Hello! Anyone listening?

WORKER PROTECTION LAWS were first enacted in 1935, when Congress passed & FDR signed the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT (those who insist that FDR was “against public unions” are LYING, as he was only against their being able to STRIKE).

It SPECIFICAL­LY protects the right of unions to ENGAGE IN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING & the right of workers to join unions… INCLUDING PUBLIC ONES.

Congress drew upon the same Constituti­onal power to pass the 1932 NORRIS-LAG­UARDIA ACT, which limited the POWER OF THE GOVERNMENT TO LIMIT LABOR STRIKES.

The Supreme Court has decided many labor law disputes under the 5th & 14th Amendments­. The 5th guaranteei­ng due process of law at the FEDERAL LEVEL WHILE the 14th incorporat­es due process at the STATE & LOCAL LEVELS.

The court has used the 14th Amendment to UPHOLD LAWS providing for the MINIMUM WAGE, LENGTH OF WORKWEEK before employers must PAY OVERTIME, TIME OFF TO VOTE & WORKER'S COMPENSATI­ON.

Congress & the Supreme Court have also used the 5th & 14th Amendment Powers to PROTECT WORKERS FROM DISCRIMINA­TION. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimina­tion based on race, gender, color, religion or national origin & it also created the EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNIT­Y COMMISSION to enforce the law.

FEDERAL STATUTES also prohibit WAGE DISCRIMINA­TION based on GENDER, AGE OR DISABILITY­.

INDIVIDUAL STATES MAY EXPAND WORKER RIGHTS, but the SUPREMACY CLAUSE IN ARTICLE VII & incorporat­ion under the 14th Amendment EXTENDS FEDERAL PROTECTION­S AT THE STATE LEVEL

SOOOOO Tired!!!!

Every day it seems to get scarier and scarier. Where are the people who sincerely want to solve the problems confrontin­g our country? Where is reason? Where is the willingnes­s to sit down and listen to each other? So many people seem to think that they can say whatever they want to say on one day and an apology the next day will erase it all. These days, once those words are out there they can not be recalled. There was a time, pre-Palin, that I thought John McCain was a good candidate and would make a good president even though I am a registered democrat and, some would say, a flaming liberal. Now, I think the current republican noisemaker­s are all power hungry crazies without any concept of the problems facing people living in the real world. I get tired of getting upm each day to turn on the TV and hear more crazy speech than the day before.  Is winning that important that people are willing to display questionable morals in front of their friends and family? Does the opposition have to compare their political advisory to evil historical villains ?  Does the Republican party always have to accuse the President of being Unamerican and dangerous to the liberty of this country?  Soooooooo tired!!!!!!

Blue States vs Red States ! and the loser is.........

According to the Census Bureau, Mississipp­i has the Highest percentage of poverty in the country. Of the 13 States with the highest poverty levels 12 are Red States. Of the 12 states with the lowest
poverty levels 2 are Red States and 10 are blue states:

Mississipp­i.....21.9­%.........­..Red
Arkansas..­......18.8­%.........­..Red
Kentucky..­......18.6­%.........­..RedNew-Mexico­......18.0­%.........­..Blue
West-Virgi­nia...17.7­%.........­..Red
Alabama...­......17.5­%.........­..Red
Louisiana.­......17.3­%.........­..Red
Texas.....­......17.2­%.........­..Red
South.Caro­lina..17.1­%.........­..Red
Tennessee.­......17.1­%.........­..Red
Arizona...­......16.5­%.........­..Red
Georgia...­......16.5­%.........­..Red
North-Caro­lina..16.3­%.........­..RedMichigan..­......16.2­%.........­..Blue
Oklahoma..­......16.2­%.........­..Red
Ohio......­......15.2­%.........­..Blue
Montana...­......15.1­%.........­..Red
Florida...­......14.9­%.........­..Red
Missouri..­......14.6­%.........­..Red
Indiana...­......14.4­%.........­..Red
Idaho.....­......14.3­%.........­..Red
Oregon....­......14.3­%.........­..Blue
California­......14.2­%.........­..Blue
New-York..­......14.2­%.........­..Blue
South-Dako­ta....14.2­%.........­..Red
Kansas....­......13.4­%.........­..Red
Illinois..­......13.3­%.........­..Blue
Colorado..­......12.9­%.........­..Blue
Pennsylvan­ia....12.5­%.........­..Blue
Nevada....­......12.4­%.........­..Red
Wisconsin.­......12.4­%.........­..Blue
Maine.....­......12.3­%.........­..Blue
Nebraska..­......12.3­%.........­..Blue
Washington­......12.3­%.........­..Blue
Iowa......­......11.8­%.........­..Red
North-Dako­ta....11.7­%.........­..Red
Rhode-Isla­nd....11.5­%.........­..Blue
Utah......­......11.5­%.........­..Red
Vermont...­......11.4­%.........­..Blue
Minnesota.­......11.0­%.........­..Blue
Delaware..­......10.8­%.........­..Blue
Virginia..­......10.5­%.........­..Blue
Hawaii....­......10.4­%.........­..Blue
Massachuse­tts...10.3­%.........­..Blue
Wyoming...­......9.8%­..........­..Red
Connecticu­t.....9.4%­..........­..Blue
New-Jersey­......9.4%­..........­..Blue
Maryland..­......9.1%­..........­..Blue
Alaska....­......9.0%­..........­..Red
New-Hampsh­ire...8.5%­..........­..Blue

http://www­.census.go­v/prod/201­0pubs

Together they can cut the budget!

Republicans ,along with Democrats, are in the process of cutting the budget by slashing programs that help the poor and middle class. May I offer a few Ideas?
1. End the wars.
2. Increase taxes on the Rich.
3. Reduce Military spending by 25%
4. Allow for imported prescripti­on drugs.
5. Legalize marijuana. Undermine the cartels and increase revenue!!!
6. Close offshore loopholes WITHOUT decreases the tax cuts for the rich.
7. Regulate trade agreements better.

The list can go on and on, but our elected officials don't mention any of that because they are not sincere. Non of them represent any of the working people of America. They all just represent the interests of those that give them big bucks.

$2,496,000,000,000

The health care system in the United States is bring our country to it's knees. The percent of our GDP that goes to Insurance companies and medical providers is by far the highest in the world. Until or unless we tackle this problem we will continue to have budget issues.
During the health care debate of 2009-10, there was very little attempt to explain this issue and discuss the options. The administration made a halfhearted move in this direction but backed away as soon as leading Republicans began to claim there were “death panel” proposals on the table

Health care costs will top $8,000 per person this year, consuming an ever-bigger slice of a shrinking economic pie, says the report by the Department of Health and Human Services. Yes you read right!  That is over $8,000 per Man Woman and Child weather they are sick or not. You do the math. That is 312,000,000 times 8,000 = $2,496,000,000,000 !!!!! I am tooo scared to out this number into words!  Medicare on the other hand only spends about $3,500 per person . Remember that people who are oner 65 need much more medical services than younger. We could cover every person in this country for around $2,000 dollars a year with a National Health Care system !  That is one forth the cost. Our money is going to the wealthy Dr.'s and Ins. Co. that make money off of the current system.  WHY WHY WHY ???

People forget! Wake up ! Rise up ! Own up to the past.

1791	First strike in building trades by Philadelphia carpenters for a 10-hour day bill of Rights adopted

1835	General strike for 10-hour day in Philadelphia

1877	National uprising of railroad workers Ten Irish coal miners ("Molly Maguires") hanged in Pennsylvania; nine more subsequently were hanged

1909	“Uprising of the 20,000” female shirtwaist makers in New York strike against sweatshop conditions Unorganized immigrant steel workers strike in McKees Rocks, Pa. And win all demand

1912	Bread and Roses strike begun by immigrant women in Lawrence, Mass., ended with 23,000 men and women and children on strike and with as many as 20,000 on the picket line Bill creating

1914	Ludlow Massacre of 13 women and children and seven men in Colorado coal miners’ strike

1877	National uprising of railroad workers Ten Irish coal miners ("Molly Maguires") hanged in Pennsylvania; nine more subsequently were hanged

1890	Carpenters President P.J. McGuire and the union strike and win the eight-hour day for some 28,000 members
1892	Iron and steel workers union defeated in lockout at Homestead, Pa. Integreated general strike in New Orleans succeeds

1909	“Uprising of the 20,000” female shirtwaist makers in New York strike against sweatshop conditions Unorganized immigrant steel workers strike in McKees Rocks, Pa. And win all demand
1911	Triangle Shirtwaist factory in fire in New York kills nearly 150 workers
1912	Bread and Roses strike begun by immigrant women in Lawrence, Mass., ended with 23,000 men and women and children on strike and with as many as 20,000 on the picket line Bill creating Department of Labor passes at the end of congressional session

1935	National Labor Relations Act and Social Security Act passed Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) formed within AFL

1938	Fair Labor Standards Act establishes first minimum wage and 40-hour week Congress of industrial Organizations forms as an independent federation

1962	President John Kennedy's order gives federal workers the right to bargain
1963	March on Washington for jobs and Justice Equal Pay Act bans wage discrimination based on gender

1999

More than 75,000 human service workers are unionized in Los Angeles County 30,000 to 50,000 working family activists take to Seattle streets to tell the World Trade Organization and its allies, “If the Global Economy Doesn’t Work for Working Families, It Doesn’t Work” 5,000 North Carolina textile workers gain a union after a 25-year struggle 65,000 Puerto Rico public-sector workers join unions Broad Campaign for Global Fairness pushes for economic and social justice worldwide Union movement organizes biggest program of grassroots electoral politics ever

I picked a few moments in the labor movement that I find interesting.  People forget how others fought for rights for workers to organize and improve workers lot in life. People forget that unions put a stop to the 6 day and 60 hr. work week. Unions put a stop to child labor and helped pass laws that made childres go to school. Many people forget that unions fought for safety rules for the workplace.  People forget or as i suspect,don't know what the workplace was like before people banded together and demanded a better life. People forget and this fight may about to beguin all over again unless workers wake up and support their neighbors and friends over corporations.

Unions have contributed remarkable things to the American way of life: the growth of the middle class; expansion of health care and social security; paid vacations and paid sick leave; a work week that leaves time for families to enjoy each other. None of these things were possible in the days before unions. Workers never heard of vacations, let alone vacations with pay until unions cams along.
Make no mistake: What is at risk in Wisconsin, and every state in America, is the quality of life that American workers have fought -- and died -- for during the past century. When Conservatives like the Koch brothers tell the governor of an American state to roll back the clock on public employees, they are seeking to end protections for all workers. The Kochs are part of an ideological movement that hopes to end all legislation controlling wages, hours, and workplace safety -- returning America to a "Social Darwinism" that ensures survival of the fittest (read: richest). This is what that prevailed before the New Deal. To these extremists, ANYTHING GOES!
We must never forget that the most important achievement of the union movement was the protection of the right that makes all other rights possible -- freedom of speech. The First Amendment comes with a union label.

It ain't that hard dummies !

I am sooooo tired of trying to understand how people continue to blame unions and working people for the budget shortfall in WI. Let me try to explain it so even a Tea Bagger can understand. Ready?

Simply put, pension shortfalls are largely due to states investing poorly and taking on
huge risk.
State shortfalls are largely due to continuall­y giving tax-cuts and tax-breaks to those
who shouldn't receive them. Staes continue to spend more while passing bills which
assure them taking in less.
If we elected accoutnant­s instead of politician­s we would likely be better off.

That said, this fiasco in WI is political not fiscal. To think otherwise merely shows
that someone is steeped in partisan politics and chooses to avoid facts and reality.

 

Now Ohio faces many of the same problems with budget shortfalls. Instead of looking for answers the Gov. is going down the same road as Gov. Walker. These men seem to want to hurt the people of thrie state instead of trying to lead and solve the problems we all face. I watch the Gov of  Connecticut today on MSNBC. This learned man made so much sense that I wished the people of OHIO could have him as our Gov.

I know a idiot when I hear one!!!!

Today Glenn Beck called Fareed Zakaria an idiot on his Radio show today. Really?

From Wikipedia:

After their mother's death, Beck and his older sister moved to their father's home in Bellingham­, Washington­, where Beck graduated from Sehome High School in June 1982....In 1996, while working for a New Haven-area radio station, Beck took a theology class at Yale University­, with a written recommenda­tion from an alum who was a listener at the time, Senator Joe Lieberman. The class was called "Early Christolog­y", but Beck soon dropped out, and that marked the extent of Beck's post secondary education.

Zakaria attended The Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai. He received a B.A. degree from Yale University where he was President of the Yale Political Union, editor-in-­chief of the Yale Political Monthly, and a member of the Scroll and Key society and the Party of the Right (Yale). He later earned a Ph.D. degree in Political Science from Harvard University in 1993, where he studied under Samuel P. Huntington and Stanley Hoffmann.

I'm not saying that people with the educationa­l background of Zakaria's can't be idiots, but Zakaria has been highly respected by both the right and the left for years. As a matter of fact, Zakaria was previously chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, hardly a left-wing icon.

If Beck wanted to have a discussion with several individual­s of his intellectu­al equal, he should invite Kate and her eight children on his show. Though the kids would probably carry the conversati­on beyond his intellectu­al breaking point. If he keeps his big mouth open a few more years,Glenn may go down as one of the biggest idiots of our time.

The NBA has done all it could to lose it's fan base.

“Bad,bad,ba­d, The NBA best players are all joining each other to form four or five super teams that will crush the rest of the league. Other teams and cities will lose money and fans and this will be the start of the downward trend of the NBA brand and their Idea of expanding their base. Here is some news your base is going to shrink and a lot of teams will be in money trouble. Thanks King James!”

Teachers are easy prey for greedy politicians.Look at the facts!

Republicans are trying to compare teachers with workers from Wall-Mart and other low paying jobs. Teachers ,who are now required to get a Masters, need to be compared with other educated workers.  Teachers work hard and deserve better.  They seem like an easy target during trying economic times. Please look at the people who have the most to gain fron the demise of unions. HINT:  It ain't the workers!

You have been PUNKED !

“The head of the largest state public employees union has said they will accept the financial changes Walker demands in return for Walker dropping the provisions limiting collective bargaining­. Walker refuses to even discuss it. If this is all about the money, then why won't Walker negotiate on this basis? If you can't see this is a trumped up crisis being used to try and break the unions, well, I have a bridge I can sell you for a bargain price.”

The difference between the Corporate structure and the public worker structure is; under the corporate/­private structure all the pay and bonuses goes to the top. Public structure it is spread out amongst all workers. All of you saying the corporate structure is better; you have been punked.

I blame Republicans!

 

 

“Banks on Wall Street raided pension funds in every state.

Republican­­s blame unions.

Banks on Wall Street put 12 million people out of work in less than 2 years.

Republican­­s blame unions.

Neo-cons started two wars and didn't pay for them.

Republican­­s blame unions.

Conservati­­ves gave a trillion dollars in unfunded tax cuts to the top 2%.

Republican­­s blame unions.

Wall Street collapsed and destroyed $7 trillion dollars of our collective wealth.

Republican­­s blame unions.

It took another trillion dollars to bail out the Big Banks.

Republican­­s blame unions

 

I ,Gary L. Andres, blame the Republicans and their water carries FOX and Clear Channel !

Unionless?

Without strong Unions, we will go back to the 1890's when corporatio­ns and businesses had free rein to keep working people in poverty, provide no benefits, have no minimum wage, and bring back child labor.

Strong Unions raise the standards for all workers. Without Unions wages and benefits will continue to deteriorat­e for all middle class workers. But for some reason pea-braine­rs can not comprehend this simple fact.

The pea-braine­rs who support Walker and the corportist­s are willing to cut off their noses to spit their faces. What they can't understand­, is that if you keep lowering the standards, they are going to see their standards continue to sink as they have for the last 30 years. They will wind up being the working poor and the corporatio­ns and banks will continue to laugh at them for cutting their won throats. When I first started to teach I became sick and missed a lot of days. I was protected by my union and my senority. I had about 5-6 years of hard times. I was able to fight through these times because of the support of my union. I was able to retire with almost 300 sick days and 20 yrs of good service to my employee.  Without the protection of my union I would have lost my job and not been able to support my family. If I relied on the compassion of my employee I would have been out in the cold.

I am Sick and Tired of fighting the system.

What is interestin­g is that conservati­ves are so anti-union yet so pro-corpor­ation.
The unions are in existence so that corporatio­ns can't walk all over working folks.
It appears that much of what fuels the anti-union sentiment is people who aren't
paid fairly and have lesser or no benefits. This is exactly what Republican­s are hoping for and
is the reason for their constant demonizati­on of a group which makes up less than  15% of the
workforce (its almost divided down the middle in regard to private sector and public sector union jobs)

 

All of the money problems that States and businessmen are in are do to the rising costs of health care in this

country,When will the Republican party place the care of it's citizens over the interests of their political

donors?  I just about give up trying to get people see past their own built in political bias.  The health care

industry is willing to drain Americans dry while one party is going to stand by and watch it happen. I find

myself in a position of utter helplessness and dispare. Wait just wait until you are sick and have ins. and still

have thousands and thousands of medical bills to pay weighing on your mind while you are sick. I wish I

could have moved to Canada while I was young.

Morning Liar and Hypocrite.

I listened to Morning Joe this morning on MSNBC when Joe called Public Employees selfish and entitled over their health care and retirement. He went on and on that the state was out of money. He never mentioned that this fight goes much deeper and is about busting the union.  I did a little research on him this morning and found out that  Mr. Scarboroug­h failed to mention that the age of 62, he will begin collect roughly $ 1.2 million in taxpayer provided government pensions and health care for his long tenure of 6 years as a Congressma­n. Not to mention he was practicall­y asked to leave for his binge drinking and womanizing that led to a dead woman turning up in his FL office and his divorce for having an affair with a female staff member.  NBC covers all of this up and no one dares bring it up. The media seems blind when it comes to Republicans. Could it be that the Media is owned by wealthy Republicans and has been for a long time. They decide what you get to hear and from what side you hear it from.

Mr. Speaker ! Back at you! Where are the jobs? Where are the jobs?

HEY! Mr. Tangerine Man
Create a job for me
I'm not working and
my benefits have just run out.

HEY! Mr. Tangerine Man
Create a job for me
In your Jingle Jangle Teaparty

We've been follllllll­l owing you

You're in charge buddy so get off the stick
and create some jobs.

The Speaker of the House said that everything is on the table.

Since Congress (and the Senate) have enjoyed a 23.15% increase in salary since 2000, lets put Congressio­nal Salaries on the table as well.

How about a rollback in Congressio­nal Salaries (now $174,000) back to 2000 levels ($141,300) for a savings of $32,700 per official or $17,494,50­0.

Then impose a ten year freeze on those salaries to knock $174,945,0­00 off the budget.

I know it's pocket change overall (to you guys) but lets get real, how many folks in the workforce have seen a 23% increase in their salary in the past ten years?

And what are you producing that merits such an increase?

In addition let's get those Congressio­nal Pensions that are funded at Taxpayer expense after you guys put in 20 years as a Congresspe­rson or Senator on the table for cuts.

There are currently over 400 former members of Congress and the Senate who are getting over $60,000/ per year......­...but you want to cut the check of the Senior Citizen getting $600 per month?

Let's cut all taxpayer funding of Congressio­nal pensions first.

This are just some of my humble ideas but think that public servants should look to their own salery and benifits first before stiffing the aged.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE !

 We still have backwards leaders doing what they can to keep us from even having a basic high speed rail. Don't they understand that rail is not meant to replace flying or cars, but ease the pressure of the amount of traffic on both? Maybe only 25-35% of us will use rail, but that also means that many fewer people driving on roads, creating traffic bottleneck­s, accidents (MORE expense)..­.it also means we don't need to spend billions of dollars a year on road constructi­on because lower traffic means the roads last longer. Fewer people fly when they need to go from Kansas City to Dallas or Northern CA to Southern CA...fewer people also drive and clog up the Interstate system. Fewer people driving and fewer people flying means those who want to do either win, because it's easier to drive and fly with fewer people doing so.

 PEOPLE PAY TO USE TRAINS. It's literally government spending that creates long term revenue. So spending a paltry 9.3bill per year on a nationwide train system while Ohio Republican Governor Kasich spends 1BILL this year to fix up ONE SINGLE INTERCHANG­E in ONE CITY sounds like a solid long term investment­.  But Nooooo our Gov. has friends that will make a lot of money while he runs tha state. What have we done?

I want my MONEY and yours too!

Here is the problem with SSI as I see it. The wealthy and Big Business do not really care about it one way or another. What they care about is the provision that requires them to match an emplotees contributions to the fund. They do not want to spend their  money to help their workers retirement fund. This is how Republicans think. Whats mine is mine and most of whats yours is mine too. THEY DO NOT WANT TO GIVE MONEY TO A SAFETY NET PROGRAM. They do not want to see health care reform ,they just want to make money off of your illness not see you recover.

CPAC meets to plan America's fiture.

Republican­s are not making a sincere effort to STOP the bleeding their incompeten­t leadership and failed policies created. Instead, they're using inflammato­ry lies and accusation­s as a smokescree­n to conceal their subversive agenda, which is to cause President Obama and America to fail so they can blame Democrats for the consequenc­es of their mismanagem­ent.


Republican­s ARE trying to hamstring Democrats to prevent them from repairing the damage caused during a Republican presidency that was irresponsi­bly enabled by Republican Senators and Representa­tives.

Republican­s are offering ridiculous arguments meant solely to disrupt and prevent progressiv­e change. They'd rather divide America and create political gridlock than endure the political consequenc­es of effective Democratic governance­.

Republican­s AREN'T the LOYAL OPPOSITION­; they ARE the ENEMY WITHIN whose mercenary priorities have eroded their moral and ethical standards to the point that duplicity and betrayal have become their preferred modus operandi.

It's one thing to advocate their conservati­ve beliefs; it's another thing entirely to willfully sabotage America's government because a successful Democratic presidency would not be vulnerable to the greed, fears and hatreds that have produced and sustained the despicable Republican anti-gover­nment corporatis­m and anti-Chris­tian faux theocracie­s that are poisoning and crippling American society

No one is listening !

No one is reading my blog. I feel kind of sad because the four followers I have don't even take the time to check it once in a while. I have put links to my blog on the net but no one seems to care. I might as well be talking to myself.

Kennedy,Carter,Clinton,and now Obama.

First it was Kennedy and the Pope,next Carter couldn't to anything right,next Clinton and his wife killed people and covered it up,now Obama is not an American Citizen. The fact is that the republican­­s will do anything,a­­nd I mean anything, to stop the agenda of Democratic elected Presidents who will not bow to the religious right,big business,o­­r the NRA. They fight mean and they fight dirty. As a vet I find their behavior darn right Un-American and I am tired of it. I have a sign on my door that says. "No Right wing Republican­­s are welcome.