This Ain't The Air Traffic Controllers Strike!

As I wrote in my Feb. 18th blog President Reagan in 1981 fired the Air Traffic Controllers and the Unions just slept through the whole episode. I was so ashamed of the total loss of working class solidarity, like the Robin in a Hank Williams song, “I hid my head and cried.”

Now together with my son in Madison Wisconsin I am once again proud of the great tradition of solidarity amongst working people. God, they need that more than ever. Why? Because in the last 25 years working class, now called middle class, families have been taking a royal beating when it comes to their income. At the same time the top two percent of the wealthy have increased their wealth by over 25 percent. Yupp the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. (I am not going to go over what is happening in Madison. Plenty of that in Cyberspace. Rather deal with what’s behind it.)

Much of what happened during those big party years of the nineties was done in the name of “The Free Market.” That economic theory held, “just let the market do its work and everything will just be honkey dorey.” Looking back it turned out that was very true for the top ten percent of the rich while the rest of us just languished or lost out. Like all those folks who were suckered into buying homes that clearly they could not afford. Then upon closer scrutiny we find that the Wall Street Derivative boys were making a bundle gambling on those very stock gimmicks that grew out of the Housing Bubble.

At the same time as the Housing Bubble the Federal Government under George Bush squandered the financial surplus that was left from the Clinton administration. That was the “Feed The Beast Period?" That idea held that if we spend the government into bankruptcy there wont be a dime left for anymore social programs like Medicare or Social Security SS ie “The BEAST.” (Remember when Bush wanted to privatize SS.?)

Yupp, all part of the same strategy of ridding the country of all that “socialist” New Deal stuff. SS. was and remains the single most important factor keeping old people out of poverty. It is still sound until sometime in 2030. It is not broke now and it never would even have run out of money for many more years past 2030 if the Government had not been “Burrowing” from the SS. Trust Fund.

Yes, I have always been a little skeptical of conspiracy theories. Now I believe that one is unfolding before our very eyes. Here is the GOP vision of how to destroy what is left of working citizens power to defend their economic concerns. The fact is that the Republicans now seem to be determined to destroy the last semblance of working people's power to defend their economic interests.

Destroy the power of the unions. That also means the role of unions in the election of 2012. The GOP's central objective is to deny Obama a second term. How? Gut the Union power. Unleash the money from the corporate world ie. “Citizens United.” Result, unlimited corporate spending in the coming national election campaign.

What is happening in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and more to follow is part and parcel of the, "destroy Obama strategy." How do they expect to achieve that? First thing you do when you want to destroy a group of people is you demonize them. I wrote about that in my blog of January 18th.

Look, if your unemployed or underemployed working in Hamburger Heaven for a minimal wage and you used to work at G.M. for $30,00 an hour you are pissed off and maybe you even joined the angry Tea Party crowd. Who are they angry at? Well, rationally speaking it should be the folks who brought us down? And who was that? Sure as hell it wasn’t the public school teacher. Now was it? Secret, she’s a good target because she’s close to you and a lot better off. She did not cause your lay off and she is not responsible for the debt crisis at the State level. On the other hand if only they can make her the enemy? There is nothing like it to bring people together. (The Tea Party folks.) She is an easier target then those people who created the present mess. And who are they?

First the financial Wall Street guys who manipulated the market. Yes that created real losses for the State Pension Funds. The insurance industry that advised the States on how to invest their money including the actuaries who certified the future of the Pension Funds. Second the economic crisis we are now living through. Who caused that? For God sake it wasn’t your local school Teacher, Firemen or Sanitation worker.

Now we add up this new GOP strategy and ipso facto, of course it’s all the much to powerful unions that are responsible. Oh man the union busters dream has come true. The Republican Governors are now going to lead the charge against the unions. They hope to decertify the ability of the unions representing the State employees to BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY FOR THE EMPLOYEES.

Well, the best news is from Madison Wisconsin. Not only are the unions saying NO to Walker's union busting but they have managed with true grit and iron determination to wake up the American Labor Movement to the dangers ahead. It has become crystal clear that Governor Walker is just another patsy for the Koch Brothers or any other major employer who wants to be rid of the workers voice in the workplace. Then the owners can go and do whatever they want. Just the way they did before unions existed.

Yes, I am even old enough to remember what that was like. It was a life without dignity or respect. It was the dark ages of the factory, office, mine, school where the employees worked at the peril of the owners or their representative. Oh. I do remember that snotty foreman whose behind I had to kiss because we were powerless without union representation.

In this present economic bust there is lots of Punditry about how “we all need to sacrifice in the face of our National Debt crisis.” So, how do we start out with “we all need to sacrifice routine?” You guessed it we start with the richest people and extend their tax break that George Bush gave them. How’s that for sharing the pain? I told you. Rich getting richer poor getting poorer. And yes, the Wisconsin unions have already agreed that they will accept the Governors proposal for sacrifice on their part. Of course that's not enough. The Governor is after the very existence of the unions.

Lets do whatever we can to support those very brave and courageous citizens of Madison Wisconsin leading the fight in our the latest battle for democracy. It has brought the Labor Movement back to a newly invigorated life. Lets hope that’s a new beginning for all working people.