Quite A Transformation

Nov 26th, 2011

And I thought Spam sucked out of the can.

Image via MoJo

A few months ago, Ted Genoways profiled the hellish conditions of Hormel employees for Mother Jones.

It is an astounding piece which traces Hormel's evolution over the last eighty years from one of the most labor friendly industrial-food operations to one of the most dangerous and even legally questionable.

During the transformative 1970s, the company began a rapid journey towards greater exploitation of illegal labor and wage-slashing.

A "Friend" Against Kasich

Nov 7th, 2011

No joke. Very conservative radio host Bill Cunningham, who is indeed a personal friend of the Ohio Governor, appeared on the Ed Show and explained his recent commercial imploring Ohio voters to vote tomorrow to repeal Kasich's union-busting legislation known as "issue 2."

Don't Fly...

August 4th, 2011

That's my advice as long as the FAA shutdown continues. Saadly, not a very realistic recommendation for millions of Americans. I guess I'' just wish our fellow citizens good luck and hope for the best.

Kirsten Boyd Johnson writes about the underlying cause of the GOP driven refusal to fund one of America's most crucial agencies:

"Predictably, the partisan bickering centers partially around a $14 million subsidy for rural airports that is effectively rendered ridiculous by the $30 million loss in airline ticket taxes sustained each day of the shutdown. The other part is a fight over, what else, unions.

4,000 employees are also being furloughed, and Transportation secretary Roy LaHood had to shift gears from pleading with leaders to now just saying, "nobody panic, America’s actual professionals will not simply go home and watch the sky for little airborne fireballs to laugh at, like Congress."

Oh well. It is good to know there are a great many FAA employees who will continue to keep us safe in spite of the fact that the Republicans are ensuring that they can't feed their families.

Yeah, I Said Bagman

April 4th, 2011

An observation on the unfolding Wisconsin side show

by F. Grey Parker

Update 7:15pm CST 4/5/2011 The situation has changed, but it ain't over.

"Hinky Dink" & "Bathhouse"

The history of Chicago's political underbelly is something of a hobby of mine. Having grown up in it's shadows and in a house of a decidedly political timber, it just fascinated me. I can tell you amazing stories about the bad old days. It was once truly a city without peer in a nation without a whole lot of "sunlight." For a time, it even made "Boss" Tweed's Tammany Hall in New York look good. I hadn't thought about it much recently until a short time ago.

Yesterday, I posted about Gov. Scott Walker's (R-WI) doling out state money and an important position to the seemingly unqualified, legally challenged and not college degreed son of a major political backer. It's a stunning caper. I jived to a few pals that Walker's shenanigans would've made the average 1950s, cigar-chompin', Chicago-Machine hack blush. After some further thought, I have concluded that this was correct. No one in the first Daley Administration would ever have done anything this blatantly not on the level. 

In the midst of a dust-up Walker has intentionally crafted to steamroll over his own state's nearly century long history of open government while giving the high hat to organized labor, he has put an apparent connected bum on the taxpayer's nickel to the tune of just over 80 thousand samolians. To find a guy this craven in Chicago's past, I can only come up with the infamous prohibition era bosses of the 1st Ward, Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna and "Bathhouse" John Coughlin. 

At the height of the "Hinky Dink" and "Bathhouse" stranglehold on power in Chicago, a frustrated Mayor Carter Harrison questioned "Hinky Dink" about his quite eccentric and bent partner. The Mayor wanted to know if "Bathhouse" was using narcotics or might actually be certifiable. Kenna looked at Harrison. He suggested that it was not really explicable. "To tell you the God’s truth, Mayor, they ain’t found a name for it yet," he said.

When a 21st Century Midwestern Governor is reminiscent of either of these goofs, he can take his good government malarkey and scram. I begin to wonder if Walker might not be ossified. Maybe he's just a piker. This is only beginning to heat up, kids. I am pretty sure that it ain't goin' away.

Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) is awfully temperate in his response, if you ask me:

“Gov. Walker has repeatedly stated that all public employees must sacrifice, but it appears his political appointees are exempt from any sacrifice. Media accounts in the past few weeks have focused on two appointees with close Republican connections getting questionable appointments with excessive raises.


Gov. Walker’s budget adjustment bill that is tied up in court gave him 37 additional political appointees and recent revelations make that highly inadvisable. 

A governor cannot ask his employees to sacrifice while rewarding his political cronies and relatives of big donors. I call on the Legislature to halt any expansion of political appointments, no-bid contracts or gubernatorial power over rule-making in the future. This includes special session bill AB 8, which could come back to the Assembly as early as tomorrow.

If there is any shred of independence among legislative Republicans they will not allow the hiring of additional political cronies after the revelations of the past weeks. This is simply not how we do business in Wisconsin.”

Personally, I would've at least called Walker a spifflicated palooka. The guy keeps spoonin' the applesauce. He's tryin' to take the whole state and maybe even the country for a ride. He thinks we're all pushovers. 

He is wrong.

Scott Walker's Reality, cont...

March 11th, 2011

I am beginning to think Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker actually does exist some sort of parallel reality. Continuing his victory laps over the most destructively anti-middle class legislation in America in decades he told AP today:
"What we're doing here, I think, is progressive. It's innovative. It's reform that leads the country, 


and we're showing there's a better way by sharing in that sacrifice with all of us in government," he said."

Progressive? Far out. As far as the "sharing" of sacrifice is concerned, it's a good time to point out that Walker's fear-mongering warning of a "3.1 billion dollar deficit" is decidedly smaller than the 5.3 billion dollars in new tax cuts for corporations within his budget. Get it?

Again, we urge all Wisconsin citizens to PLEDGE TO SUPPORT Gov. Walker's recall.

Scott Walker's Reality

March 11th, 2011

There was a signing ceremony today for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's dishonestly passed and union-busting bill. He is not only smugly proud of playing his part in the ongoing assault on America's future, he's seemingly delusional.

From Bloomberg:

"We heard from the public they wanted it passed and moved forward and get refocused on creating jobs,” Walker said today on CNBC."

A majority of Wisconsin citizens did not want this. A majority of American citizens were opposed as well. Just what "public" is he referring to? The "public" that lines his uneducated pockets with donations? The out-of-state "public" that gets bussed in by the Koch Machine? The wealthy "public?"

This only confirms the growing perception that these new radical corporatists genuinely don't believe that the electorate which opposes them is actually part of the equation. They aren't his "public."

Again, we urge all Wisconsin citizens to PLEDGE TO SUPPORT Gov. Walker's recall.

Scenes From America

Mar 10th, 2011

The Wisconsin Assembly has just passed the anti-union bill on the heels of the senate's dishonest maneuvering yesterday evening. It now awaits the signature of Gov. Scott Walker.

Posted at 3:42pm cst at WisPolitics
"Debate has been shut off. Dems rise to be recognized and object, but it's to no avail.
The vote is 53-42 with one member not voting. GOP Reps. Dean Kaufert, Lee Nerison, Dick Spanbauer and Travis Tranel voted against the bill.
The roll call is taken, and the session is adjourned. Dems and the hundreds in the gallery are chanting "shame" at the Republicans as they slowly leave the floor into the Speaker's office." EMPHASIS OURS

 

Below is an image taken at about that time of riot police taking positions throughout the Capital. Welcome to Fitzwalkerstan. We suggest that all citizens of Wisconsin SIGN THE PLEDGE for the governor's recall

Moore On Maddow

Mar 10th, 2011

"This is a class war"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

They Did What?

Mar 9th, 2011

by F. Grey Parker

 

The Wisconsin Republican majority has used a parliamentary trick to separate banning the right to collectively bargain by public sector unions from the so-called "budget" bill.

That they have done so in this manner not only contravenes the will of the citizens of Wisconsin, but also runs contrary to the opinions of a majority of all Americans.

Donate to the ACTBLUE effort to help recall Gov. Scott Walker.

 

PEW Shows Public Against Gov. Walker

March 1st, 2011

CALL OR WRITE the Wisconsin 14 and tell them not to give up!

From a PEW Poll conducted between Feb 24 - Feb 27: 

"By a modest margin, more say they back Wisconsin’s public employee unions rather than the state’s governor in their continuing dispute over collective bargaining rights. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) say they side more with the public employee unions, while 31% say they side more with the governor.",

Caving?

March 1st, 2011

It looks like some of Wisconsin 14, those state senators who have served their constituents best by not appearing for duty, are getting ready to blink. Chris Bowers of DailyKos writes:

"We may be approaching the end of the inter-state standoff. As such, it's time to start talking about the actual endgame in this fight: recall elections. No matter what happens—whether the "budget repair bill" passes as is, or whether the protests succeed in altering it to protect collective bargaining rights—it would be shocking if there are no recall attempts. In fact, given the political energy that has been tapped, it would be shocking if there were only recall attempts against senators of one party."

Frankly, I think they should welcome a recall and stick to their guns. There are likely to wild recall efforts against members of both parties. But, as of now, the only sure electoral firing is the Governor, as was reported yesterday.

Please SIGN THE PETITION supporting the Wisconsin 14

Gov. Walker - How To Lose The Voters In 1 Easy Step

Feb 28th, 2011

Gov. Scott Walker's assault on the right of labor to collectively bargain, an intention he never discussed during his campaign, has altered the political landscape of Wisconsin dramatically and in very short time. There aren't any immediate "do overs" in politics but, if there were, he would be sent packing today. Wisconsin law requires that no elected official may be formally recalled until one full year after inauguration. 


Perhaps the Governor should keep his bags by the door.

From Public Policy Polling:
"If voters in the state could do it over today they'd support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin."

"It's actually Republicans, more so than Democrats or independents, whose shifting away from Walker would allow Barrett to win a rematch if there was one today. Only 3% of the Republicans we surveyed said they voted for Barrett last fall but now 10% say they would if they could do it over again. That's an instance of Republican union voters who might have voted for the GOP based on social issues or something else last fall trending back toward Democrats because they're putting pocketbook concerns back at the forefront and see their party as at odds with them on those because of what's happened in the last month."

Full poll results are forthcoming...

The RGA And Gov. Scott Walker

Feb 25th, 2011

This just in from Huff Post Hill:

"RGA WON'T ENDORSE WALKER'S BUDGET -  A strong indicator of just how politically radioactive Scott Walker's anti-collective bargaining proposal has become Republican Governors Association Chair Rick Perry is refusing to throw his organization's weight behind it. 


At a Politico-hosted panel this morning alongside DGA Chair Martin O'Malley, the Texas governor -- a guy who has had no problem supporting creationism, anti-sodomy laws and his state's possible secession from the union -- sidestepped the issue. "The key for us, we've got 50 laboratories of innovation out there. Frankly, for me to tell Martin how to run his state or for him to tell me how to run my state is a bit over the line," he said."

Quote Of The Day -- Solidarity Edition

Feb 19th, 2011

"In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining... We demand this fraud be stopped." --  Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Wisconsin Plot Thickens

Feb 18th, 2011

Raw video of Wisconsin firefighter's (who are exempted from Gov. Walker's union busting proposals) marching into the capital to show solidarity with those under attack.

Gov. Walker's Very Bad Math

Feb 18th, 2011

Wisconsin has a budget surplus though the middle of 2011 totaling $56,362,800. SOURCE LINK BELOW

As we reported yesterday, the new Wisconsin state tax cuts that went into effect are 150% larger than the projected deficit. We also deflated the meme that the public sector pays more when the opposite is true. Another interesting fact has come to our attention.


The Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Wisconsin's equivalent of the CBO, shows very different numbers than Gov. Scott Walker has been publicly proclaiming. He has been repeatedly asserting that the state is "broke now."

"Ten HUT! What is the square root of..."

Feb17th, 2011

Perhaps the teachers of Wisconsin should go ahead and just call Gov. Walker's bluff. The governor has said that if they don't just roll over and let him break their union, he will replace them in the classroom... with members of the National Guard. I honor the service of our Guard. I respect them. But I don't want them teaching our children. That is why we have teachers. So that they may teach.

Well, it was bound to happen that Rush was going to chime in on this one:
He says in the following clip that guard members "would be just as good" as teachers. He also makes fun of children being provided a decent meal. Next time you hear Mr. Limbaugh use the word "values," remember this.

The War On Unions, Cont...

Jan 25th, 2011

The labor movement is under attack from the American Right with a force that hasn't been seen in decades. Public sector pensions in particular have been targeted as the primary villain in budget shortfalls at the state level. Completely ignoring depressed revenue due to the recession, the wildly irresponsible tax code modifications of the last 30 years and even the most basic principles of contract law, a near hysterical meme is gaining traction. It is the argument that we must find a way to dissolve or otherwise dishonor these legal obligations.

There is one problem with the rising level of alarmism. The facts simply don't support it. The average state cost of public sector pensions is an average of 3.8% of GDP. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College completed an exhaustive study this past October on the actual impact of these commitments.


It should be required reading by every so-called "fiscal-hawk."