This is what we union thugs do in our spare time
Teamster Nation
Posted April 30, 2011
We paint houses for low-income people. For free.

Jo Simon got the ball rolling after she opened her gas bill at her home in Clearwater, Fla. The bill included a flier seeking low-income people who needed their houses painted. Simon, head of the Teamsters Local 79 women’s committee and a 17-year UPS Teamster, called to find out how she could help.

TeamsterMagazine reports that Simon ended up gathering a team of 21 Teamsters to help paint a disabled elderly woman's home. The project was part of the annual "Paint Your Heart Out Clearwater" event, which resulted in 20 low-income people's houses being painted in one day.   Read the source story here.

Trump and the Koch Brothers?
Political News
Posted April 30, 2011
“The old saying goes: You can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps” and if this is so Donald Trump for President would be really include the Koch Brothers.

Everyone will be rich Trump says if he were President of the United States, yes every one of his friends all corporate billionaires that is what he really meant in his photo ops.

So far Trump has not been that impressive other than his enormous ego the size of Texas, he is a genius in his own mind.

Nothing says success like paling around with the Koch Brothers after all, these billionaires have to stick together to protect their financial interests and propel their greed into the milky way.”   Read the source story here.

Labor Dept. honors Memphis sanitation workers
The Seattle Times
Posted April 30, 2011
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on Friday honored the 1,300 black workers who took part in the Memphis sanitation strike of 1968, taking a swipe at governors who are trying to curtail public union employees' benefits.

The strike, where Martin Luther King Jr. made his final campaign before an assassin's bullet took his life, played a major role in the civil rights movement and the fight for social and economic justice for black workers. It is also considered a watershed moment in the history of collective bargaining rights for public employees, a point Solis raised as she criticized the move in some states to curb bargaining rights for public workers.

"Today, some governors are using the financial crisis as an excuse to take this country backward, instead of forward," Solis said in a ceremony at the agency's headquarters. "But we know American workers still want and need a voice at the table. We know collective bargaining gives them that seat."   Read the source story here.

Mich. Financial Martial Law Sponsor Faces Recall, Ties to Benton Harbor Developer Probed
AFL-CIO Now Blog
Posted April 30, 2011
The sponsor of Michigan’s “financial martial law” bill that Gov. Rick Snyder (R) pushed and then signed last month is facing a recall because the first city—Benton Harbor—to be placed under the law that virtually abolishes local government is in his district and local officials and residents want their government back.

In addition, news reports have uncovered his ties to a major developer that wants to take over the city’s crown jewel—a lakeshore park deeded to the city in 1917.

Today, Benton Harbor City Commissioner Dennis Knowles, filed a document that is the first step to recalling State Rep. Al Pscholka (R). The document is proposed language for a recall petition and if approved by the Berrien County Commission, activists can begin collecting signatures for recall. The county commission is expected to rule on the recall move May 9.

The document says Pscholka should be recalled “for sponsoring and supporting Public Act 4 that has robbed the citizens in District 79, namely the city of Benton Harbor, of their democratic rights…empowering a nonelected emergency financial manager…(and) striking local municipal government representation for, of and by the people.”   Read the source story here.

Town Halls Spawn Main Street Movement Pushback On Republican Ideas
Think Progress.com
Posted April 30, 2011
The GOP-led House’s passage of a 2012 budget — engineered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) — has laid the Republicans’ values out in the open for all to see: Strip huge amounts of funding from Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs aimed at supporting middle- and lower-income Americans, all to balance the budget (depending on whose numbers you believe) while keeping taxes on the wealthy at unprecedented lows.

Now that Republican representatives have returned to their districts for the congressional recess, everyday Americans at town hall meetings across the country are reacting with outrage at the perverse priorities of the Ryan budget. And this latest manifestation of the burgeoning Main Street Movement against the right’s economic agenda has only grown in intensity since both ThinkProgress (and even some mainstream media outlets) began reporting on the phenomenon. Read the source story here. [Watch a compilation video of some highlights from town halls across the country over the past week on the Video section.]  

Obama seeks end to oil industry tax breaks
Yahoo! News
Posted April 30, 2011
President Barack Obama on Saturday kept pressure on the Congress to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies, saying they were enjoying huge profits, as he sought to limit political fallout from rising gasoline prices.

With public anger over costs at the pump hitting Obama's popularity as he revs up his 2012 re-election bid, he pressed his call for rolling back $4 billion in "unwarranted tax subsidies" at a time of budget belt-tightening in Washington.

But opposition Republicans continued their efforts to cast blame on the Democratic president for a surge in gas prices that is straining Americans' pocketbooks at a time of stubbornly high unemployment and sluggish economic recovery.   Read the source story here.

Wildcat Unions Springing Up In Chinese Factories, Demanding Higher Wages, Humane Conditions and The Right To Organize
Crooks and Liars
Posted April 30, 2011
We'll never know the names of all the people who paid with their limbs, their lungs, or their lives for the goodies in my home and yours. Here's just one: think of him as the Unknown Worker, standing for them all. Liu Pan was a 17-year-old operating a machine that made cards and cardboard that were sold on to big-name Western corporations. When he tried to clear its jammed machinery, he got pulled into it. His sister said: "When we got his body, his whole head was crushed. We couldn't even see his eyes."

So you might be thinking – was it a cruel joke to bill this as a good news story? Not at all. An epic rebellion has now begun in China against this abuse – and it is beginning to succeed. Across 126,000 Chinese factories, workers have refused to live like this any more. Wildcat unions have sprung up, organised by text message, demanding higher wages, a humane work environment, and the right to organise freely. Millions of young workers across the country are blockading their factories and chanting, "There are no human rights here!" and, "We want freedom!" The suicides were a rebellion of despair; this is a rebellion of hope.

Last year, the Chinese dictatorship was so panicked by the widespread uprisings that it prepared an extraordinary step forward. It drafted a new labour law that would allow workers to form and elect their own trade unions. It would plant seeds of democracy across China's workplaces. Western corporations lobbied very hard against it, saying it would create a "negative investment environment" – by which they mean smaller profits. Western governments obediently backed the corporations and opposed freedom and democracy for Chinese workers. So the law was whittled down and democracy stripped out.

It wasn't enough. This year Chinese workers have risen even harder to demand a fair share of the prosperity they create. Now company after company is making massive concessions: pay rises of over 60 per cent are being conceded. Even more crucially, officials in Guandong province, the manufacturing heartland of the country, have announced that they are seriously considering allowing workers to elect their own representatives to carry out collective bargaining after all.

Just like last time, Western corporations and governments are lobbying frantically against this – and to keep the millions of Yan Lis stuck at their assembly lines into the 35th hour.   Read the source story here.

Walker budget cuts target Wisconsin libraries
The Daily Page.com
Posted April 30, 2011
Under Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget, Wisconsin libraries would see their funding requests cut by more than $18.9 million in 2012 alone, threatening a wide variety of services, including those for job-seekers and the blind.

[...] The effects of cuts could be exacerbated if Walker is successful in eliminating a statute that separately specifies library "maintenance of effort." Without maintenance of effort, a city could slash its library support and instead attempt to rely on services or materials provided by a neighboring community.   Read the source story here.

GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold Compares Unemployed Americans To Alcoholics And Drug Users
Think Progress.com
Posted April 30, 2011
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) held a “listening session” at Burns Elementary School on Tuesday where he discussed a variety of issues with a crowd of nearly two dozen constituents. One of the attendees uploaded video of the session on YouTube.

At one point during the session, a man asked about drug testing for “welfare recipients.” Farenthold said that this is an idea worth considering, and then went on to complain that unemployment insurance is too generous. He then compared Americans on unemployment insurance to alcoholics and drug addicts:

FARENTHOLD: Drug testing for recipients of various welfare programs, I really think that’s something that needs to be considered. We’ve gotta, you know, nobody wants to starve anybody. Everybody wants to help folks out. But we’ve got a system where you can stay on unemployment for an awfully long time. And I think we need to create a system of decreasing benefits over time to encourage you to get a job. I think anybody who’s had an alcoholic in their life or somebody with a drug problem, realizes that until things get bad enough there’s no incentive to change. I think that we’re so generous in some of our social problems that people are unwilling to get a job outside in the heat. Rather than get 15 dollars to go get roofing they’d rather get 9 or 10 dollars in benefits. I think drug testing is not an unreasonable requirement to get benefits.

  Read the source story here.

Students turn their backs on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder during commencement speech
The Political Carnival
Posted April 30, 2011
King Rick Snyder of financial martial lawinfamy isn’t exactly the education governor. Yet he managed to get himself a spot as keynote speaker at the University of Michigan graduation day.

His bad.  Via the Detroit Free Press:

As Rick Snyder began delivering his commencement address in the Big House this morning, about two dozen students turned their backs to Michigan’s new governor… Outside, several hundred protesters gathered.

  Read the source story here.

Walker cronyism places State Patrol Troopers under Fitzgerald in suspect situations
BdgrDemocracy
Posted April 30, 2011
There has been endless speculation and rumor since Scott Walker’s budget address and the security guarding the steam tunnel entrance to the Capitol. The “suits” seen in this video have been rumored to be private security – perhaps Wackenhut G4S…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYc0urhGX2g&feature=player_detailpage

Several calls to G4S finally produced a source who informed bdgrdemocracy that the “suits” in question are not G4S or Wackenhut; and in fact, that company has had no dealings with Scott Walker since the Milwaukee County Courthouse debacle. While County Executive, Walker replaced (many would argue illegally) the County security with private security from Wackenhut G4S http://crooksandliars.com/taxonomy/term/19538,14831. The same company which came under federal scrutiny and investigation for its conduct in Afghanistan.  No, the “palace guard” that night was not private security – it was part of the “Dignitary Escort Service” providing security for Governor Scott Walker. The group is a specialized unit of the Wisconsin State Patrol, charged with security for the Governor and his family. The speculation regarding the mysterious eagle lapel pins worn by the troopers was answered by Colonel Ben Mendez. That is the insignia of the “National Governor’s Security Division”, a national interagency security division of the National Governor’s Association. Mystery solved, end of story…not so fast.

There were obviously more than six (the official number on the detail) troopers in that detail that afternoon. Accounting for a certain undisclosed number that would have remained with Governor Walker, there are five to six troopers at any given time just in the video. Once again, Col. Mendez offers an explanation – the extra troopers were on a “job assessment” assignment. They were new, potential future recruits to the detail – this was an “on-the-job” assessment of their ability to perform the function of Dignitary Escort. Col. Mendez stated the Department is re-evaluating that decision. This was probably not the best environment to place those troopers in, given the potential volatility of the situation. Or is it? Another observation of note is the trooper’s lack of willingness to identify themselves – something which is Department policy. Troopers are expected to identify themselves as Wisconsin State Patrol with proper identification when asked, unless they are imminently at-risk. Col. Mendez also stated they are reviewing that issue.    Read the source story here.

Thunda Around the Rotunda
ThundaAroundTheRotunda.com
Posted April 30, 2011
Motorcyclists will plan their own ride to Madison on Saturday April 30th and meet at Goodman Park, then parade to the Capitol in support of Wisconsin Workers. Motorcycle enthusiasts are an enormous part of Wisconsin culture with over 250,000 motorcycles registered with the Department of Transportation. On April 30th after the Crazy Legs race and the Farmers Market, motorcycles will ride together up to the state capitol to show their support for all Wisconsin workers.   Read the source story here.

Oops! Signature of lawmaker’s dead father on Wisconsin Democrat’s recall papers
Political Carnival
Posted April 30, 2011
Once again, Wisconsin Republicans single-handedly reinforce their own lowliness and utter stupidity. Kenosha’s State Senator Bob Wirch is the target of one of many recall efforts, but there was just one teeny tiny little problem with one of the signatures gathered on the petition to get him out.

Corinne Pocan, wife of the late Bill Pocan, explains, via JSOnline:

“I receive a  phone call that my husband Bill, of the same address had signed a recall petition against Senator Wirch on 3/3. Unfortunately, my husband bill passed away 20 years ago. My son [Milwaukee County Judge] Bill lives in Milwaukee and furthermore that is not his hand writing on this petition.”

Don’tcha hate when that happens?

Of course, the man in charge was full of regret:

Dan Hunt, the chairman of the Wirch recall committee, acknowledged Friday that the signature appears to be forged. But he accused Democrats of intentionally signing Pocan’s name on the document to try to discredit the recall effort.

  Read the source story here.

The political economy of, well, the economy
Ezra Klein in The Washington Post
Posted April 30, 2011
[T]the more money you make, the better the economy seems. And, as seems intuitive, most decisionmakers make a lot more than $75,000, and so too do the people they know. But somewhat less well understood is that the constituents who decisionmakers appear to care about also make more money. For instance:

Gilens has been collecting the results of nearly 2,000 survey questions reaching back to the 1980s, looking for evidence that when opinions change, so too does policy. And he found it — but only for the rich. “Most policy changes with majority support didn’t become law,” Hacker and Pierson write. The exception was “when they were supported by those at the top. When the opinions of the poor diverged from those of the well-off, the opinions of the poor ceased to have any apparent influence: If 90 percent of poor Americans supported a policy change, it was no more likely to happen than if 10 percent did. By contrast, when more of the well-off supported a change, it was substantially more likely to happen.”

So if you’re well off, you’re a) less worried to about the economy, b) more likely to be a decisionmaker, and c) more likely to be listened to by decisionmakers. If you’re not well off, you’re a) more likely to believe we’re in an economic depression, b) less likely to be in a position to do anything about it, and c) there’s no evidence that the people who can do something about it are at all interested in your opinions on the matter.   Read the source story here.

Did You Fall for It? America's Outrage Over TSA Naked Body Scanners Was Right-Wing PR to Prevent Workers from Unionizing
AlterNet
Posted April 30, 2011
This is the year that the Republican right-wing, backed by corporate sponsors like the billionaire Koch brothers, have declared all-out war on public sector unions. It’s the culmination of a decades-long crusade against organized labor, which has only hit the national radar screen in recent months. The showdown in Wisconsin between Scott Walker and the unions has changed all that: suddenly, Americans had their eyes opened up to just how ruthlessly and cynically the Republican right was ready to fight to destroy public sector unions because they see it as a way to cripple the Democratic Party by killing off a major source of funding, as well as political muscle and votes.

If there’s some good to come out of the right-wing’s war on Wisconsin and other state employees, it’s that we now have a better insight into the Republican playbook against public sector unions, which boils down to this: 1) Manufacture a fake budget crisis in order to frighten the state’s residents; 2) PR the false-crisis hard enough until it breaks out of the right-wing/libertarian pipeline and into the mainstream media; 3) Blame the fake crisis on a fake villain -- “greedy” state employee unions -- thereby pitting the public against state workers. That way, when Republicans pass new laws destroying teachers and firefighters unions, they’ll come off as heroes defending the public from greedy unions, rather than as sleazy mercenaries carrying out their corporate sponsors’ dirty work.

Republicans have used this playbook before, of course, it’s just that Wisconsin finally made us all too aware. Perhaps the most obvious example -- and the least understood -- is from last November, when the same basic strategy was used to wage war against the TSA’s 55,000 employees, who have been locked in a savage decade-long battle to gain the same collective bargaining rights that employees of all other federal agencies enjoy. Unlike in Wisconsin, the Republican right succeeded in burying the story about the TSA employees’ struggle for collective bargaining rights underneath a sophisticated, well-PR’d campaign demonizing TSA screeners as modern-day Gestapo agents, rapists and child molesters.   Read the source story here.