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The last citadel of organized labor in America, the public (government) workers' unions, are under assault. Givebacks, reneging on contracts, welshing on pensions, all this isn't enough to satisfy the plutocrats and their political hatchetmen who do their dirty work. Now the very RIGHT to organize and bargain collectively is under attack. In America, only the RICH are allowed to be organized collectively as a class to defend and promote their economic interests. It's class warfare on the overwhelming majority of the population. Controlling literally trillions of dollars of wealth still hasn't satiated their greed. (The Forbes 400 alone are "worth" several trillion dollars.) To avoid ever being taxed at reasonable levels, they are now ruthlessly attacking any government expenditures outside their military and domestic repression. This necessitates smashing any organized source of potential resistance by the population.
In Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana- for starters- reactionary GOP governors are attempting to strip public employees' of their rights by passing laws banning their unions from representing them in negotiations with their employers, the state governments of these states. Scott Walker, Wisconsin Governor and stooge of the Koch brother billionaire thieves, has led the assault. He ran a stealth campaign as a "moderate" Republican to get elected, then revealed himself as a throwback to the 1920s. He plotted to plant agent provocateurs among union protesters in the state capital, to do god knows what violent mischief to justify violent repression and to discredit the unionized workers. The corporate media, including the self-styled "newspaper of record," has totally blacked out this criminal plot, even though Walker was captured on tape mentioning it to Ian Murphy, who got him on the phone by impersonating David Koch. (Revealing that this loathsome little puppet of the plutocrats, who was elected in part with large amounts of Koch money, has apparently never even spoke to his master before, since he was unfamiliar with his voice. He's too insignificant for the Kochs to talk to directly; his status might be that of a midlevel manager in the Kochs' corporate empire.)
The corporate propaganda system has been working assiduously to divide "middle class" people by whipping up resentment against the "lavish" and overly generous compensation deals of public workers. (No such campaign against corporate oligarchs who pull in millions or tens of millions a year routinely.) This "misery loves company" psychological warfare campaign has proven effective for the oligarchs. (And the more downmarket the rag, the more crude and blatant the anti-union propaganda. Check out the NY Daily News, a tabloid rag owned by Canadian real estate baron Mortimer B. Zuckerman, which affects a working class voice, for examples of tawdry union-bashing. In late February they used a dispute over a restaurant bill as a pretext for an attack on public unions day after day.)
Judging from the many resentful comments against workers posted by people who it's safe to assume aren't RICH, the corporate media and right-wing politician strategy of pitting workers against each other is working. It plays on the principle of "misery loves company." Since corporations, which now are sitting on two TRILLION dollars in CASH, and trillions more in other assets CREATED BY THE WORKERS, have systematically whittled away the benefits of their workers, the last bastion of unionism, the public sector, is being portrayed as having undeserved benefits. Like workers in general DON'T DESERVE PENSIONS, or health care (like every other civilized country provides as a public service). Some people are easy to dupe.
Would be nice if the corporate media EVEN MENTIONED ONCE that in the weeks preceding the savage assault on workers' rights by WI Governor Scott Wwalker and his GOP henchmen, he handed a big tax cut to corporations, creating the budget "hole" that is the excuse for destroying the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin's public employees (except the Cops' and Firemen's unions, who supported his election. But tellingly, cops and firemen turned out in solidarity with the other state workers at their Capitol occupation anyway.)
The Tea Party types are like Brownshirts, a reactionary mob organized as a strong arm force for big business interests. (The infamous Koch brothers, who cheat the Govenment out of oil royalties on oil taken from public lands, fund this "movement.")
In Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana- for starters- reactionary GOP governors are attempting to strip public employees' of their rights by passing laws banning their unions from representing them in negotiations with their employers, the state governments of these states. Scott Walker, Wisconsin Governor and stooge of the Koch brother billionaire thieves, has led the assault. He ran a stealth campaign as a "moderate" Republican to get elected, then revealed himself as a throwback to the 1920s. He plotted to plant agent provocateurs among union protesters in the state capital, to do god knows what violent mischief to justify violent repression and to discredit the unionized workers. The corporate media, including the self-styled "newspaper of record," has totally blacked out this criminal plot, even though Walker was captured on tape mentioning it to Ian Murphy, who got him on the phone by impersonating David Koch. (Revealing that this loathsome little puppet of the plutocrats, who was elected in part with large amounts of Koch money, has apparently never even spoke to his master before, since he was unfamiliar with his voice. He's too insignificant for the Kochs to talk to directly; his status might be that of a midlevel manager in the Kochs' corporate empire.)
The corporate propaganda system has been working assiduously to divide "middle class" people by whipping up resentment against the "lavish" and overly generous compensation deals of public workers. (No such campaign against corporate oligarchs who pull in millions or tens of millions a year routinely.) This "misery loves company" psychological warfare campaign has proven effective for the oligarchs. (And the more downmarket the rag, the more crude and blatant the anti-union propaganda. Check out the NY Daily News, a tabloid rag owned by Canadian real estate baron Mortimer B. Zuckerman, which affects a working class voice, for examples of tawdry union-bashing. In late February they used a dispute over a restaurant bill as a pretext for an attack on public unions day after day.)
Judging from the many resentful comments against workers posted by people who it's safe to assume aren't RICH, the corporate media and right-wing politician strategy of pitting workers against each other is working. It plays on the principle of "misery loves company." Since corporations, which now are sitting on two TRILLION dollars in CASH, and trillions more in other assets CREATED BY THE WORKERS, have systematically whittled away the benefits of their workers, the last bastion of unionism, the public sector, is being portrayed as having undeserved benefits. Like workers in general DON'T DESERVE PENSIONS, or health care (like every other civilized country provides as a public service). Some people are easy to dupe.
Would be nice if the corporate media EVEN MENTIONED ONCE that in the weeks preceding the savage assault on workers' rights by WI Governor Scott Wwalker and his GOP henchmen, he handed a big tax cut to corporations, creating the budget "hole" that is the excuse for destroying the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin's public employees (except the Cops' and Firemen's unions, who supported his election. But tellingly, cops and firemen turned out in solidarity with the other state workers at their Capitol occupation anyway.)
The Tea Party types are like Brownshirts, a reactionary mob organized as a strong arm force for big business interests. (The infamous Koch brothers, who cheat the Govenment out of oil royalties on oil taken from public lands, fund this "movement.")
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