National Bully of 2011 Nominee: The Freshmen 60

The House of Representatives was designed by our Founding Fathers to be the voice of the people.  Today, the House of Representatives is anything but due to the influence of 60 freshmen who all adhere to the “tea party” ideology.  Elected to the House in 2010, these 60 Republicans have been the force behind all of the legislation that has passed in the House.  Whether it’s their war against unions, PBS, Planned Parenthood, the EPA or the average American, this minority of Representatives has thwarted the will of the people time and time again.

Therefore, the Freshman 60 are a National Bully of 2011 Nominee!

The Unholy Union

I think we can all agree that certain members of the "elite" are well benefited by the policies of the modern Republican Party and the current manifestation of social conservatives, the "tea party" movement.  We can also agree that the elite would like nothing better than a permanent underclass in this nation that can be used for cheap if not slave labor.  We already see the start of it with high unemployment and the refusal of companies to hire those recently unemployed.

Now the Republicans have systematically been attacking organized labor, in particular those civil service employees represented by unions.  We have seen the attacks on public sector unions in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey and Florida.  The attempts to weaken if not destroy the public sector unions is mostly allow for the privatization of services provided by the various governments.  If there are no unions to represent the workers, they can't fight against privatization.

With the unions representing civil service workers gone, the next step will be to more or less criminalize private sector unions.  This has been the dream of American corporations for over a century.  If they can break the unions by criminalizing them, then they will have removed the last impetus to wholesale slashing of wages and benefits.

But getting rid of unions isn't enough.  You need people to be truly terrified of being out of work by getting rid of the social safety net.  If there is no social safety net workers won't want to demand higher wages for fear of losing their jobs.  We already see element of this with Michigan cutting the number of weeks someone can receive unemployment benefits and Arizona looking to remove up to 300,000 people from the state's Medicare rolls.

With permanent unemployment of 20% or more and no social safety net, those who will be lucky enough to be employed will be too scared to fight for better working conditions, higher wages and benefits.  It has been a long process in the making, requiring the right economic disaster to foment the right type of fear.  The Republicans are laying the legal groundwork for the elite to have their permanent underclass.

It is an unholy union that must be stopped.  The question is: Can we stop it?

The States Didn't Win

The editorial board of the Arizona Republic would have you believe that the legislation signed into law in Wisconsin stripping public employees of their right to collective bargaining is a good thing for states.  The board claims that by removing the ability of public employees to be represented by a union to negotiate salary, benefits and working conditions, that it will miraculously allow Wisconsin to solve all of its budget issues.

If the legislation was truly about balancing the budget, then why did a Wisconsin Republican State Senator make statements that the legislation would make it tougher for President Obama to win Wisconsin in 2012.  If the legislation was about Wisconsin’s budget, then why was it rammed through the legislature outside of the budget process?

The public employees didn’t cause the budget issues in Wisconsin or the other states.  The blame rests squarely on politicians who year after year doled out tax cut after tax cut while also giving corporations more and more corporate welfare.  Public employees around the nation went year after year without raises and often saw their pay cut through forced work furloughs.  They each contributed to their retirement plans while states and other governments delayed their contributions.

The various states could easily fix their budget problems, but they don’t want to, since it involves rescinding their various tax cuts they passed in the last few years.  Tax cuts are never popular but pointing out that someone at this point in time has it just a little better than someone else normally is.  Instead of taking responsibility for the budget issues, the Republicans in Wisconsin pointed to the public employees and their unions as the problem.

No, the union busting law in Wisconsin does nothing to help it or other states deal with their budget issues, all it does was give a win to the state’s Republicans.  A win that just might be very short lived.

I Believe

I believe.

I believe that government is for the benefit of all the people no matter their birth status, the financial status, their political connections (or lack thereof) or their location.  I believe government should never be on the cheap and should be as big as needed.  I believe that taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society and yes, I believe that the rich should pay a higher percentage of their income than a person working at Burger King.

I believe in a strong public education system that isn’t forced to turn out automatons who only know what was the standardized test required to graduate.  I believe in open and honest sex education in our nation’s schools.  I believe that religion has no place in what our schools teach or how they are governed.  I believe that charter schools are anathema to strong public schools.  I believe that taxes should never be used for vouchers or tax credits or other incentives to send children to private and/or parochial schools.

I believe in strong regulation of business, making sure they provide safe products and/or services at reasonable prices.  I believe that businesses are not persons and should not be allowed to contribute to politicians or political parties.  I believe that businesses should actually pay taxes and not receive special tax breaks.  I believe that privatization of government services to be wrong.  I believe in strong private and public sector unions.

I believe in a strong social safety net.  I believe in Social Security and the financial security it provides our elderly.  I believe in single payer universal health care and short of that I believe in Medicare for all.  I believe in unemployment insurance and food assistance for the unemployed and the working poor.  I believe in public transportation and a high speed passenger rail network across the nation.  I believe it does take a village.

I believe in a strong, smart military.  I believe in marriage equality as well as equal rights for gays and lesbians.  I believe that my love for Michael is just as valid as the love my mom and dad hold for each other.  I believe those who enter our nation illegally in the hopes of a better life deserve our full protections and should not be demonized for political purposes.

I believe there is goodness in all, even Dick Cheney.

I believe.