Don't look at the Bankster Behind the Curtain.....
By louisehartmann
There are reports that AWOL Democrats in Wisconsin may be returning home soon to allow Walker’s anti-union bill to pass. The missing Democrats are calculating that even if they lose this fight – Walker and his Republican cohorts have inflicted so much political damage on themselves – they’ll be crippled for the rest of their terms.
I wonder if the Democrats understand that Republicans nowdays are shameless in their war against working people. One missing senator – Bob Jaunch - put it this way, saying, “I think we have to realize that there's only so much we can do as a group to make a stand…it's really up to the public to be engaged in carrying the torch on this issue." And the public IS listening. Union protestors will soon see reinforcements in their opposition to Koch brothers’ lapdog Scott Walker’s attempt to bust up unions. Thousands of farmers are planning to drive their tractors to Madison this coming week to stand in solidarity with their fellow workers. Farmers are calling the event the “Farm Labor Tractorcade.“ If tens of thousands of protestors didn’t sway Walker - maybe the sight of hundreds of tractors on the capital grounds will.
Meanwhile in Iowa – Democrats are preparing for a Wisconsin-like show down over collective bargaining rights. A hearing is scheduled for tonight in the state capital in Des Moines to debate SB117 – a bill that limits collective bargaining rights for public employee unions. The Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal said Republican are simply, “pitting Iowans against Iowans.”
That’s the plan. The Republicans want us to pay NO attention to the crooks on Wall Street who are the REAL cause of every state’s budget problems – and the main campaign contributors to the Republican Party. Instead – they want us to blame each other.
Let’s not fall for the gimmick.
Comments
#2
If anything is ever going to change, Americans, and especially Progressives, need to step outside their comfort zone and engage in civil disobedience that works. I propose that people stop paying their mortgage (do not spend it), and perhaps student loans. How long could the banks function if we stopped handing them our money every month? It would have to be a significant number of people, into the millions, for it to work.
Just a thought...
#3
I repost here a discussion of the lost Federal Aid for Transit systems from the thread Gov. Walker Ginned Up Budget Shortfall to Undercut Worker's Rights. The source reference on the loss of Federal Transit funds is the Legislative Finance Bureau of the State of Wisconsin. The state's budget review office pointed out early on [February 16, 2011] that transit funds are at risk. I continue to hold that Republican Transportation Sec'y LaHood has demonstrated a willingness to stand up to the radical Republican Governors and is therefore likely to withhold the funds.
(quote) Posts on the Wheeler Report include Gov. Walker's Letter to State Employees [PDF] and the memo from the LFB:: Impact of local collective bargaining changes under SS SB 11 on Federal Transit Aid [PDF]. These two PDFs make an interesting pair because Walker's letter (addressed to himself (!!)) claims $30 million savings from the benefits changes for the remainder of the fiscal year (effective date? thru June 2011?) while the LFB memo says "$46.6 million to [various] bus systems could potentially be withheld from state transit systems under the federal 13(c) provisions as a result of the changes to municipal collective bargaining under SS SB 11" (Federal Fiscal Year 2010 = ?Oct 2010 thru Sep 2011?). In a strange irony the privatized MTA (Milwaukee) would be immune to loss of Federal funds because the bargaining rights of the workers there are unaffected by the Budget Repair Bill.
Though the time basis [for each of these dollar amounts] is not clear and certainly unequal, the payroll/benefits savings are expected to be undercut by loss of Federal transit funds due to the loss of collective bargaining rights. In fact, the Repair may be a net loser in the current budget cycle which is all it is supposed to address.
If Transportation Sec'y LaHood continues his firm stance against these right-wing-nut Govs (as in high-speed rail in WI, FL and OH) then the likely net result will be reduced savings with losses of transit jobs and losses of transit services. I don't expect Walker to make up any transit shortfall so the loss of jobs and services would add more imbalance to the budget by reducing income and business tax revenues. Coming on the heels of the special tax credits for business this isn't 'Let them eat cake' this is 'Watch me eat cake, pay me for the privilege and then walk home.' Governor Walker indeed. (end quote - minor edits for clarity)
The transportation funds are claimed by states from the feds for the previous year and Wisconsin has not yet filed for these funds for 2010. Loss of collective bargaining rights would make the state ineligible for the funds by Federal law.
Though the funds are a small part of the WI budget and less than a few percent of its relatively small deficit, the loss of federal mass transit funds would place almost all local systems at risk of collapse - Loss of mass transit would have a ripple effect of economic disruption and further loss of revenues to the state: the cost to Wisconsin state government would be greater than the loss of $40 to $50 million per year in Federal funds alone.
#4
A few links to WI stories about fallout from loss of federal mass transit funds:
Appleton bus service in jeopardy if budget-repair bill is passed
Quote Larry Sandler of the Journal-Sentinel: The Appleton-area bus system could shut down by the end of May if the Legislature approves a budget-repair bill that slices public employees' collective bargaining rights, Appleton Mayor Tim Hanna warned Wednesday.Reducing bargaining rights for transit workers would lead the federal government to cut off $46.6 million in aid to Wisconsin bus systems, including $2.5 million to Valley Transit, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau and the Wisconsin Urban and Rural Transit Association.
The necessity of transit editorial by Assembly member Tamara Grigsby (D)
Busting bus systems a JSOnline editorial
Info flyer from the Wisconsin Urban and Rural Transit Association: Transit Keeps Wisconsin Working
A different but related and current Republican attack on mass transit: Republicans work to dissolve state regional transit authorities
Again, for clarity: the LFB memo of 2/16: Impact of Local Collective Bargaining Changes under SS SB 11 on Transit Systems
#5
"Human beings seem cursed to repeat cycles of exploitation and collapse. And the greater the extent of the deterioration the less they are able to comprehend what is happening around them. The Earth is littered with the physical remains of human folly and human hubris. We seem condemned as a species to drive ourselves and our societies toward extinction, although this moment appears be the denouement to the whole sad show of settled, civilized life that began some 5,000 years ago. There is nothing left on the planet to seize. We are now spending down the last remnants of our natural capital, including our forests, fossil fuel, air and water."
"This time when we go down it will be global. There are no new lands to pillage, no new peoples to exploit. Technology, which has obliterated the constraints of time and space, has turned our global village into a global death trap. The fate of Easter Island will be writ large across the broad expanse of planet Earth."
- Chris Hedges
http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/this_time_were_taking_the_whole_planet_with_us_20110307/
#6
25% of all American Children
According to a CBS 60 Minutes report aired last night, soon the number of American children living in poverty will crest 25%. Between killing children overseas in the raw brutality of endless war, and killing them slowly at home thru the creation of ill-health, ignorance, depression and hopelessness -- what have the Republicons done for our world, and when will enough of us see it and change the course of history?
#7
THE WISCONSIN FILIBUSTER
That is the truth; and "truth is the best propaganda." (RT's newest ad)
#8
When Currency is issued as bonds the people are in Bondage. But it is We who must do something about this. This is a collective brain fog that needs to be lifted by US. The banking industry has no intention of dis-abusing us of this delision but has other plans laid down long ago:
"Capital must protect itself in every possible way, both by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through the process of law, the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed through the strong arm of government applied by a central power of wealth under leading financiers. These truths are well known among our principal men who are now engaged in forming an imperialism to govern the world. By dividing the voter through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting for questions of no importance. It is thus by discreet action we can secure for ourselves that which has been so well planned and so successfully accomplished."
American's Banker Association, 1924
People are starting to get it and are writing about it in many circles. Check these out:
Ellen Brown - Web of Debt
http://distributistreview.com/mag/2011/02/the-errors-of-the-economists-what-is-money/
http://www.concordresolution.org/article.htm
http://www.swarmusa.com/vb4/content.php/291-Renaissance-2-0
http://economictree.org/Iraq_Am_Revolution.html#t16
http://www.independentamerican.org/2010/10/12/the-american-monetary-act-debt-free-money-lincoln-and-franklins-dream-revisited-you-should-be-supporting-most-of-this-act/
http://www.publiccentralbank.com/
#9
Thanks Dennis Kucinich for this leadership
http://www.monetary.org/kucinichchristmasmiracle.html
this should be introduced to every governing body in the country
...http://www.concordresolution.org/article.htm
#10
The funding issues related to education are the same issues related to bridges and roads and sewers, are the same issues related to predatory capitalism, are the same issues related to designed obsolescence, are the same issues related to Public Debt. When a country gives up its Sovereignty to a Private International Banking Cartel that issues its Money As Debt its people will suffer that stress and fight with each other. "Money As Debt" on youtube is very instructive on how we are using the wrong system and that we cannot fix things within our current system that are created by (manifestations of) the very system itself.
There are many who have made proposals to remedy this situation:
http://www.concordresolution.org/article.htm
http://www.monetary.org/kucinichchristmasmiracle.html
How can we say there is no money to do the right thing when so many people are willing to do the work? Isn't the work itself the real thing?
The Illiteracy of We the People about What Is Money needs to end.
WE ARE THE MONEY. Money does not come from banks any more than food comes from stores. WE ARE THE MONEY.
End Monetary Illiteracy
http://www.concordresolution.org/column.htm
"Money As Debt" ….. on youtube…….check it out
#11
Good question. Why aren't Obama and Holder prosecuting the banksters.
#12
This is about avoiding bankruptcy in Wisconsin and bringing fiscal responsibility to states and cities across the nation.
Scott Walker’s proposals will dramatically improve education for children, allowing for merit pay, the firing of incompetent teachers and even school choice.
This is a historic moment. We are seeing the public sector union bosses push their members to the brink to keep their oligarchy intact in the face of a very modest proposal presented by Governor Scott Walker. Facing a $3.6 billion deficit, he’s asking the public sector unions to put 5.8% of paychecks into their pension plans and 12.6% into their healthcare plans. Yep, that’s it. You’d think the world was coming to an end the way the paid union protestors were acting in Madison.
It's time to balance the busget and show Washington that if the states can do this then so can the federal level.
#13
DUMPSTERS for BANKSTERS!
Civil War on foreign soil
jacks the price of U.S. oil
in every lease of every royal-
don't it make your red blood boil?
Cigarettes and coke for all!
Opium and alcohol,
Barnett Bank, Koch and Ball-
underground your corpses haul.
Should we die like little mice
caged by everlasting vice?
Rat infested plagued with lice,
for me, this simply won't suffice.
XXXXX
#14
I agree with PDX... We can also stop buying their stupid products.
P,S, Dear Louise, it is true I have looked behind every curtain since the origins of the federal banking system in the U.S. It was no accident that The Wizard of Os came from Omaha, in a balloon.
#15
@lisgarwan, it is about control and power to enslave and impoverish ninety percent of Americans who are no longer in the middle class and are entering the poor class for Americans.
#16
#17
Aspirations of a salutatorian. How ugly is this? Who might the children of today be emulating these days? Who is getting lots of press? What philosophies are most promulgated? How are children imagining getting ahead?
Google: Pahrump Valley Times Grade Change Scandal March 4
#18
This is about avoiding bankruptcy in Wisconsin and bringing fiscal responsibility to states and cities across the nation.
This is what I have to say to this nonsense...
Today, 9 March, 2011, proves that the Republican Party and the rich want to destroy the middle class and Democracy in this country, What has happened today in Wisconsin under the uber delusional gov scot walker speaks volumes as to what their true agenda is – the complete destruction of the middle class in this country and our Democracy!
If they have read any American History, they know what is coming next! They have awakened a sleeping Giant and that giant is now not too happy! They will rue the day that it has now come to this – simple hard working Americans who are being attacked by the greedy rich, and who now will fight to protect their way of life. Hopefully by demonstrating peacefully and using the ballot box, plus the many other peaceful means millions of organized Americans have at their disposal.
For 30 years now the middle class, the poor, and every hard working American has been under a relentless attack by the rich fascists in this country. In 2007 Wall Street almost entered us into another great depression. Millions lost their jobs, their homes, their freedoms!
AND NO ONE WENT TO JAIL! No One! And Wall Street is still at work doing their best to continue the destruction. Millions are still losing their homes – literally being thrown out in the street! Speculating, so raising energy costs! More jobs lost!
And now this! AMERICA has awakened or will shortly awaken, to what is really happening here in America. 400 citizens in the US own more wealth than 150 MILLION AMERICANS! And they want more! Corporations and the super-rich own and control almost ALL politicians! Corruption is rampant at all levels of government and our media. Thousands are being paid ogles of $$$ by the super-rich to peddle the lies and agendas of their paid masters (Fixed noise and corrupt lobbyists)!
Enough! AMERICANS have had enough of this colossal arrogance and mean spirited meanness from this crazed ultra-right wing party in this country. WE, the American people, the hard working people, the middle class, are going to reclaim our Democracy and our freedoms, and god protect anyone who plans to stand in the way!!
AMERICANS, all hardworking Americans, unite and let’s reclaim our legacy! Freedom is not free – it has to be fought for and protected. Today will prove to be another turning point in our great history. Today we finally know what the republicans and the right-wing really stand for. Today is the start of a new revolution in this country! Home of the free and home of the brave – and most important, home of freedom loving Americans who are sick of being stomped on and bullied!!
#19
I think it is high time that Middle America go on a National Strike!
I for one am sick and tired of being stomped on and kicked at by these bully politicians, bully corporations, and bully right-wing religious fanatics hell bent on destroying this Democracy.
DEMOS = People. THE PEOPLE! That is AMERICA!! Not 400 obscene rich men who have more wealth than 150 MILLION People! Not super wealthy corporations who pay NO TAXES! NOT super wealthy CEOs who make 100-200 Million $$$ bonuses every year while they destroy AMERICA!! Not minority fanatics who want to brand their fanatic religion on every American forehead!
DEMOS - The people! That is who owns America. Time we re-claim it!
#20
Lifting the Veil: Obama and the Failure of Capitalist Democracy
Video
“Barack Obama and the failure of capitalist democracy”, this film explores the historical role of the Democratic Party as the “graveyard of social movements”, the massive influence of corporate finance in elections, the absurd disparities of wealth in the United States, the continuity and escalation of neocon policies under Obama, the insufficiency of mere voting as a path to reform, and differing conceptions of democracy itself.
Original interview footage derives from Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, Michael Albert, John Stauber (PR Watch), Sharon Smith (Historian), William I. Robinson (Editor, Critical Globalization Studies), Morris Berman (Author, Dark Ages America), and famed black panther Larry Pinkney.
Non-original interviews/lectures include Michael Hudson, Paul Craig Roberts, Ted Rall, Richard Wolff, Glen Ford, Lewis Black, Glenn Greenwald, George Carlin, Gerald Cliente, Chris Hedges, John Pilger, Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Wollin and Martin Luther King.
Visit http://metanoia-films.org/compilations.php for more info.
"Lifting the Veil is the long overdue film that powerfully, definitively, and finally exposes the deadly 21st century hypocrisy of U.S. internal and external policies, even as it imbues the viewer with a sense of urgency and an actualized hope to bring about real systemic change while there is yet time for humanity and this planet. See this film!" - Larry Pinkney - Editorial Board Member & Columnist - The Black Commentator
Viewer discretion advised - Video contains images depicting the reality and horror of war.
Posted March 11, 2011
Lifting the Veil from S DN on Vimeo. By grtv
#21
We need to stop GOP Inc and Tea Party Inc. they objectives have become clear for 2010-2012 –
1) destroy union, the only large contributor left to Democratic so their billionaire buddies can spend without challenge, we will find out in 2012 what congress costs to buy with the white house
2) Limit who can vote, in all tea party inc won states, bills have been induced to stop people from voting much like the Jim crow laws of the 150’s and 60’s
3) Limit the rights of women, in the time of supposed budget crisis, all the tea party inc governors are worried about a woman’s choice and reproductive rights
4) Provide big tax cuts to multinational and billionaires not small businesses like they promised.
5) Reduce the Social safety net and promote social Darwinism ( if you are unemployed or in a bad way you deserve it, fix your situation and it will get better)
6) Keeps the middle class fighting among ourselves so we ignore the rich getting richer? Google republican myths about public employees. The joke about the billionaire, union guy and the tea partier and the dozen cookies is all too true. The billionaire gobbles 11 cookies, and tells the tea party look out the union guy wants your cookie.
If they win in 2012, especially the white house you will see (this already been hinted out)
1) Destroy net neutrality if they can control the internet they can stop Egypt style protests, sad that Egypt had to show us the way
2) Eliminate minimum wage and child labor laws this was proposed by some of the losing tea party back senate candidates
3) Eliminate worker safety and health federal organizations again proposed by the tea party senate candidates who wanted it limited to state government who are more easily controlled.
Further ahead as Ed Shultz and Michael Moore point we out number they and we can currently vote them out until they change the laws back to the original definition of voters that you had to be male and a property owner. Consider the foreclosure crisis and the attack on woman’s rights, if you don’t think it is coming. Even when Bank of America falsified documents to speed foreclosure has anyone gone to jail – NO, have people gotten their homes back – Not all. If the rich are the only ones that own property they will be the only ones voting. End of that pesky problem of the working poor voting people in that might help them.
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