic dumpster's mortgages may well be the main reason. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with $5-6 trillion in their combined portfolio's (not counting their deep dabbling in securities), are powderkegs waiting to blow up. The old “not if, but when” question, just like at GM.
Fannie and Freddie should never have existed in the first place, but they should certainly have been wound down long ago. As it is, what's slushed through to Wall Street via AIG is but a pittance compared to what's being parked at Fannie and Freddie. And there's a limit even to that game. After all, California defaults just rose to new highs again.
Read on...
Peacenik is sitting in Peacenik's office listening to the Canadian Autoworkers protesting in Queen's Park that their pension plans are going bust. Someone is playing music. Peacenik saw the line of portable toilets set up on Peacenik's way to work. Peacenik wondered what what going on. Then Peacenik read about the protest in the Star.
The lack of sympathy/empathy shown towards the CAW pensioners in the comments of the Star piece made Peacenik wonder about how people are going to work together to survive societal collapse. Most of the comments seemed resentful towards the pensioners. Were these same commenters resentful towards the big ongoing Canadian bank bailout?
This isn't going to turn out well when citizen is turned on citizen. Worker on worker. Unemployed on unemployed. And pensioner on pensioner. Everyone is going to need help in the future. Everyone deserves help in the future. But 30 years of Ann Randism has destroyed the concept of helping your neighbour. Is it going to be a dog eat dog future? Peacenik hopes not.
Update: Peacenik just got back from the pension protest at Queen's Park. It was huge. Multi-generational. Not just the CAW. The police directed traffic and were jovial.
The portable toilets were overwhelmed.
There is nothing like standing in solidarity with your fellow men and women. Was the protest a success? Peacenik thinks this is just the beginning of protests.
It was a good beginning.
Fannie and Freddie should never have existed in the first place, but they should certainly have been wound down long ago. As it is, what's slushed through to Wall Street via AIG is but a pittance compared to what's being parked at Fannie and Freddie. And there's a limit even to that game. After all, California defaults just rose to new highs again.
Read on...
Peacenik is sitting in Peacenik's office listening to the Canadian Autoworkers protesting in Queen's Park that their pension plans are going bust. Someone is playing music. Peacenik saw the line of portable toilets set up on Peacenik's way to work. Peacenik wondered what what going on. Then Peacenik read about the protest in the Star.
The lack of sympathy/empathy shown towards the CAW pensioners in the comments of the Star piece made Peacenik wonder about how people are going to work together to survive societal collapse. Most of the comments seemed resentful towards the pensioners. Were these same commenters resentful towards the big ongoing Canadian bank bailout?
This isn't going to turn out well when citizen is turned on citizen. Worker on worker. Unemployed on unemployed. And pensioner on pensioner. Everyone is going to need help in the future. Everyone deserves help in the future. But 30 years of Ann Randism has destroyed the concept of helping your neighbour. Is it going to be a dog eat dog future? Peacenik hopes not.
Update: Peacenik just got back from the pension protest at Queen's Park. It was huge. Multi-generational. Not just the CAW. The police directed traffic and were jovial.
The portable toilets were overwhelmed.
There is nothing like standing in solidarity with your fellow men and women. Was the protest a success? Peacenik thinks this is just the beginning of protests.
It was a good beginning.
2/3/09
The Whole World Is Rioting as the Economic Crisis Worsens -- Why Aren't We?
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted February 3, 2009.
Americans are rightfully angry about the economic decline, but with a few small exceptions, quietly so. Why? It depends on whom you ask.
Explosive anger is spilling out onto the streets of Europe. The meltdown of the global economy is igniting massive social unrest in a region that has long been a symbol of political stability and social cohesion.
It's not a new trend: A wave of upheaval is spreading from the poorer countries on the periphery of the global economy to the prosperous core.
Over the past few years, a series of riots spread across what is patronizingly known as the Third World. Furious mobs have raged against skyrocketing food and energy prices, stagnating wages and unemployment in India, Senegal, Yemen, Indonesia, Morocco, Cameroon, Brazil, Panama, the Philippines, Egypt, Mexico and elsewhere.
Peacenik has been posting contradictory stories on whether people will riot or not, as they become poor, hungry, homeless and angry. Many commentators think the future will not be Mad Max like. Some commentators think the future will be Mad Max like. What does Peacenik think? Peacenik thinks there will be some rioting. Peacenik isn't sure what effect the violent suppression of rioting will have. The concentration camps are already constructed in the U.S. The police have their Tasers and Lasers. The science of crowd control is well developed. Will Peacenik riot? Will you?
Americans are rightfully angry about the economic decline, but with a few small exceptions, quietly so. Why? It depends on whom you ask.
Explosive anger is spilling out onto the streets of Europe. The meltdown of the global economy is igniting massive social unrest in a region that has long been a symbol of political stability and social cohesion.
It's not a new trend: A wave of upheaval is spreading from the poorer countries on the periphery of the global economy to the prosperous core.
Over the past few years, a series of riots spread across what is patronizingly known as the Third World. Furious mobs have raged against skyrocketing food and energy prices, stagnating wages and unemployment in India, Senegal, Yemen, Indonesia, Morocco, Cameroon, Brazil, Panama, the Philippines, Egypt, Mexico and elsewhere.
Peacenik has been posting contradictory stories on whether people will riot or not, as they become poor, hungry, homeless and angry. Many commentators think the future will not be Mad Max like. Some commentators think the future will be Mad Max like. What does Peacenik think? Peacenik thinks there will be some rioting. Peacenik isn't sure what effect the violent suppression of rioting will have. The concentration camps are already constructed in the U.S. The police have their Tasers and Lasers. The science of crowd control is well developed. Will Peacenik riot? Will you?
10/5/07
U.S. peace activists say Canada setting dangerous precedent keeping them out
WASHINGTON - Canada is setting a "dangerous" precedent by refusing entry to Americans convicted of misdemeanours during peaceful anti-Iraq protests, say two women who couldn't cross the border this week.
The high-profile activists, who are listed in an FBI database called the National Crime Information Center, say they were detained for more than two hours Wednesday at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ont., before being turned away.
"First, the FBI should not have put us on that list," Ann Wright, a retired army veteran, told a news conference Thursday outside the Canadian Embassy.
"And secondly, the Canadian government should not be doing the dirty political intimidation work for the Bush administration by using that database."
Full article...
punditman says...In the name of security, this type of abuse of power and misdirection of resources is happening on both sides of the US-Canadian border. It will continue unless people get off their keesters and stand up for their rights.
The high-profile activists, who are listed in an FBI database called the National Crime Information Center, say they were detained for more than two hours Wednesday at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ont., before being turned away.
"First, the FBI should not have put us on that list," Ann Wright, a retired army veteran, told a news conference Thursday outside the Canadian Embassy.
"And secondly, the Canadian government should not be doing the dirty political intimidation work for the Bush administration by using that database."
Full article...
punditman says...In the name of security, this type of abuse of power and misdirection of resources is happening on both sides of the US-Canadian border. It will continue unless people get off their keesters and stand up for their rights.
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