Open Thread - Wisconsin Union Protest

newjesustimes's picture

So we have a political stand off in Wisconsin, where's this thing headed in light of everything else? Are we being played for suckers, is it all part of some larger plan? Or is that too cynical, and people are finally (FINALLY!) getting pissed off to the point that things are boiling over in the USA. Even in the frigid cold Wisconsin February, Americans are saying "Enough!" to the corporate robber barons and their middlemen, the politicians.

In order to avoid allowing a vote to move forward, fourteen Democratic state senators have left their offices and are refusing to vote on the matter of removing the right to collective bargaining. The governor, whose campaign was bankrolled by the billionaire Koch brothers, has refused to budge and will accept nothing less than a removal of collective bargaining rights.
The police union president has given an interview, where on the one hand, he says that his wife is demonstrating and he helped her prepare a sign, and on the other hand, he would "absolutely" use force if asked to do so by his commanding officers.

The governer is willing to take this for as long as it takes.
The battle in Wisconsin was seen as a test case which has exposed a fundamental national disagreement over who should pay for gaping budget deficits at the state, federal and local levels.
Yes, who should pay, the working class, already watching their buying power plummet while paying a fair share in taxes, or the super wealthy multi national polluting corporations? Well those working class ain't gonna be putting up no millions next election cycle; easy decision!

Comments

McJ's picture

The Three Part Self

Gee NJT - all of you are logged in. smiling

admin's picture

LOL ok wanna chat

since you are back,
http://winterpatriot.com/node/539

McJ's picture

are people "finally

are people "finally (FINALLY!) getting pissed off to the point that things are boiling over in the USA. Even in the frigid cold Wisconsin February...."

I'm a little afraid to hope this is gong somewhere but it is nice to have some "good news" relief! smiling

It is amazing to read comments from the detractors and the Tea Party crowd. (I think of them of them as the pro 'how to fuck yourself' supporters.) They are just dead set on a race to bottom.

admin's picture

yep 5 minutes on the yahoo board

and you have to wonder what is wrong with these people.
then another 5 minutes i'm wondering how many of these so-called people are actually fake virtual people paid for with tax dollars
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/18/revealed-air-force-ordered-softwar...

sell out

How much would it take for you to sell out your fellow man/woman? Never have been able to understand the poor and middle class "conservatives" that will do anything to help the rich. Very weird!

McJ's picture

HBGary

I have been following that story a bit. What a sordid tale!! I read the whole chat log that was archived when the owner of HBGary and Aaron Barr were on the IRC chat with Anonymous. That was a pretty wild affair.
In Canada the Harper Gov has people hired (with our tax dollars) to make sure there message isn't getting distorted on social networking sites such as Face Book. So, you really never know who you are talking to. People get wound up about the obvious trolls but I don't think they are likely the problem it is the ones you don't know about that are scary.

Police State

Might I suggest that before everyone here becomes too excited by the revolution starting with quite well paid (and - from the videos - very well fed) government Union reps, could they please look at the brilliant argument laid out by William Grigg? See: http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/

McJ's picture

I don't buy this argument

I don't buy this argument at all. To wit:

"When -- not "if," mind you -- similar uprisings occur here in the United States, we will find the "takers" united in solidarity against the "makers." This is not what is happening in Wisconsin, where the tax parasite cartel is tearing the state apart in an effort to.

The tax-devouring thugs who have converged on the state capitol in Madison are trying to wrap themselves in the mantle of the hungry, desperate people who defied Mubarak's torturers, and the imponderably courageous people in Bahrain who walked, unarmed and unflinching, into gunfire. Ditching work and pitching a tantrum to demand the preservation of "collective bargaining rights" for over-paid, tax-subsidized functionaries simply isn't the same thing as facing down the pitiless cadres of a quasi-totalitarian police state."

Unionized public sector workers are "the takers" preserving their "privileged status, at whatever expense to the productive element of the state's population"? I don't think so. What nonsense. Where's the mention of the Bankers and the Wallstreet tycoons and the real estate mavens and looters and the multi national resource stealers and arms makers and pill pushers etc. and all of the other taxpayer subsidized uber elite who are the real "takers"? This argument is in support of a divide and conquer strategy, framing the dispute as "takers vs makers" and is designed to speed up the race to the bottom for the peeps.

And the Wisconsin protesters have not wrapped themselves "in the mantle of the hungry, desperate people who defied Mubarak's torturers, and the imponderably courageous people in Bahrain who walked, unarmed and unflinching, into gunfire." This a total mis-characterization of the gestures of solidarity from workers around the globe and the Wisconsin protesters finally, finally! drawing some courage and inspiration from the example set by the Egyptians. NOBODY thinks the situations are comparable, least not the Wisconsin workers or the Egyptians and Bahrainees and therein lies it's power to motivate. And furthermore, they all get what it means if the workers loose the battle in Wisconsin.

I think I am way too Canadian for this argument. smiling They try to fly that one up here and it doesn't go over nearly as well. Although, it has been gaining ground over the last several years under the ultra Conservative Harper government we have now. I am ok with our teachers, health care workers, firefighters, police, garbage collectors, road maintenance workers, school janitors etc. making decent livings. I appreciate their services and agree with paying for them with my tax dollars in the interest of the public good. Can they get greedy? Sure, but that is what collective bargaining is all about and that is what they want to take away from the Wisconsin workers. This is not about their wages or them being "takers" it is about the government taking away any power they may have to negotiate a fair deal for themselves. It is all a slippery slope to the bottom if that happens.

My argument has never been to lower the wages and take away the benefits of our public sector workers. It has always been to raise the wages of everyone else. A way better idea that we could accomplish if the rich would only pay their fair share, eh. wink

Now, this warms my heart. smiling UK Uncut - http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/

Buuutttttt

The makers, of course, never take. They don't use highways, they never get govt money for nothing (HA!). And whats so great about 'making ' money, anyway! my standard definition B*st*rds.

McJ's picture

Exactly Debbieanne. It's a

Exactly Debbieanne. It's a bullshit argument and it makes me want to tear my hair out every time I hear it. Can you tell. smiling The only reason they can even frame the argument that way is because most of the big "makers" unions have been weakened or busted.

My father was one of the "makers", a tradesman, and I remember the weeks and months of no income when he would be on strike for better pay, benefits and working conditions. In those days the labour unions were strong and people could make a decent living, buy a home and acquire a modest bit of wealth for their retirement. Here in British Columbia, government regulations in the 80's (along the lines of the right to work BS) basically broke the labour unions and they have never recovered. Most of the tradesman here have been forced to work outside the unions if they actually want to make a living. My husband followed my father into the trade and his wages have only marginally increased since that time and certainly no where even close to the inflationary rate and there is not much in the way of benefits. The Public Sector unions (Goverment, Health Care and Teachers unions) were able to hang on and have stayed strong as have their wages and benefits. So, now we are in a situation where a nurse just out of school makes significantly more money than someone like my husband who has over 30 years as a journeyman tradesman. Of course this causes anger however, it is not an argument to cut the nurses wages, it's an argument for unionizing and for stronger unions. Obviously, busting the labour unions wasn't beneficial for the workers so why would anyone support busting the public sector unions. Is it a misery loves company thing?

totally agree

I totally agree McJ. My husband and I are both strong union supporters. I was in the public sector, a commonwealth public servant. My hubby is a metal worker/tradesman and in the AMWU. Both started in the work force in the late 70's early 80's, and have been very sad to see the decline of union support in that time. We aren't much more that job slaves, but without the unions it would be so much worse. Our former PM tried desperately hard to get rid of unions and subsequently (along with other things of course) lost the 2007 election. Work Choices it was called, which actually meant 'work for whatever you've got and just be lucky you've got a job you low lifes'.
I too find it extremely frustrating. How come people are so ready to be their own worst enemies?

McJ's picture

Work choices

"Work Choices it was called, which actually meant 'work for whatever you've got and just be lucky you've got a job you low lifes'.

'Work choices' - what a joke! That is the same kind of bull shit they piled on us here. I forget what it was called but what it did was allow non unionized firms to take over all the work and it was just downhill from then on. I remember high steel workers, for example, (who were some on the most highly paid tradesmen at that time) making around $23-$25 an hour were out working for $17 or $18 dollars an hour. I don't imagine they are making much more than $25 an hour now and that was almost 30 years ago.

McJ's picture

New Low

Wow, this has got to be some kind of new low.

From Anti War:
Petraeus Accuses Afghan Parents of Burning Kids to Make US Look Bad
Attempt to Downplay Kunar Massacre Sparks Outrage
http://news.antiwar.com/2011/02/21/petraeus-accuses-afghan-parents-of-bu...

McJ's picture

Governor of Wisconsin, falls for phone prank

From The Guardian:
Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, falls for phone prank
Republican is duped by a caller pretending to be one of the right wing Koch brothers, some of his wealthiest backers http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/24/scott-walker-governer-wiscon...

The Republican governor at the centre of the union-busting protests in the US has been embarrassed by a prank call that he believed was from one of his billionaire backers.
On the recording of the call, which has been released online, the Republican governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker tells a caller impersonating one of the rightwing Koch brothers that he is looking forward to flying to California to celebrate with them once the battle with the unions was won, and jokes about taking a baseball bat to slug Democratic leaders.

HuffPost's Amanda Terkel reports: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/23/scott-walker-medicaid-wisconsin...
"WASHINGTON -- So far, most of the attention on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) budget repair bill has focused on the section that would strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights. Less noticed is a provision in the 144-page piece of legislation that could dramatically change the state's Medicaid program.

The bill would grant the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) sweeping authority to making changes to the state's Medicaid program -- which covers one in five residents -- with virtually no public scrutiny. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Walker's plan would use "emergency" powers to allow DHS to restrict eligibility, raise premiums and change reimbursements -- all moves traditionally controlled by the legislature."
...
"Part of the reason that advocates are so alarmed at the legislation is that the man who heads DHS is Dennis Smith, someone who has advocated for states to leave the Medicaid program."
...
"So while we have lots of concerns about what it would mean for Medicaid, mostly we just don't know," added Peacock. "But our much more fundamental concern is what it means for democracy and for the separation of powers between the executive and the legislative branch, that turning this over to Secretary Smith would leave the public with no ability to contact their legislators and be involved in that matter in the determination of these critical issues."

McJ's picture

clause allows the sale of publicly owned utility plants to Koch'

"Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin. Governor Walker's union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed. This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process. The Koch's have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state's power supplies." http://www.anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=585

MONOPOLY: The Koch Bros. Game - Infographic
The Walker-Koch Connection
http://other98.com/koch-bros-monopoly/

do you hear something?

yeah, that low rumbling that's getting louder?

newjesustimes's picture

Wisconsin Professional Police Association Joins Protests

Wisconsin Professional Police Association calls for Capitol to be kept open; announces officer sleepover
Post by dane101 on 2/25/2011 10:52am

MADISON—Following action by lawmakers to approve a rule change that clears the way for closing down the State Capitol and ejecting the people protesting Governor Walker’s bill to curtail union activity, the head of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association called on the governor today to keep the capitol building open and allow the peaceful protesters to remain.
“The law enforcement officers from across the state that have been working at the Capitol and have been very impressed with how peaceful everyone has been,” said WPPA Executive Director Jim Palmer. “As has been reported in the media, the protesters are cleaning up after themselves and have not caused any problems. The fact of that matter is that Wisconsin’s law enforcement community opposes Governor Walker’s effort to eliminate most union activity in this state, and we implore him to not do anything to increase the risk to officers and the public. The costs of providing security can never outweigh those associated with a conflict.”
Palmer also announced that, beginning tonight, the WPPA is formally requesting its members from across the state to come to the Capitol to sleep amongst the throngs of other union supporters.
“Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and Governor Walker’s attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin’s devoted public employees is wrong,” continued Palmer. “That is why we have stood with our fellow employees each day and why we will be sleeping among them tonight.”

Go WPPA!

I think Walker had better start back-peddling or he's gunna be tipped off the gravy train and will be true to his name and be walking.

It's going to be hard to get away with violently provoking the protesters with WPPA members amongst them.

long walk for walker

LOL
I was wondering if they would up the ante and call in the national guard or something, to try and clear the capitol of protesters.

McJ's picture

National Guard

I think he has already threatened that but I imagine it is a matter of timing as far as the evil ones go. As James so eloquently pointed out in his last post, these non violent, cooperative protesters seem to be something they don't quite know how to deal with. Deploying the national guard at this point would be that punch in the face he was talking about and would expose their hand for all to see. So perhaps, the Wisconsin protesters have thrown another wrench into the works. The WPPA joining the protesters has got to have really pissed them off especially after they exempted them from the harsh provisions of Walker's bill. We shall see...

McJ's picture

Hosni and the Cheesehead Pharoah

Hosni and the Cheesehead Pharoah, Scott Walker
rolling on the floor laughing rolling on the floor laughing

Photobucket

IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT

IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE END OF TIMES

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BLOG YOU WILL EVER READ!!!!!!!!
AVOID TAXES AND USE ONLY CASH!!!!!!!!
TAXES ARE NOT PART OF THE CONSTITUTION!!!!!!!!

America you need to avoid paying taxes, and funding this corrupt defunct government. Uncle Sam has cheated us all, and they do not deserve your tax money. There are things you can do. Pay cash. Help others with cash not credit. Credit card companies and banks make money off transactions and report all your information to the IRS. If you receive cash, don't claim it and don't place it in any bank account. Use it. Use barter, and make your own products tax free. Uncles Sam has been wasting and stealing your money for years and I will explain in detail what is happening to you below. Avoiding taxes is the only way to fix this corrupt government.

When using cash or accruing it, make sure you take the cash out of the U.S. on trips and deposit it in a non-America based area like the Cayman Islands. Never put money or use credit that traces the money. You get cash in your business, simply pocket it and take it with you on your next trip. Alternately, you can buy precious metals or any physical commodity where you don't give your name and it makes it easier to transport your wealth. Forget all these 401K schemes and other investing boolsheet. They are distractions on how you can really save for your future. The longer your money sits in some account or 401K. The more time it gives some banker to steal it from you. Remember the RICH have already screwed you, and their punishments, if any, never fit the crime. Plus, it takes less than one penny out of one dollar for everything we need from roads to infrastructure. Everything else is someone else's agenda or waste. If I am not right here, then how did measures like Glass-Steagall Act get removed. Banks, Wall Street, Congress and those in control of Congress know exactly where all the money went, and worked hard to cause this raping of America.

America, tired of your world crumbling around you. Well, guess what, you have it coming. How many times have you all sat back and let measures like I-1098, tax the rich, go to the wasteside. You are nothing but sheeple, and I will explain exactly how deep the manure you are stepping in really is. All I speak is the truth and you can start looking up these facts and do something for once. Also, I do not just bitch like most bloggers, I propose solutions. I know only fools will reply, and this message is not for them. Many of you will read this and know exactly how deep the rabbit hole really goes and where you really need to ally yourself. This is not some doomsday or conspiracy theory. American probably will not go into chaos or ruin, but your way of life is doomed at the very least. How you react to what has happened to you will determine if the United States falls apart because you were screwed hard, if you did not already know.

Bailouts for bankers showed exactly where our government allegences lie, and it is not with the people. Wall Street lies. Accounting firms helped cook the books that were supposed to protect us. All large corporations are audited by the big four like KPMG, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers who pretend to not see fraud. There should be a whole system constantly watching where all the corporate money goes and not the lowly peasant American class. There should be more than four accounting firms, and honesty ratings for their work, don't you think. Why on earth would anyone every invest any money into the stock market or America under these conditions. AIG allowed a bailout and the banks. We, the FED, pay Goldman Sachs money to sell us our own bonds, and Hank Paulson worked for the SOBs. There are lists of the banks that took money from the bailout. Never do business with them again, period.

States are going bankrupt and will either give you an IOU or pay you nothing. If you are a private business worker, do no jobs for any government without money up front.

Housing market is toast just check out the concept of Shadow Inventory. The real number of forclosures is hidden by banks. The reason to hide the truth is because when people see a rundown or vacant neighborhood they run. Really, the number of forclosures is huge, and the most conservative estimate is 5 years to work itself out if possible. Reality is conservative estimates are lying some, and the reality is America is screwed bigtime. By my estimates, there are 7 to every 1 foreclosure seen, and banks try to hide the status of these using manipulation on how they consider this asset/liability of a vacant depreciated house. Just rent some dive for now like I do, and force the rest of this burst bubble to drain off. Causing the housing market, banks, states and the US government to go bellyup is the best thing you can do right now to get us back on track.

Mandatory Spending
$695 billion Social Security, $571 billion Other mandatory programs, $453 billion Medicare, $290 billion Medicaid, $164 billion Interest on National Debt

Discretionary Spending
$663.7 billion Department of Defense, $78.7 billion Department of Health and Human Services, $72.5 billion Department of Transportation, $51.7 billion Department of State, $47.5 billion Department of Housing and Urban Development, $46.7 billion Department of Education, $42.7 billion Department of Homeland Security, $26.3 billion Department of Energy, $26 billion Department of Agriculture, $23.9 billion Department of Justice, $18.7 billion National Aeronautics and Space Administration,

PROBLEMS:

Lets start with 2011. Why the budget cuts everywhere all of a sudden. Maybe you are not hearing the news American media wants you to hear, but the world (particularly International Monetary Fund, China, Russia and the Middle East) is no longer taking US quantitatively eased funny money anymore. This occurred more than a year prior, but was announced in non-biased media in November 2010 (Media like CNN, New York Times, and MSNBC are crap and usually leave this news out). The effect takes about three months to kick US butt. Your money is deflated, and is probably worth half what it originally was worth a few years ago. That is right. 50% loss in a few years. Also, foreigners are not likely to take your money anymore. Try an exchange in Europe sometime, or take a trip there. Dollars are like the plague.

Since demonstrations were in the media lately in Wisconsin, lets show who is deserving of your money. So lets address cops, firefighter, teachers and city workers in the budget cuts which seems to be a focus from Wisconsin. Now first of all all Congress, administrators, managers, judges and high paid workers should take a pay cut before those that actually do good for a city do. Cops, firefighters and teachers are not part of the good, and all deserved to be fired and restructured. In fact, with the purse strings getting pulled, I bet you see more state employees doing less work or more illegal acts as retribution for the cutbacks.

First we will tackle cops. Cops make up charges, arrest to keep themselves in business, and last time I checked traffic tickets never helped an economy. Look these facts up. Many other countries use no traffic lights and get along just fine. I do not need some coward cop acting like a theif behind a bush waiting to give someone a ticket. There is less crime than ever before. Look up the movie Freakonomics. Freakonomics showed the correlation between abortions and reduced crime. However your take on abortion, it is clear moms raising good kids and less unwanted children by birth control or whatever is what is actually reducing crime not cops. Why do we need police with less crime. When did tickets go from $10 for seriously speeding in my dad's days, to $150 for parking, wrong. Stupid cops also suck at solving crimes. Many of you know you are lucky to get a fingerprint job done if you are robbed and they usually never catch the thief. Are we not paying them to protect and serve. I personally have never seen them do any of this for my community. If they do catch theives, you have an even higher chance of never getting your money back or getting justice. Cops are corrupt and cowards from beating up grandmas to killing unarmed men like Oscar Grant that have already been restrained. Do you understand the liability to the taxpayer. When these corrupt cops screw up we are liable for those million dollar lawsuits funding more lawyers and the rich. This means less services you really need from your city like clean streets during winter, look at New York. I absolutely sympathize with people when they kill cops because any coward that abuses their power deserves it. Arm yourselves America. Fire cops, they are, at the very least, a waste of money.

Cases of judges are just as bad as the cops. Wrongfully jailing juveniles, taking kickbacks to fund their own private companies, dealing with these supposed troubled kids. Judges Michael T. Conahan, and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. both guilty.

Now the firefighters/paramedics. It is noble to help those that are in trouble in a fire or emergency, but the majority of firefighters don't do this. In other words their is not enough work to go around. If we had lots of fire problems or emergencies, then I could see all the government payout, but most of the time they are sleeping or playing at the firehouse or EMT station. It is a liability for a firefighter to enter a buring building. Most either just hose building down if people are there, or let it burn down if there are no people. Who the hell needs that. There are even firefighters who start major fires all across the country. Terry Barton and the Hayman Fire fiasco actually had a firefighter causing a huge amout of damage 138,000 acres, destroyed 133 homes and 30 million dollars total. We the taxpayer flipped this bill. Cops and firefighters also use taxpayer owned vehicles for their own personnal business commuting from home. How often have you seen a firetruck parked over eight spaces to eat bar-b-q or do their shopping at a store, bulllshit.

Finally, teachers and their worthless effort at educating our kids. You are paid way more than you are worth. You teachers have horrible education records, lack of care and taxpayers are tired of it. Little Suzie and Johnny are getting dumber by the second.

National defense in America is a joke. 700 billion dollars in wasted money a year. Yes, wasted. Since the time of Regan's dumb monkey sell off days, taxpayer's money to companies like Lockheed, Haliburton, Monsanto, GE, Northrop, Boeing, and Raytheon, have went through the roof. We have fronted the bill for nothing. That is right our military is nothing.

Here is a look at how defenseless America really is. Serbia shot down our F-117 stealth fighter, and America tried to hide the truth. A serbian baker working in their countries army used long range radar to detect stealth easily, and shot one down with old school technology. Billions spent in stealth technology and it is worthless. Not only is stealth worthless but congressional kickback players and defense companies knew this. That is right. Lockheed reps knew stealth was crap, and their congressional cronies. They are not concerned with the safety of America, but only ripping Americans off. It is all about money. Americans are no better protected from a nuclear attack today. America is also no stronger a superpower than many of the rival countries around the world. Russian S-400 missile systems are all around the world, sold to the Middle East, China and Europe. The S-400 can stop a nuke or plane (bogus stealth or not) up to 250 miles away by heat seeking missiles. These systems are fool-proof. For years America has bought into star wars, missile defense shields, and expensive laser systems like Free Electron Laser. These systems are either expensive as hell or don't work or are not worth the money.

Next problem are home grown defense problems like the CIA, FBI, etc. Cut intelligence and get rid of the pentagon and bring our troops home. Stop forcing soldiers into war they do not want to be in for the pursuit of oil. Stop trying to assassinate people around the world and pissing them off costing us Americans more money. Stop entrapment cases against your own citizens just to make us believe we still have a use for you. Particularly I read some articles where islamic U.S. citizens were promised large sums of money by FBI agents to attack us. Most think they would never have thought of this without large promises of money in the sting operation. Our country is poor and you will find people willing to do a lot for money. What ever happened to actually catching those that do crimes? Additionally, the FBI was trying to get people as child predators for hitting a link they set up on a site. Now I am not defending child predators, however, the act of placing stupid links that anyone can accidently hit is simply a money grab. Someone could get on your business or home wireless network and your screwed, and you could screw that neighbor you don't like for sure just looking for these FBI sites. Entrapment kills freedom, and it sucks to live in this supposed "Land of the Free". Additionally, both CIA and FBI don't even communicate with each other for crap. Again, you can see the pattern here. It is one big money grab.

NASA, need another seven astronuts, is a public relations waste of money. NASA is wasteful and you can look up the statistics of how wasteful the space shuttle and rest of the space agency is. You will find there are ways to save money like flying rockets by plane and then releasing instead of wasting tones of precious fuel. The real question is why do we need NASA anyway. It does nothing. Most land telescopes, infared, etc. tell us what is going on in space. Hubble was pretty decent, had they shipped it into space correct the first time. Mostly NASA is overpaid beuracracy with no intention of actually benefitting science. This is why you see stories like that crazy lady astronaut who used a space suit to avoid stopping on her way to kill her competition. Waste beyound belief with nothing to show for it. Overpaid scientists that come up with virtually nothing. We have a lot of problems at home people, and until we figure ways to move like Star Trek there is absolutely no reason to send people up there.

Now a bit on Social Security. What is the point of Social Security if Congress is allowed to dip into it. What is the point of Social Security if we have to keep raising the age to the point of death. What is the point of Social Security if it does not accomodate the unfair devaluation by the FED that is pumping funny money around deflating the american dollar. I have a solution, read below.

Obamacare, Medicaid and Medicare. WTF? Why do insurance companies get what they want? Health insurance company stock went through the roof when Obamacare passed. All Americans now had to buy health care insurance in 2012 whether they like it or not. Medicare and Medicaid are making huge cutbacks, and our federal healthcare will be worthless in just a little while.

Monopolies and big business destroy an economy. Here is a lesson on business 101. An Oligopoly is a few companies that control the market while a Monopoly controls the whole market. Market control can work vertically and horizontally. Example in vertical control is owning rubber trees to rubber plant vulcanization to tires to cars. You control the very creation of the item to finish. Horizontal control is where one would own all tire producting stores. This is what kills America. You let the few control all the power. Look at Microsoft. Why in the hell is one company in control of producing all the operating software for systems. Not only does it force higher prices for you. It also stagnates innovations i.e. Windows blows dog. On top of this. This is your country America, and if they make stuff here they need to play by the rules of the people. Break up Oligopolies and Monopolies and promote competition. There is plenty of work to go around.

Freedoms are completely gone and America is just a lie. I give you one example, Wikileaks. Now you may not like Julian Assange or his organization, but you should question how your government reacted and influenced others. If America has dirty laundry, we the taxpayer want to know about it and correct it. The right thing would have been to discipline those that did wrong and tried to have a more open door policy with the military. This did not occur. Assange was branded a terrorist and other countries were influenced to do America's bidding. Bradley manning has not seen the light of day, and has not been charged. Companies like Paypal, Visa and Mastercard blocked donations to Wikileaks for favors from the United States government. What the hell does this have to do with freedom. Freedom is the right to do anything that does not infringe upon others. If I want to do drugs or skydiving, it is no ones business. I own my body. Not insurance companies or employers. We have a right to keep our information secret and not have corporate america or government use it against us. We also have the right to know where every penny of our money is being spent, period. We also have the right to justice like the lady with a blindfold holding the scales. She is blinded so no one can unfairly influence her.

Blindfolded justice is an essential concept, and concepts help one solve problems. What kind of person would I be if I just bitched above. It is time to give you some solutions that I bet most of you have had at one time or another. You will note that none of these solutions have ever been discussed by Congress. Why? They don't listen to people when there ringer falls off the hook. Why? Because they are busy colluding with their private funders. Wonder how many Swiss Bank accounts Congressmen own. Wouldn't it be great if the FBI actually did their job and investigated them. Wonder why people like Gabrielle Giffords are getting shot. Here is the only way to get out of Wonderland.

SOLUTIONS:

1. Put your money in gold, silver or around the world. Do not let your cash money into an account that can be subpoenaed by anyone. Get passports to other countries and start taking your money out of this corrupt country. Demand your employer pay you in something other than US dollars. Never take a paper backed by gold, or leave your gold in a US bank.

2. Fire overpaid state workers, and lower all our taxes including pay to top paid officials; cops, firefighters, paramedics, teachers, etc. Just fire the majority of cops unless they actually deal with current crimes. No cold cases or traffic tickets. No helping cities with austerity measures. Hire all of people with degrees, out of work, to teach. You don't need a teacher certificate to teach. You would bring up the standards of our children exponentially. There are enough educators if you change this standard. Citizens should volunteer for free to help in case of fires, and not pay a bloated state system. Public employees should earn the same or less than the public, always. Remember they work for you which is not happening now. Lower your tax rate if you own a house. Go to the state board and fight to lower the value of your home to pay less taxes. It does not affect what your home really sells for. You are all paying too much in taxes. Also, never invest in anything. If you cannot see your money, you may not really have it.

3. At least follow the constituion like Ron Paul would like, or think outside of the box and change it to be better than it was written. Why can we not have true freedom of speech? Why can I not get a jury of my peers in every situation? Who needs a corrupt judge. If everyone had a jury, even in small traffic offenses, then cites would not be able to rape us in austerity measures. Traffic tickets should be based on points, and not money. Case in point. Well off drunk drivers are back on the street after multiple offenses. Those that can't pay their traffic tickets lose their license. It is all a money grab people. This has nothing to do with street safety which is the point of the ticket system. Again, my father told me they used to pay 10 dollars for maximum speeding tickets, but they were strict on points. Take money out of the equation and see exactly how well a society can work.

4. Drop the entire national defense budget and start over. Revamp the entire thing into one intelligence agency and one army, thats it. Government needs to build its own weapons, and actually build somthing that can defend. Buying worthless crap from private contractors is not the solution. If there is enough real crime, not created or fudged numbers, then there is a need for intervention. We are not a criminal nation, and we need very little policing. We all have the right to bear arms, and that goes farther than any government system at protecting us.

5. Social Security is easy to fix, watch this. Every age gets to vote on this measure and determine if they still want to be part of the system. If you do not want to be part of Social Security, you vote, get your money back plus interest, and you never get benefits again. If you want Social Security you are entitled to it, and it should be adjusted for inflation. We owe the older generation for everything they did. Look at the Hoover Dam. My community benefits from this creation, and it has been said it could not be done in this day and age. Why, because of a government drain on societies and labor. We need to cut Congressional pay, pork spending, everything until we pay back the last generation the benefits they deserve. They were promised 55 and not an escalated age. Where does it stop, 100 years old. There is no point to benefits if you increase the age.

6. Obamacare. I do not have to buy insurance, period. I accept my own liabilities whether in a car or my own body. America needs to stand up to this, and you should never pay for anything you are forced into. What I cannot figure is why people don't buy insurance out of the US that claims to meet the requirements. Cities have no way of verifying this, or running out of state licenses. States don't get along with one another with minor matters. So get cheap insurance to meet the requirement for now, and force changes to remove this requirement. Plus, you need to register your vehicle in another state that is cheap. Help your brothers out and let them use your residence for mailing. Help expensive registration fees get a reality check.

7. You have to break up monopolies, period. A true capitalist society does not have these because greed naturally forces people to go for their share of the pie. Just think if there were 20 Microsoft companies. I would not have the crappy windows crap that has gone nowhere in a long time. I would have a windows that could be set up for exactly my needs without tons of resident crap programs running burning my vital processor use. Just more errors, less customer service, and a crappier product. Competition breeds innovation, and improves all our lives. The only aspect of government should be to ensure no corruption or collusion, as well as pollution is occurring with these companies. Since American does not work like this, I do not blame the pirate nation. People should copy movies, software, etc because you have been cheated by these monopolies that have bought out your government.

8. Transperency in government is the only way. The people need a vote on a national level like states do, which is only done by Congress at the moment. If there are enough signatures in states, a measure is voted by the people that can never be turned over by Congress. The same can be done nationally. You can have open year round measure proposals by the people that override Congress. If people vote on it, it can never be broken by Congress. You also need rights. Right to know where every penny is going. There are watchdog groups that are willing to do this for free, and all they need is access to the cooked books. One thing that needs to happen is an open FED to see how screwed up our monetary system is. Right to be free of entrapment and made up government. Right to your own land and imminent domain in the name of Walmart is not right. The US government needs to destroy the money it takes in, and begin to deflate the dollar increasing its worth. The actual debt is a true, but a lie when you consider deflation. The actual debt is probably double what is reported.

9. I said it before. Wikileaks should not have been as dramatic as it turned out. The United States overreacted because governments are screwing their people, and If we knew what they were doing to us, they would no longer exist. Look at companies like Monsanto who placed cockroach DNA in corn to make it survive its own Ready Round Up pesticide. They were a chemical warfare company back in the day, and caused cancer around the globe that will be felt in soils for hundreds of years. This corn fiasco was allowed to be patented, and Monsanto's own employees now run the FDA. Their corn has blown across fields poisoning us all. You very food has been screwed by government. You may say, well I don't eat corn. Corn syrup is in everything, and you need to read the labels. Corn syrup manufacturers wanted to change the name so just sugar, and you should fight this. Originally corn was going to be used to fuel ethanol to avoid oil prices, but this is not the case. There is not enough sugar in corn for that. South American countries use this technology though with sugar cane, and making money right and left while America falls behind. It is not just Corn, but other foods as well. There is a product called pink slime. Lets say I was a butcher and all the scraps on the dirty floor were thrown in a rotting trash bin. Well imagine corporate america found a way to use that trash by treating it with ammonia and smashing it up. Well, they do this right now for over a little bit of 5 years, thanks FDA. This is a non-disclosed filler in everything from McShit to Taco Bell. 80% of ground beef has this stuff. The rich do not care about the poor, and if this doesn't wake you up I do not know what will.

10. America without a real revolution you are screwed. The Constitution does not fit the benefit of us today, or not the way it has been changed. I am not going to fix it, and am leaving as soon as possible. There are better lands abroad, and places where they do not screw its people to such an extent. I truly hope that not many lives are lost, but I hope you take with you, as your world falls apart, one thing. It is not your neighbor that is your enemy no matter the color, shape, size, shape, even though there may come a time when you steal what is his to feed yourself. Your enemy is the rich, and it always has been. The rich are the reason for no advancements in society, eating garbage, and being forced to do their bidding. Trust me, there is plenty for everyone. When you have come to the end of the line I hope you remeber this, and where your vengence should lie. DESTROY THE RICH

McJ's picture

GOP rams anti-union bill through Wisconsin Senate

Unbelievable crap from the GOP 'lawmakers'! They invented new rules so they could ram through only the union busting part of the bill . I also heard that today Michigan passed a law that allows the Governor to fire the mayor and council of a city or town and appoint someone to run it. I don't have a link for it just saw it on a clip on the Rachel Maddow show. Also, note the date today 3-9-11. I wonder if they picked today on purpose. sticking out tongue

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41999124

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