Unions are not the cause of state budget crises
By Leigh Pomeroy
Many of us have closely watched the events unfolding in and around the Wisconsin state capitol. Few of us, I would guess, are neutral. But whether we're for or against union workers, what these events show is how far a political philosophy has come towards reaching its goal. That goal? To concentrate more and more of the nation's wealth and power into the hands of a very few.
How has this been accomplished? By the stealth use of the media to reframe political, ethical and moral assumptions, and by dividing the middle class into warring sides by creating false arguments. An example of the former is the concept that the free market is (always) good and taxes are (always) bad. An example of the latter is that if a union worker is doing better than I am, then he or she doesn't deserve it.
The causes of our current economic woes include: (1) tax cuts benefiting the very wealthy resulting in an overall loss of government revenue, (2) deficit spending to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, (3) a relaxation of government oversight of the financial and mortgage markets, (4) declining net receipts of tax revenues from corporations due to tax loopholes, and, because of these and other factors, (5) a widening gap between the very wealthy and the rest of society.
Unions, whether they represent private or public employees, have had nothing to do with our current economic woes. It's true that the standard of living of most middle class workers has declined over the last 30 years, but that also includes union members. If public employee unions can be faulted, it's only because their members have been able to tread water.
The real problem in Wisconsin and elsewhere is the concentration of money and power into the hands of a very few and the political lackeys in both parties who serve them. As these people watch the events take place in Madison they see their long-planned handiwork unfold ... and laugh all the way to the bank.
Many of us have closely watched the events unfolding in and around the Wisconsin state capitol. Few of us, I would guess, are neutral. But whether we're for or against union workers, what these events show is how far a political philosophy has come towards reaching its goal. That goal? To concentrate more and more of the nation's wealth and power into the hands of a very few.
How has this been accomplished? By the stealth use of the media to reframe political, ethical and moral assumptions, and by dividing the middle class into warring sides by creating false arguments. An example of the former is the concept that the free market is (always) good and taxes are (always) bad. An example of the latter is that if a union worker is doing better than I am, then he or she doesn't deserve it.
The causes of our current economic woes include: (1) tax cuts benefiting the very wealthy resulting in an overall loss of government revenue, (2) deficit spending to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, (3) a relaxation of government oversight of the financial and mortgage markets, (4) declining net receipts of tax revenues from corporations due to tax loopholes, and, because of these and other factors, (5) a widening gap between the very wealthy and the rest of society.
Unions, whether they represent private or public employees, have had nothing to do with our current economic woes. It's true that the standard of living of most middle class workers has declined over the last 30 years, but that also includes union members. If public employee unions can be faulted, it's only because their members have been able to tread water.
The real problem in Wisconsin and elsewhere is the concentration of money and power into the hands of a very few and the political lackeys in both parties who serve them. As these people watch the events take place in Madison they see their long-planned handiwork unfold ... and laugh all the way to the bank.
Labels: state budget, unions, Wisconsin
Powered by Blogger
1 Comments:
Leigh,
Interesting post.
The “political lackeys” have a choice … follow the “political operatives” instructions or exhibit some “Profiles in Courage” … you remember the President Kennedy's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, which profiled eight U.S. senators who worked across party lines on unpopular issues.
While Wisconsin is getting a lot of the publicity, Ohio’s state Senate has approved legislation … that will go to the House where the GOP has a commanding majority and Governor John Kasich has pledged to sign it.
IMO, Ohio State Senator Bill Seitz – a Republican – deserves a nomination for this year’s award … he authored an OpEd (which can be found here ) which cited some of the problems with the proposed legislation. Senator Seitz then discussed the revised legislation that was prepared in secret and rushed through for a vote without allowing the Republicans to caucus to discuss it … oh yeah, in order to pass it, Senator Seitz and one other Republican were excused from the committee that had to approve it … apparently, Senator Seitz was not going to be a “political lackeys” so they just moved him out of the way.
For too many elections, we have seen people just getting turned off to elections as the commercials have gotten so misleading … heck, I had a guy who was a retired Teamster asking me why Al Franken was against unions … he was confused by the Employee Free Choice commercials that Coleman’s supporters were running … hopefully, the next election people will pay more attention, get the facts, and show up and vote.
Post a Comment
<< Home