Observations and Realizations of 2011

As most people do, I have been reflecting a lot on what's taken place in 2011, and as is my nature, have observed some very interesting things.  First and foremost, the uprising of the downtrodden.  Whether it be here or abroad, people are sick and tired of being fed lies and deceit.  They are tired of being robbed by the rich, and being slaves to corporate greed.  They are tired of seeing the rich get away with crimes that the common man would be imprisoned for.  And it's all come to a boiling point.

Growing up during the 60's, I took an interest in what was going on in the world.  The civil rights movement was happening, and even being a white kid in a predominantly white city, I still felt that what was taking place was wrong, and that people of all races should be treated equally.  Something I felt the catholic church and school I went to had taught me.  Then came the ecology movement, and the anti-Vietnam protests.   Through it all, I would read the newspaper, and watch the news with my parents, and would discuss a lot of what I had been reading and seeing on TV.  I am ever so grateful to have had parents who were willing to discuss these things.  .

I came from a blue collar family, where my Mom was a home-maker and my Dad worked in a factory.  We lived in a small 3 bedroom house, with no garage.  I was already learning then, how those with wealth had the power, and how "privileged" those other kids from those families were.  I remember when the church we attended would put out a listing of all the members donations, and how the rich kids would tease those of us whose parents weren't able to give as much.  I didn't understand it then, but I realize now they were just repeating what they were hearing at home.  And this image of wealthy privilege has stuck with me since childhood.  I was 8 years old, and had worked with my Dad to make my pinewood derby car in Cub Scouts.  My Dad had been working nights, and we only had a weekend to work on it, and he helped me make a spectacular car.  Well, the night of the pinewood derby, I had sewn up 3rd place with that car, and was really proud of what my Dad and I had accomplished together.  But before the awards were to be handed out, in walks a well known doctor in town with his son.  Although the rest of us all had to be signed up 30 minutes before the event, this guy waltzes in and basically demands that his son be allowed to race.  He was allowed to enter his car, and I was kicked out of 3rd place.  I learned then that some were more privileged than others, and weren't made to play by the same rules.

The next year, I was being harassed by the son of the president of pretty big business in the area.  He grabbed my shirt and pulled so hard that he ripped buttons off of it, and had tore part of the shirt.  This was a shirt that was part of the uniform I had to wear, and I knew my Mom was going to be irate.  I try to walk away and this kid keeps harassing me, and I end up beating him up.  The next day, after I get to school, the nun sends me to the principals office.  When I get there, the head nun starts scolding me for the fight, and when I tried to explain to her about the shirt and him harassing me, she told me I was to sit in her office all day as punishment.  Of course, the other kid didn't get any punishment at all.  That was pretty much the last straw with my Mom.  Plus the fact that tuition had increased, that was my last year at that school.

As I went through school, I noticed how those who came from money were always looking down at those with less.  Mocking our clothes, bikes, etc.  This went on all through my school years, seeing those with money getting special treatment.  And here's what I realize.  Through the magic of Facebook, many of those same people who were of the privileged class, are now hard-core conservatives.  They have little empathy for those who have nothing, because they never had to experience it in their lives.  They don't understand the concept of class struggle, because they themselves were from upper middle-class families that never struggled to make ends meet, and they were always on the winning end of the equation.  The division of classes was already taking root at that time.  You had white collar vs. blue collar then, where today we have the rich vs. those who aren't rich.

But what's different today is that there are a class of people who side with the rich, even though they themselves are being pushed down by their actions.  And what I find so puzzling is how many of those who went through those times like I did, being made to feel less than from the kids of the white collar class, are the ones who are now admonishing the lower class and blaming them for all of our ails.  And I realize now why that is.  Many of them, like myself, wanted to have a better life than their parents did.  They bettered themselves, or worked hard to make a better life for themselves.  But as corporate greed started to increase, their own wealth and lives started to erode.  We didn't stop working as hard.  We didn't start working less.  So what caused this change?  It was the old bait and switch.

The age old tom foolery of pointing towards others to take the focus off of the true problem.  We did it as little kids.  We get caught taking a cookie from the cookie jar, and we point a finger and Johnny and say he did it too.  It's no different with the rich and the big corporations.  During the late 70's and early 80's, the middle-class were starting to see that shift in wealth taking place, and we just kept thinking if we worked harder, and worked more we could get that wealth too.  Then came the cost of health care.  Businesses started to require employees to start sharing some of the cost of the increases.  We were upset by it, and we were told from insurers that it was the doctors and pharmaceutical companies that were to blame.  And the insurance companies told us that it was because of all those people who run to the doctor for every little ache and pain.

In the meantime, wages started to freeze.  Companies were more concerned about stock values than they were about reciprocal loyalty to their employees.  Then came the first wave of the rich stealing from others.  There was the S & L bailouts, and then Black Tuesday.  The average American who was lead to believe the stock market was a great investment opportunity, and those employees who were fooled by their corporate employers that investing in stock was a great idea.  These people lost their asses.  Myself included.  Yet somehow, very few corporations folded, and very few on Wall Street lost their ass.

Next came the corporate takeovers.  Our wages and benefits were either froze or reduced to help the company "recover" from the investment in our future.  Meanwhile, those at the top were raking in huge profits.  But, we were told they couldn't give us raises, and we had to pay more for insurance.  When asked why, corporations started to point the finger at the government.  It was those high taxes they had to pay, and those people receiving government aid and assistance who were the real culprits.  So, some people started to fall for the bullshit. Hell, even I did for a while.  

So now, we've got a demographic of people, the baby boomers, who early in life were led to believe that hard work and sacrifice were the way to do better in life.  They were shown too how those with more wealth were treated better by the powers that be.  This became the goal for many of us.  We were then told that even though we were working hard and sacrificing, that we needed to work harder still and sacrifice even more to help the "company" because we were all one big team.  So we did.  And our reward?  We were told that despite all that hard work and effort, it was those government moochers who were causing these corporations to have to make cuts, that had to move jobs overseas, and had to reduce wages and benefits for those still working.  It was a concerted campaign by many corporations to make them still appear to be the good guy in all this, and that it was government and those with less than who were to blame, and that if we didn't all pull together and work even harder, we could lose our jobs too.

And as unions started to wake up and realize what was taking place, corporations were starting to blame the high labor costs for their problems, and switching the focus towards the unions.  All the while, the executives at the top kept making more and more money.  So now we've got unions, and those receiving government subsidies made to look like the biggest reason why the middle class was losing their fight to better themselves.

Enter the anti-union movement.  Corporations, not wanting everyone to see how those at the top were seeing their wages increase, started to ostracize unions and paint them as the main reason why products were costing so much to produce.  People start seeing their wages and benefits cut, but bigger unions were still able to maintain some of the pay and benefits that many had lost.  The propaganda started to emerge to make those who won the battle with corporations to appear as the bad guy.  And once again, many were fooled into believing that it was the unions who were being greedy, when all along it's been the executives at the top.

So now, they've cut or frozen our wages.  Reduced benefits.  Conned us into investing in 401k's instead of providing pensions like they used to.  (and we all know what's happened to a lot of that 401k money don't we?).  But wait, there's more.  After reducing the wages and benefits of their lower level employees by blaming unions for all their problems.  And after getting everyone to think that it was also those who were mooching off the system.  They ran out of things to blame their greed on.

Until now.  Now, it's the government employee who is to blame.  It is those highly paid employees and all their benefits that are costing these big corporations all kinds of money in tax dollars.  Never mind the fact that they are paying less in taxes than they've ever paid before.  It's all those non-legislative government workers who are draining the system and causing these corporations to not pay their workers.  I finally get it.  The wealthy have not only been given the gift of privilege, they've also been given the gift of deception, for they've pulled off one of the greatest scams of all time.

A Penchant For Dissing Pensions

There was a time when employers were loyal to their employees just like employees were loyal to their employers.  During those times, employers wanted to make sure that their employees were taken care of after they retired from their employment.  And by doing so, employers would tell their employees that in order to help make sure their employees were taken care of in their retirement years, they would need those workers to accept a bit less in wages in order to be able to fund the pension plan.  Some referred to this method as deferred compensation.

Over the years, some employers noticed that there was a large amount of money sitting in those pension funds, and wanted to use them of other purposes, and in some instances used that money and lost it all.  When the employees went after the employers for the pension money the employers "lost", the courts decided that those funds were not the employees funds until after they retired, and although it was a contractual agreement, the employer had the right to invest the pensions as they saw fit.  Soon afterwards, the arrival of the 401k came along.  Allowing Wall St. to have access to people's supposed retirement funds to do as they wished, and as we saw these past few years, all with no apparent recourse should those funds be pilfered or lost in the market to reckless actions by those on Wall St.

Now move to 2011.  Many states are realizing how much money they have in state employee pension plans, and want to have access to those funds to allow some on Wall St. to gamble with that money.  This is just wrong.  But what people don't understand is that unions would negotiate for higher wages, and at times, when they weren't able to get decent wage increases, they would accept what the company would deem as deferred compensation, which was a means of increasing the monies put towards the pension fund.  So, rather than employees receiving a 3% increase, you might see a 2% increase along with a 50 cent increase in the cost per years of service in the pension.  I was involved in a few contracts where we didn't even get raises, but were able to at least negotiate for increases in our pensions, knowing that it was deferred compensation that would pay off in the future.  Of course, with the latest happenings, and the recent hate mongering towards  unions, we are seeing how some are losing site of, or just plain lying about what pensions really are, and how they are part of a deferred compensation.

And now, worst of all, we have the Pentagon looking at ways to cut costs, and one of the areas they are looking is at the military pension fund.  A fund that has been in place for over 100 years.  There are private industries that know that's a lot of money that they would love to have access to in order to further their wealth, and they will stop at nothing to get their hands on that money, like they did the money of other government employees.  The problem is, when the Pentagon starts talking about cutting costs, the very first place they should be cutting costs is in their contracts with private industries, not the men and women who have sacrificed years of their lives and their rights to give protection to this country and other countries as well.  We have private contractors like Dyncorp, Haliburton, and Blackwater making billions of dollars off of our government with open ended contracts that doesn't put any limits on what they charge our government for their services.  We have contractors who are still charging outragious amounts for items you and I can go to the local hardware store and purchase for a single digit percentage of what the government is charged.

I am not a veteran, but I am an American, and I'm saying, when you start going after one of the major benefits our soldiers have, that's when the line get's crossed.  Enough is enough.  Veteran's, now is the time for you to be vocal.  For you to speak up and ask those of us who are true patriots to stand with you in this fight, and tell the Pentagon officials to shove their reports about your pensions as far up their asses as they can, and then light the damn paper on fire.  Tell them to stop hiring all these private militia forces and start treating and paying our soldiers like they deserve.

Grover Norquist - King of the Tea-Party

The Tea-Party try to make themselves out to be this great patriotic organization who want to see taxes decreased, and they say government is too big, and that they're sick and tired of the government telling them what they can and cannot do.  And when it comes to unions, they all blow the same smoke rings up our asses.  That unions have corrupted the government by placing demands on the Democrats, and forcing the Democrats to do as the unions say or else.

Here's the funny part.  These same idiot sticks who claim the unions are running things, are just fine with one person running things.  What the hell is that all about?  Grover Norquist is the new King Henry, whom the Tea-Party has anointed as their savior.  So, although they try and claim they're patriots, they are really just one big dumb driven herd.  They have no means to think.  They only act and react based upon whatever bullshit their leaders like Norquist place in front of them.  The sad part is, they're taking this country into uncharted waters that could totally fuck the middle and lower class.  All because they can't think for themselves, and want the country changed yesterday, and the change they want instilled is exactly why this country was founded.

This country was founded because people didn't like to be told who to worship, and how.  They didn't like being ruled by a monarchy, and wanted a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  But thanks to the Tea-Party, we are heading towards dictatorial rule.  Grover Norquist is writing the rules, and the Tea-Party is demanding the Republicans follow lock-step of they'll be gone.  Hitler had the Nazi's, and Norquist has the Tea-Party.

The really scary part is that the majority of the people who follow the Tea-Party are easily influenced through fear and hate, and have voted based on TV ads versus doing their due diligence and researching clients.  The DeVos's knew what they were doing when they started ALEC.  They use the same business model to get the Tea-Party to follow their lead, as they did getting people to sell their useless bullshit running their legalized pyramid scheme.  And it wouldn't surprise me that they used Amway as a means to test out their marketing sham to see what worked best for luring in the unthinking fools who think they too can be like them some day.

Tea-Party morons, thanks for being the reason why we have large numbers of unemployed, and people working longer for the same or less money.  You people should never be allowed to reproduce more of the moronic idiots that you have shown yourselves to be.

They Are Not Patriots

 They claim to be patriots, but are they?  The definition of patriot is a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.  A defender of individual rights, and presumed intereference by the federal government.
We see rich people funding groups like The Heritage Foundation, ALEC, and other far right leaning entities.  And, members of these groups, some of whom are Tea Party members, claim that they are sick and tired of government control and high taxes.  Yet, much of the legislation they are enacting, actually reduces individual rights and increases government control.  And taxes are the lowest they have been in 60 years.  So what is their real motive, and why are these self-proclaimed patriots not willing to defend their country and it's interests with devotion, but rather their own self interests instead?
After WWII, we saw patriotism at it's best.  We had businesses that were more concerned about keeping people working than they were about beating Wall St. expectations.  We had executives who were satisfied with wages just above what their workers made,  and didn't feel the need to make as much money as their bank could hold.  Soldiers returning from war were considered heroes and not burdens on the taxpayers.  Businesses and workers alike knew that only together could we as a country reduce our deficit, which at the time was 120% of GDP, and become an even better nation than we were prior to the depression.  A lot of wealthy people understood that it was the patriotic thing to do, by paying more in taxes because they were more fortunate than most.
Today, we have corporations that are only concerned about beating Wall St. expectations, with executives making 100's of times more than their average workers.  We have wealthy people and corporations that do whatever they can to pay as little in taxes and they possibly can.  Is that in the country's best interest, or is it in the corporations and weatlhy people's best interest?
Because of the inequalities in wages and taxes ever expanding, we see a greater division amongst the people in this country.  Is that serving the country's best interests?  Instead, the backers and defenders of the corporations and the rich are asking for more sacrifice from the middle and lower class.  Those who have sacrificed enough already, and those who have been asked to help bail out big corporations and banks.  Is that what a true patriot would do?

Grandma No Longer Lives Here - Paul Ryan

Grandma no longer lives here,
We threw her out of the nursing home last christmas eve,
It was a cruel thing to do to her I'll grant ya,
But when her voucher ran out it was time for her to leave.

She thought Paul Ryan's ads were based on truth,
We told her that those ads were just for show.
She was no longer able to afford her medication,
So that bunyon on her big toe began to grow.

When they found her wandering one mornin',
After suffering another dimentia attack.
There were cuts and bruises on her forehead,
She was robbed by a man who smoked some crack.

Grandma no longer lives here,
We threw her out of the nursing home last christmas eve,
It was a cruel thing to do to her I'll grant ya,
But when her voucher ran out it was time for her to leave.

Now we're going to have to take care of Grandpa,
His health is really going to hell.
He can't even see well enough to watch football,
And the gangrene on his foot it sure does smell.

It's not that we don't all love Grandma,
It's that we can't afford the nursing home rent.
See, we're not living such a good life,
We've been forced out of our home in to a tent.

Grandma no longer lives here,
We threw her out of the nursing home last christmas eve,
It was a cruel thing to do to her I'll grant ya,
But when her voucher ran out it was time for her to leave.

Now you'd think that this is just a fable,
And that Paul Ryan's plan was just a simple gag.
But the truth is that Paul Ryan's budget,
Is worse for seniors than any other plague.

I've warned all my friends and neighbors.
Better watch out for your healthcare.
They should never vote for a politician,
With brown eyes and Eddie Munster hair.

Grandma no longer lives here,
We threw her out of the nursing home last christmas eve,
It was a cruel thing to do to her I'll grant ya,
But when her voucher ran out it was time for her to leave.

A Taxing Situation

So, it's tax time, and this is something that's been on my mind for a while.  I've just been waiting until I had the use of both hands to type this all out.  In the news lately, we've seen where corporations are getting away with not paying any taxes, and the Republicans saying how we have a spending problem in this country and not a revenue problem.  In fact, that really seems to be the Republican mantra as of late. Sort of a rehearse line they were all given at one of their conventions.  Reminds me of how they went after Michael Moore's movie Sicko.  Repeating the same message over and over again, making sure to pound it in to the minds of those not capable of reading and investigating on their own.

We have politicians who want to lower the tax rate on the rich from 35% to 25%.  Wow, sounds fair doesn't it?  I mean, they are the people who create jobs aren't they?  This is one of the biggest lies they have spewed lately.  Bush initially gave them those tax cuts, and Obama continued them, yet it's not the rich that created the jobs.  It's the corporations in America that were willing to take a cut in their profits to help those who helped make them a great company, and in turn they have survived and flourished to the point of needing additional workers.

The rhetoric that surrounds the increasing of taxes for corporations is a joke.  We hear the same old song and dance about how if we raise the taxes these companies are going to leave the country.  You know what I say?  Go ahead.  Leave.  They're not going to be taking all of their employees with them, and those that are left behind, along with the entrepreneurial ideals of so many would allow a new company to be born, without the same old lazy, and stale executives who were just along for the ride.  It's my belief that letting those companies move their businesses out of our country would only improve the live's of the middle class and the poor and allow for renewed and refreshed innovation that would move this country forward.  And while we're at it, let's impose tariff's on goods coming in to this country from corporations have offices in this country.  Raise the tariff's to the point that they would no longer profit from outsourced labor.

Now, let's take a look at the other side of the Republican argument.  The spending portion.  Yes, we do have a spending problem.  We currently spend more for defense than China, Russia, Japan, and Germany combined.  Why?  Because we have politicians who have made deals with corporations who make their livelihood off of defense contracts.  Another aspect of the spending, as we are told by Republicans, is for benefits to government employees, the biggest of them being health care.  The really ironic part of all this is that prior to Obama passing the healthcare plan, the talk was always about how to lower those costs.  Now, they instead chant about how much the benefits for these workers cost.  What happened to the rhetoric regarding the unequaled increases in healthcare when compared to workers wages?  What happened to that conversation?  And how then, we are increasing spending because we have millions of people out of work compared to 10 years ago.  Now, multiply the number of people out of work, by a few thousand dollars that they would be paying taxes, and now we're back to seeing that this really is a revenue problem after all.  If we hadn't let companies so freely leave this country and outsource so many of our jobs, all in the name of profits for Wall St., we wouldn't be in this mess.

The true villains in all this are not the government employees, it's those corporations who have given their executives huge salaries, while cutting the pay of their middle class workers.  It's the corporations who have sent work overseas all in the name of profits, cheap labor, and environmental ignorance.  Those same corporations who pay little if any taxes while the rest of us all pick up the tab.  When you complain about your taxes, be sure to remember those companies who not only don't pay taxes, but who also shipped jobs out of the country to avoid cutting in to their profit margins.

The corporations and the rich want to complain about taxes, and they want to justify now they already pay a big share of the taxes.  Well, hell yes they do.  Think about it this way.  If you're a corporation, and your have employees, you benefit from having roads, schools, firefighters, and police more than the average citizen.  Why?  Because these are things that help to attract good workers.  Municipalities increase the size and number of their fire fighting equipment to make sure to be able to handle fire's for those facilities these businesses own.  And, the taxpayers are supposed to pick up the majority of this tab?  They should pick up some, because it allows for a growing economy for their city or town.

The rich, well let's take a look at why they should pay more in taxes.  Again, if it weren't for the roads, schools, etc. they wouldn't have the means to make that money.  Their kids wouldn't have decent schools to attend.  They wouldn't be protected by police as well as they are.  We all know that police patrol wealthy neighborhoods more than the do the poor ones.  It's a fact of life.  And, by having good schools, police, etc. you now are able to make that good money because you benefit from better educated kids who someday become your employees.  You drive your expensive cars on decent roads that don't turn your $100k BMW into a rattling POS in two years.

I for one would feel pretty bad if I were making millions and then complained about having to pay taxes.  But see, I'm just one of those who feels that I'm fortunate making any money at all.  And, if I were to have to pay more taxes because I made more money, that would be okay.  It's because of the services provided by local, state, and federal governments that I am able to make the living that I do.  I don't look at what others have that I don't.  I look at how I can help others attain what I have.  I guess therein lies the difference between myself, and Republicans.

The Union Label

Over the past few weeks, as the events in Wisconsin unfold, I'm reminded of some of the things I was talking about 20 years ago when I was a shop steward in the union I was working in.  One of the biggest problems unions face today is how they are perceived by the general public.  Most people feel that unions only protect the bad workers, and rightfully so.  The unions have done very little to change that perception over the past 20 years.  One thing I learned when I was a shop steward was that management was lazy.  I had dealings with numerous employees who played the system or continually messed up.  But, my job as a shop steward was much like that of a defense attorney.  My job was not to judge those employees, but to represent them as best I could.  What I found time and time again was that foremen and supervisors usually let small things go until they built up and then would spew all this stuff that an employee did wrong.

When I would ask the foreman or supervisor to provide documentation to corroborate their side of the story, they generally didn't have any.  And, if they did have some, it was usually inconsequential in manner.  And of course, because of a lack of documentation, it was fairly easy for me to defend the employee and get them out of the trouble they were in.  After I had left that job, I ran in to one of the foremen and we had a discussion on how often I defended some pretty shady employee's, and he felt that I really went above and beyond when I defended them, all the well knowing that they probably should have been fired.  I reminded him that had he done his job better, and documented these cases thoroughly, I wouldn't have had such an easy time with defending them.

What about the adage that union workers are lazy?  Well, I can tell you this from experience.  I spent 10 years working in a factory setting, and since then have worked in numerous office settings.  I can tell you this for a fact.  I have found that there are more lazy people in the non-union work places than I had seen in the union place I worked at.  I have also found that more people are protected by their buddies or relatives or for whatever the reason, than I had seen with union workers.  Some I have seen that were so inept I could not for the life of me figure out how the hell they got a job in the first place.  Not to say I didn't see lazy people in the mill, but I have seen some pretty lazy people in my years since then.  Not so much at the insurance company I worked at, but more in the hospital I worked in and at my current place of employment.  And I'm talking laziness to the tune of a six figure salary.

I know today that the benefits I have I owe largely to unions.  They are the ones who pushed for decent working environments.  The 5 day work week, overtime pay, paid vacation, sick pay, and workers compensation to name a few.  It's time for the unions to start selling themselves again, and letting people know that it's the anti-union actions of congress over the past 30 years that have hurt the middle class, not the unions.  NAFTA, and CAPTA come to mind right off the bat.  People need to realize that during the 80's when unions started to really lose their power, that's when NAFTA was signed in to place.  That one agreement alone allowed the floodgates to be opened for corporations to send work outside of the United States to be performed at a lower wage than here at home.  But along with that lower wage came lower quality as well, as was proven with the quality issues that Ford, Chrysler, and GM had.  Keep in mind, it's not the car companies that brought the quality back, it's the labor unions who helped do so.  They were the ones who took the challenge to improve quality, and make the changes necessary to improve the product they were making.

Come on unions.  It's time to start selling yourselves again.  We need to get back to a time when people were proud to own union-made items.  And yes, I'm guilty of not having done so, but I know that today, I'm more willing than ever to pay more for a quality product made by union labor versus something made overseas by slave labor, especially knowing that a portion of that money I paid was going to one of my neighbors or friends.

How does Tea Party do it?

As I've observed the events of the past few weeks unfold here in Wisconsin, I'm often finding myself wondering how the Tea Party is able to get their followers to believe all their lies and rev up their base.  And then, because I've been involved in different marketing campaigns, I start to realize how it's being done.  I would venture a guess that the Koch Brother's and Karl Rove have been a big part of the marketing of the Tea Party brand, knowing exactly how to get that base fired up.

But why then, aren't the Dem's, Liberals, Progressives able to do the same?  Well, for one, I don't think they have the immoral leaders like the GOP and Tea Party do.  Another point of fact that I've found to be true is that Liberals and Progressives take the time to research things before running with them.  I find that for the most part, we tend to base our decisions on facts and not feelings.  The Tea Party get's told that Obama's coming for their guns, and they just get all nuts and start ranting right away, without going to other sources of information to find what is truth and what is not.  They tend to be like those who send along e-mails without going to snopes first.

So then, how do we fire up the base?  A few thoughts I have.  Since so many non-union people seem to really despise those benefits that union member's enjoy, why not try and sell the non-union people on what a union could do for them?  The big argument I always here from non-union people is that unions protect the bad employees, and to a point, that is true.  I recall numerous occasions where I was supposed to defend a union member who had gotten themselves into a bind, all the while knowing that this person was just playing the system.  And when I talked about how frustrating that was to my grievance committee members, they told me to remember that they were the minority, and not the majority.  And I soon learned that if a supervisor really wanted that person fired, all they would have to do is perform their job like they should.  Thorough documentation of ones misgivings, or work issues, is usually enough for most arbitrators to find just cause for disciplinary actions by the company.  It just takes diligence, which I have found very few supervisors to have.

It was much easier for these supervisors to blame the union for protecting the shitty worker than it was for them to do their job and perform the tasks necessary to discipline those employees who they were always complaining about.  It's like the situation where my wife works.  They have a teacher who is still on probation, whose activities in the classroom are less than desirable and in some cases, downright abusive.  But, because administration doesn't have the balls to do the right thing, they blame the teachers union.

It's a lot like what the GOP, Tea Party, and Gov. Walker are saying currently about the unions.  AFL/CIO, and all of the other union leaders, you need to rebrand your unions.   You need to start selling the idea of unionization to the citizens of this country.  To show them that it's not what Fox has been spewing, and that unions have afforded people many great benefits that they realize in their day-to-day lives.  Let's get the tide to turn in favor of unions, and let's start today.

Marketing is Key in Today's World

As I was marching with the other anti-Walker protesters in Madison on Saturday, I was amazed at how some of those who are pro-Walker can be so dumb.  Then it came to me when I saw a sign slamming Walker for quitting college, I was reminded of what the degree was that he couldn't complete.  It was a degree in Marketing.  And I realized that this is exactly how we have gotten to this place in history.

Not only have the Democrats done a lousy job of marketing their brand, but the unions have as well.  Fox and followers have made it a point to paint unions as bad for America, at the same time promoting the ever widening income gap as truly great for America.  In fact they've made it seem downright patriotic.  Let's take a look at a few examples from the past few years.

The auto industry, through bad management and bad investments with pension's in Wall Street schemes that were nothing more than grand con games, blamed the unions for their troubles.  Not only did they make it a point to get the mainstream news media to say so, they also placed ad's stating as much, and giving the unions yet another black eye.  I would call that an pretty good marketing ploy on the part of GM, Ford, and Chrysler.  Here's where the unions blew an opportunity.  See, the big three were saying how the benefits and such for the union members was killing their bottom line.  That is when the unions should have spoken up and shown the country how the difference between the lowest wage earner and the top 50 executives at GM was far greater than any of those between the same group of employees at Toyota.  Instead, they allowed the big three to make the argument that companies like Toyota and Honda didn't have all the pension issues that the big three had.  And, instead of just taking and swallowing that bitter pill, the unions should have again pointed the blame towards poor management of the pension funds, and the illegal activities of Wall Street for the pension issues.

Maybe that's what unions need to start doing.  A re-branding so-to-speak.  Especially geared towards the under 40 crowd who have been heavily influenced by the anti-union sentiment of the big corporations.  It's time for unions to start once again, selling their brand as being as American as baseball and apple pie.  Prime examples of times to do so would be whenever a new news release comes about something bad or toxic that was made in China, the unions could jump on that and state safety numbers from products made by union members here in the United States.

Look over the history of companies or brands that have suffered from poor marketing, and think about how marketing could help bolster the image of unions.  It's time for unions to employ the services of some of the great marketing firms and re-brand themselves before it's too late.

Governor Walker - Tales of a Half-Wit

The longer Scott Walker is Governor of Wisconsin the more I am amazed at how such a half-wit could become governor.  The guy dropped out of college after 4 years, with what his campaign people stated was a 2.59 GPA.  So, who is able to afford to go to Marquette University and drop-out before they get a degree?  Did daddy pay his tuition?  And how does a dolt like him fool enough people into thinking he can actually manage an entire state?  They guy couldn't even handle a country for christs sake.

What really irks me is here we have yet another Republican who certainly never had to work for anything in his life.  Everything was handed to him as he went along his merry way, continuing to fool those around him.  So how DID he actually make it to being governor?  Well, let's start with the Karl Rove money machine.  He was backed with a hefty amount of money, and some of that money came directly from Karl Rove's corporations set up strictly for funneling money to political campaigns.  Why did the Rove Machine choose Scott Walker over Mark Neumann?  Simple, and as much as I didn't really care for some of Mark Neumann's ideas, one thing I recognized was that he wasn't as apt to be corrupted by the Rove Machine.  The difference too between Neumann and Walker is that Neumann believes in capitalism, whereas Walker believes and is controlled by corporatism.

And now, here we sit.  The state of Wisconsin is faced with an autocratic leader who wants to impose his will on the state.  He reminds me a lot of an old supervisor we had.  He hated unions, and thought he could go about doing anything he wanted to try and mess with the people in the mill.  Hell, he even had some of those on the union executive committee scared because of his tactics and his smooth talk.  Until the day came where I stood up to this clown, and went toe to toe with him and watched as my union rep's backed down.  It took me going further up the chain in the union to get things straightened out and to get this guy to back down.  I only hope that the state workers are able to do the same with this poor excuse of a governor.  If not, then move over China because Wisconsin workers will begin to challenge you for those $20 a week jobs sooner than you know.

Unity is Key

In the past week, I've been able to witness two great displays of unity, and how integral that unity was to achieving a goal.

First there were the protesters in Tunisia and Egypt.  Pulling together for a common cause, these people were able to bring great attention to their causes.  In doing so, they also were able to get the support of a lot of people worldwide.  And why?  I think a big part of it has to do with the fact that these people all were willing to risk it all for the betterment of themselves and their society as a whole, without fear of repercussion or even possible death.  They planned and toiled to make sure that what they were about to do would be successful.  As the protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo, you could see that the strength in numbers was having it's effect not only with the protesters themselves, but with people in the military, and the media as well.  Respect had been gained, and the peoples' grievances were heard.  Not being an avid follower of middle east politics and lifestyles, I can only comment on the truly sensational act of seeing all these people pull together for a common cause and to see the great outcome of such an event.

Last night, I was witness to a different sort of pulling together for a common cause.  I watched my favorite professional team, the Green Bay Packers win the 45th Super Bowl.  They not only persevered through many an injured player during the regular season, but also through a few devastating injuries to veteran players during the biggest game for many to date.  How did they do it?  By pulling together for a common cause.  They all wanted this win.  All of them.  Those on injured reserve, those unable to suite up, those who probably wouldn't play, and those who were fortunate enough to play.  All of them worked together to make it all happen, and in doing so showed millions of people that no matter what obstacles are placed in front of them, it is possible to achieve anything through hard work, and doing so in a unified manner.

Although each of these events are highly different.  And one is much more important to life than the other.  Both examples show what the power of unification has on an anticipated outcome.  Americans should learn from these examples, and use them as a guide to help better ourselves, and to work towards a common goal that brings betterment to us all.

Unity is Key

In the past week, I've been able to witness two great displays of unity, and how integral that unity was to achieving a goal.

First there were the protesters in Tunisia and Egypt.  Pulling together for a common cause, these people were able to bring great attention to their causes.  In doing so, they also were able to get the support of a lot of people worldwide.  And why?  I think a big part of it has to do with the fact that these people all were willing to risk it all for the betterment of themselves and their society as a whole, without fear of repercussion or even possible death.  They planned and toiled to make sure that what they were about to do would be successful.  As the protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo, you could see that the strength in numbers was having it's effect not only with the protesters themselves, but with people in the military, and the media as well.  Respect had been gained, and the peoples' grievances were heard.  Not being an avid follower of middle east politics and lifestyles, I can only comment on the truly sensational act of seeing all these people pull together for a common cause and to see the great outcome of such an event.

Last night, I was witness to a different sort of pulling together for a common cause.  I watched my favorite professional team, the Green Bay Packers win the 45th Super Bowl.  They not only persevered through many an injured player during the regular season, but also through a few devastating injuries to veteran players during the biggest game for many to date.  How did they do it?  By pulling together for a common cause.  They all wanted this win.  All of them.  Those on injured reserve, those unable to suite up, those who probably wouldn't play, and those who were fortunate enough to play.  All of them worked together to make it all happen, and in doing so showed millions of people that no matter what obstacles are placed in front of them, it is possible to achieve anything through hard work, and doing so in a unified manner.

Although each of these events are highly different.  And one is much more important to life than the other.  Both examples show what the power of unification has on an anticipated outcome.  Americans should learn from these examples, and use them as a guide to help better ourselves, and to work towards a common goal that brings betterment to us all.

State of The Union Thoughts

I liked most of what President Obama had to say in last night's State of the Union address.  I agree we need to move forward and not rehash old arguments, and we definitely need boost our infrastructure and or education system.  He lightly touched on the need to keep jobs here in the U.S. but never really said much about how he was planning to do that.  And with that being said, here are a few thoughts on what I felt was lacking from the State of the Union address.

First and foremost, I would've liked to hear him talk about how along with jobs, financial reform was at the forefront of his concern.  The GOP cannot look past the money that is put in their pockets to see how much the lack of regulation caused not only our economy, but the worlds economy as well, take such a dive.  It's either because they are completely stupid, or because they are as thick as thieves with the financial arena, that they cannot see how regulation could've prevented such a travesty.  And what's really disheartening is how a lot of those people that were affected by the actions of Wall St. still voted in GOP members this last election cycle.

As for the jobs, is it really that hard to figure this all out?  At a minimum we need to stop or try to limit the imports from China.  And here's what I find truly ironic with the GOP.  They want to keep spending money on the military buildup because they feel we need to protect ourselves from communism and terrorist.  Yet, in the same breath, they freely allow corporations here to do massive amounts of business with a communist country like China, and countries where large portions of the income from oil goes to terrorist backed governments.  I just don't get it.

And then to listen to Paul Ryan spew his bullshit.  Talking the usual GOP tag line.  Democrats create big government, blah blah blah.  What about, when Bush was in office.  He created The Department of Homeland Security, among other "branches" of government.  And the worst part of it all, is how invasive that entity of the government has been on our public lives. Yet, Paul Ryan, who claims to be such a staunch Republican, never talked about how many of our rights and freedoms have been lost, and continue to be lost.  Why no mention of the extension of the Patriot Act?  Doesn't anybody care that they just keep sliding the extension of that along with little notice?

It's the cup game folks.  Both sides, deployed by big business, have been chosen as pawns in their quest to become richer while beating the lower and middle class into submission.  When will people begin to wake up?

Moving Jobs Out Of The Country, and Illegals In Ours

How many of those who have lost their jobs in the past 10 years have lost them due to their job being moved to a different country?  Too many.  And it doesn't matter what side of the aisle the lawmakers are on, they continually vote against anything that would benefit the American worker.

Instead of repealing Obamacare, why don't they repeal NAFTA?  That has caused more pain and suffering for the American people than any other major piece of legislation in the past 20 years.  I've said this before, and saying it here again.  If they aren't going to repeal it, then let's start levying tariffs on those imports that are coming in to our country from companies that have outsourced the production of those products?  Any company that outsources ANYTHING should have to pay a larger amount of money towards unemployment compensation, and should be taxed at rate that would make it less lucrative to outsource their jobs.

Yes, I know.  Some will say, "If we do that, we'll no longer be able to compete with other countries".  Well, I say false.  Here's why.  The government has done this in the past, and they could do it again.  In the early 80's, Harley Davidson was on the verge of extinction, and they blamed the imports from Japan that were a lot cheaper than their motorcycles.  So, a 75% tariff was placed on those motorcycles coming in from Japan, and that tariff would gradually come down over a set amount of years.  Did it help Harley Davidson?  Yes.  Did people still buy motorcycles from Japan?  Yes.  Did the increase in tax revenue help the government.  Yes.  So, it was a win, win, win.

I just think it's such a simple solution to today's deficit problems.  The deficit is increasing because the government is spending more and more.  And, the only way the government makes money is through taxes, and the only way people can pay taxes is if they are working.  And the only way they can be working is if something is done to help save their jobs, instead of doing everything possible to ship jobs overseas.  Personally I think what's happening is that corporate honchos aren't satisfied with the compensation disparity between themselves and their "worker bee's".  They don't like seeing the average American taking trips like they do, or buying new cars, or living in nice homes.  They figure they're the only ones worthy of the finer things in life, and their hope is that enough people will start losing jobs that we'll go back to pre-World War I days where we were just happy to have a job, and possibly a house and an old car.  No vacations, no unions, no decent benefits.

I laugh too when it comes to illegal immigration.  To me, this problem is caused by the very assholes that are trying to push to stop the influx of illegal immigrants, not realizing they, and their corporate donors are the ones to blame.  Think about it.  Do you do anything to cause people from Mexico to come to the U.S.?  If there weren't jobs being given to illegal aliens, would they still come here?  If we started imposing huge huge fines on companies or people who hired illegal aliens, I think we'd see a drastic reduction in the numbers of those crossing the borders.  I know of companies and farmers here in Wisconsin that knowingly employ illegal aliens because by the time anyone would find out, they money they saved on wages would far outweigh the measly fines they would be assessed if they did get caught.  A lot of simple solutions for such a complicated bunch of lawmakers.  Or is it more a case of just doing what their coffers are directing them to do?

Jobs, China, Healthcare, and Banks.

Here we are.  2 weeks into the new year, and those same Republicans who claimed to care about the middle-class should be introducing legislation that would hinder any U.S. corporations from exporting jobs to China.  Instead, they're more concerned about paying back their coffers to make sure they can remain in office and have plenty of contributors to their next election campaign.

When in the hell are Americans going to wake up and realize that if something isn't done soon to get our jobs back, we are all going to be competing with the Chinese people for $300 a month jobs?  First and foremost it should be the job of the lawmakers to make it financially impossible to ship jobs overseas.  Get back those tax paying jobs that were lost, and maintain what we have today.

Corporate profits seem to be the utmost concern for CEO's and lawmakers.  Hey people, I've got a newsflash for you.  CEO's and lawmakers only care about themselves, and feel anyone else is just a means to get their desires met.  Let's take for example, those banks who felt the need to rip off our soldiers.  Not only is it revolting that they get bailed out for their irresponsible behavior.  Then, they take money from those who've gotten shafted by the S.O.B's that these same banks payrolled to put in office.

And then here's the kicker.  To help out my daughter I agreed to co-sign her school loan consolidation.  Now mind you, she was told that the interest rate could be from 4.25% - 9.00% depending on my credit rating.  Well, my credit rating is excellent, and the best the bank could do is 7%.  WTF?  We bail their asses out, and the best they can do for an interest rate is 7%.  And then I think of all the bullshit she went through with teachers who couldn't even speak decent english trying to teach advanced level calculus, and other bullshit courses that didn't even pertain to her degree.  And for what?  A huge debt that she'll probably never have a decent enough job to pay off in any short period of time.  The state of affairs in this country is just sad.  I'd hate to be a kid growing up today.  At least 30 years ago, there was something to look forward to.  Now, it's a joke.

Go Away Sarah, Go Away

I, for the life of me cannot figure out what the bid draw to Sarah Palin is.  When McCain chose her as his running mate, and she starting verbalizing in the media, I wondered if the man had lost his mind.  She has proven time and time again that she is not an intelligent person, and really has no strong work experience.

This woman is in her 40's, and has less common sense and knowledge that most people.  McCain would've had a stronger and smarter running mate had he chose his daughter Meghan.  She at least understands politics and actually has a brain.

One of the things that really irks me with Palin is how she spouts values and tries to make it sound as if she's in running for Mother of the Year award.  Yet, she's constantly traveling all over the country trying to make every last dime she can before her "15 minutes" fades away, spending less time with her kids than most over-the-road truck drivers that I know.

I think it's time for Sarah Palin to just quietly go away.  Go back to Alaska and shut the hell up.  And can the media just stop following her stories?  I don't care what her opinions are.  I don't care what she thinks about anything, and think it's even a bigger travesty that someone as stupid as she is, is allowed to make the money she does.  It just proves to me that the majority of the t-baggers are nothing but a bunch of moronic idiots who have nothing of real value to their lives.

Do this country a favor Sarah.  Quit sharing with us your idiotic life and useless opinions.  You bring no real value to this world.

Where Are The Jobs?

Let's see.  Clinton pushes NAFTA through,  Bush let's the banks and Wall St. go unwatched, and Americans lose millions of jobs.  And here we sit watching politicians argue about rhetoric, and healthcare.  

And, here's some crazy thinking on my part. There are budget deficits all over the place in government.  And why?  Because they aren't collecting the taxes they used to.  Why?  Because, we've allowed so many jobs to be shipped out of the country.  And some will say "but, these companies had to do this because of the economy".  Really?  Or, is it because they did this that the economy did what it did? 

Let's say we were able to keep 10 million of those jobs we let go out of the country.  And then let's say the median salary for those jobs was $40,000.  Now, let's way we had a flat tax rate of 15%.  This would bring in $60 Billion.  It would also pump over $300 billion into the economy, which would be spent by those earning the money versus being hoarded like it is by the corporate bigshots.

And here's the bigger part of this.  That $300 billion that would be pumped into the economy, would be taxed over and over again as the money changed hands.  Think about that, and put that into perspective and we've really lost a lot of potential tax base.  

We have to start pushing our lawmakers to abolish NAFTA.  If we don't, we might as well kiss any decent job in this country good-bye.  The conservatives like to blame the unions for all the jobs going overseas, when in reality it's all about corporate profits and greed.  Unions are not what led to all the jobs being shipped out of our country, greedy rich bastards are.  It's time for the middle-class to start saving themselves and their livelihood.  Those people sitting on top of the world don't realize that it's us, the middle-class who have made these companies what they are today.  Not their rich friends.  Not the politicians votes they buy.  It's the sweat, knowledge, and dedication from those of us who care enough to see a company succeed.

We have to change this direction before it's too late.

Rush, Beck, Palin and their sheep.

As this week has unfolded, I became more and more amazed at how hateful Rush, Beck, and Palin have become.  Even more amazing is the sophomoric dolts who follow them, and believe every word they say, defending all of their actions no matter how despicable.

What bothers me is how stupid many of their followers are.  They don't realize that all three of them cater to the same people who created the mess we're in today.  They remind me of really bad used-car salespeople.  You know the one.  They tell you that the car was driven by a little old lady, and keep steering you away from the noticeable problems of the car while continually telling you how great you'd look driving the car.  They are expert sales people who sell crap and pass it off as something everyone needs.

They hammer on everything that is done by the Democrats.  Obama goes to Arizona and gives a great speech at the memorial, only to have these soulless wonders rush to denounce everything he had said and done, trying to make it look like a show.  I used to think they were total hypocrites, but now realize that it's all just a sales job to spread hate and loathing, all the while protecting corporate America and the rich, guarding their schemes to continue to divide the middle-class on the way to making this country a two class system.

Where are the children of the 60's?  I remember when I was growing up, marching for the first Ecology day.  I remember going door-to-door in my city with a petition to help save the clock-tower portion of our city's original city hall.  I remember how angry I would get when I watched the events from the Watt's Riots on TV, or the Vietnam War protesters.  Have liberals and progressives become tired of fighting?  Have they become part of the corporate world they so despised?  Have they become complacent?  Or have they resigned to the fact that there's no way to fight the corruption and greed?

What is there left to do?

Vitriol and It's Consequences

Yesterday, we saw an example of what the vitriolic tone of the political arena in the US has created.  The consequences of which are tragically devastating.  I am of the opinion that if you choose to be one of those in the media or politics who tries to breed hatred and discourse in such a flippant manner as Fox News, Sara Palin, Sharon Angle, and others have, that they should be held responsible for any consequences that come from it.

Yes, I believe in free speech.  But the example I kept thinking about yesterday was how freedom of speech does not allow for people to yell fire in a theater. (One of the examples I still remember hearing as a child).  And the reason is, because it can put lives in danger, much like the vitriol in today's political arena has.  Any politician or media personality who played any part in yesterday's tragedy, should be admonished by their supporters at a minimum.  Anyone who supports their vial hatred towards another American is a part of the problem.  We can accomplish great things in this country when we pull together.  We can cause great discourse when we don't.

I think we all, each and every one of us, need to make sure that we encourage healthy and constructive dialog amongst ourselves regarding politics.  What I've seen in the past decade is a push to force everyone to think as a few do.  It's not only wrong, it's unAmerican.  It doesn't have a place here.  This country was founded on the principles of people being able to have their own thoughts, and to decided not only what religion they would practice, but whether or not they would practice any religion at all.  Many have forgotten that, as they feel their beliefs should be the beliefs of all.

I hope that now is the time that a lot of people feel it's time to heal, and not continue the hatred that has been spreading so rampantly.  These next few weeks will determine what direction this country is heading, and I can only hope that the direction is towards healing, and not towards more death and destruction.

Ringing in 2011

As I was sitting at work today and waiting for queries to run, I was checking Twitter a lot and really started thinking about how 2010 started, and ended.  Things seemed to start fairly well.  It appeared that they would have a healthcare bill in a short amount of time, and some of the moves being put in place to avoid a serious depression seemed to be working.

Then, all hell broke loose.  Boehner, McConnell, and company started the hate campaign, and the next thing you know there are political idiots like Ron Johnson, Scott Walker, and Sean Duffy running for different political offices in Wisconsin.  Just as in 2004 when I figured this country couldn't be stupid enough to re-elect George Bush\Dick Cheney, somehow stupidity reared it's ugly head in Wisconsin and they elected 3 morons, none of whom really stated to the public exactly how they were going to do things, only that it wasn't going to be business as usual.  And, first thing Scott Walker does, is business as usual.

Next, through some researching on my part, I started to learn more about the Bilderberg group, 9/11, and the move to create a police state and eliminate as many of our rights and freedoms as possible.  What is truly scary is that a lot of what I've read in the past 6 months about what the plans are for the Bilderberg groups and the Illuminati, is starting to all fall in to place.  The latest crap with the TSA, and how they're pretty much doing whatever it is they want, along with the banking industry and the lack of any regulations put in place to prevent what happened, the shit with the Federal Reserve, and you've got yourself a pretty scary situation taking place.

We've got a society who can't seem to see the evidence right in front of them.  They can't see how those in power are keeping the focus off of their activities and the hatred they are trying to instill.  I can only hope that as I help to spread the knowledge that I have gained and continue to gain, that others will start to see the light as I have.

One can only hope.