Politicians and the media are mourning the death of mobster Stanley Crooks who forced 5,000 casino workers employed in the huge Mystic Lake Casino operations to work in this loud, noisy, smoke-filled casino at poverty wages without any rights under state or federal labor laws. Stanley Crooks spent hundreds of millions of dollars in "campaign contributions" bribing politicians to create this hideous situation.
Rest In Peace Stanley Crooks as casino workers will die and live in poverty as a result of the casino empire you built on their backs, and the crooked and corrupt political process you and your sidekick, the racist, crooked and corrupt, John McCarthy brought to Minnesota.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Bill Moyers--- not fair and objective when it comes to giving alternative views standing side by side with the Democrats and Republicans.
Why did Bill Moyers, like the National Priorities Project and all the
other foundation-funded outfits, leave out the suggestions of the
alternative parties like the Greens, the Justice Party, the Socialist
Party and the Peace and Freedom Party in his chart explaining the positions of the Democrats and Republicans when it comes to budget priorities and suggestions?
Local, state and federal budgets are very important. People have a right to have a say in these budgets because, as my good friend in Michigan, Virg Bernero, constantly points out:
"Budgets are a reflection of our true priorities."
When I posted these suggestions for consideration by the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Kieth Ellison's FaceBook page he became irate and blocked me:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
A program for real change...
* Peace--- end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and shutdown the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil.
* A National Public Health Care System - ten million new jobs.
* A National Public Child Care System - three to five million new jobs.
* Works Progress Administration - three million new jobs.
* Civilian Conservation Corps - two million new jobs.
* Tax the hell out of the rich and cut the military budget by ending the wars to pay for it all which will create full employment.
* Enforce Affirmative Action; end discrimination.
* Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage
* What tax-payers subsidize in the way of businesses, tax-payers should own and reap the profits from.
* Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions.
* Defend democracy by defending workers' rights including the right to collective bargaining for improving the lives and livelihoods of working people.
* Roll-back and freeze the price of food, electricity, gas and heating fuels; not wages, benefits or pensions.
* Defend and expand Social Security.
* Wall Street is our enemy
- How is Barack Obama's Wall Street war economy working for you?
- Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood for a real change.
Here is a link to what Bill Moyers has posted. Why has Bill Moyers joined the rest of the MainStreamMedia and the foundation-funded outfits in blocking the suggestions of the alternative parties when it comes to proposals for the federal budget when these budgets are so important and we should all be included in the budget process simply because this is what democracy requires?
http://billmoyers.com/content/assessing-americas-safety-net-in-six-budget-proposals/
I find it particularly interesting that it is the alternative political parties who are using the data and research from outfits like the New Priorities Project, center on Budget and Priorities Project and all these other "think-tanks"--- and who are even the ones circulating Bill Moyers' own programs and website postings--- only to be omitted when it comes time to have these public discussions, dialogs and debates during these crucial days leading up to Election Day.
Don't voters have the right to know what some of the alternatives to Wall Street's agenda are by having them placed side-by-side with the budget proposals and suggestions brought forward by the two Wall Street parties--- the Democrats and Republicans?
Does not democracy require all ideas regarding suggestions and proposals for shaping the federal budget be brought forward into the proverbial "public square" for discussion, dialog and debate?
Bill Moyers should be taken to task by people insisting he includes the budget suggestions and priorities of the alternative parties right alongside those of the Democrats and Republicans who are nothing but shills for Wall Street's financial interests.
The struggle to defend and expand democracy requires that we fight our way into having our views included by those like Bill Moyers and the National Priorities Project; after all, when our Nation's wealth is squandered on militarism and wars we can't provide the kind of universal social programs required to solve our serious social and economic problems like racist inequality and poverty by raising the standard of living for everyone. These dirty imperialist wars are making us all poor except for the few greedy and parasitical Wall Street merchants of death and destruction who profit from these wars who we need about as much as my dog Fred needs ticks and fleas.
Local, state and federal budgets are very important. People have a right to have a say in these budgets because, as my good friend in Michigan, Virg Bernero, constantly points out:
"Budgets are a reflection of our true priorities."
When I posted these suggestions for consideration by the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Kieth Ellison's FaceBook page he became irate and blocked me:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
A program for real change...
* Peace--- end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and shutdown the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil.
* A National Public Health Care System - ten million new jobs.
* A National Public Child Care System - three to five million new jobs.
* Works Progress Administration - three million new jobs.
* Civilian Conservation Corps - two million new jobs.
* Tax the hell out of the rich and cut the military budget by ending the wars to pay for it all which will create full employment.
* Enforce Affirmative Action; end discrimination.
* Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage
* What tax-payers subsidize in the way of businesses, tax-payers should own and reap the profits from.
* Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions.
* Defend democracy by defending workers' rights including the right to collective bargaining for improving the lives and livelihoods of working people.
* Roll-back and freeze the price of food, electricity, gas and heating fuels; not wages, benefits or pensions.
* Defend and expand Social Security.
* Wall Street is our enemy
- How is Barack Obama's Wall Street war economy working for you?
- Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood for a real change.
Here is a link to what Bill Moyers has posted. Why has Bill Moyers joined the rest of the MainStreamMedia and the foundation-funded outfits in blocking the suggestions of the alternative parties when it comes to proposals for the federal budget when these budgets are so important and we should all be included in the budget process simply because this is what democracy requires?
http://billmoyers.com/content/assessing-americas-safety-net-in-six-budget-proposals/
I find it particularly interesting that it is the alternative political parties who are using the data and research from outfits like the New Priorities Project, center on Budget and Priorities Project and all these other "think-tanks"--- and who are even the ones circulating Bill Moyers' own programs and website postings--- only to be omitted when it comes time to have these public discussions, dialogs and debates during these crucial days leading up to Election Day.
Don't voters have the right to know what some of the alternatives to Wall Street's agenda are by having them placed side-by-side with the budget proposals and suggestions brought forward by the two Wall Street parties--- the Democrats and Republicans?
Does not democracy require all ideas regarding suggestions and proposals for shaping the federal budget be brought forward into the proverbial "public square" for discussion, dialog and debate?
Bill Moyers should be taken to task by people insisting he includes the budget suggestions and priorities of the alternative parties right alongside those of the Democrats and Republicans who are nothing but shills for Wall Street's financial interests.
The struggle to defend and expand democracy requires that we fight our way into having our views included by those like Bill Moyers and the National Priorities Project; after all, when our Nation's wealth is squandered on militarism and wars we can't provide the kind of universal social programs required to solve our serious social and economic problems like racist inequality and poverty by raising the standard of living for everyone. These dirty imperialist wars are making us all poor except for the few greedy and parasitical Wall Street merchants of death and destruction who profit from these wars who we need about as much as my dog Fred needs ticks and fleas.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage
I just posted this on Congressman Keith Ellison's FaceBook page after he called for a miserly increase in the minimum wage:
The minimum wage should be a real living--- non-poverty--- wage legislatively tied to the real cost of living index as monitored by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics and recalculated quarterly with the minimum wage indexed to inflation, too.
What gives any employer the right to pay a man or woman they hire the right to pay people any less than a living wage for a job required to be done?
If employers don't want to pay working people they hire real living wages let them do the work themselves or hire their spouses and children to do their jobs.
And, yes, Elizabeth, there are numerous universal social programs that can be put in place that would provide what wages don't and price controls could be used to roll-back prices on everything from gas to groceries to electricity and home heating fuels... BUT, small business almost always clamor the loudest against these kinds of reforms just as small business cries every time there is any mention of raising the minimum wage to a real living wage.
I would be interested in what Congressman Ellison who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus thinks of my views.
This playing around with nickles and dimes at election time is a bunch of crap.
Let the politicians live on the minimum wage they establish and it will be increased to a real living wage real quick.
Racist and discriminatory employment practices also serve to drive all wages, including the minimum wage, down as huge pools of unemployed people act like a policeman's billy club over the heads of all working people beating our standard of living down.
Raise the minimum wage and enforce Affirmative Action and we pretty much eradicate poverty because as any school child understands, paying people a poverty wage assures workers remain mired in poverty.
We hear a lot of talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" but it seems no one wants to talk about real living wage jobs.
You can put everyone to work at the miserly poverty minimum wage and not a single problem has been solved.
Over one-hundred million people--- almost all people with jobs--- are now enrolled in some kind of anti-poverty program. What does this mean?
It means tax-payers are subsidizing these poverty wage jobs which greedy employers profit from.
Democrats have refused to consider that over 15-million people could be put to work at real living wage jobs if we ended these dirty wars and used the resulting "peace dividends" to fund a National Public Health Care Program and a National Public Child Care Program making both public services available for free to the American people.
These wars are making us all poor and the resulting reactionary politics they spawn result in reactionary legislation intended to reduce our standard of living instead of improving our lives and livelihoods.
Here in Minnesota, thanks to the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party over 44,000 jobs have been created over the last 25 odd years in the hideous Indian Gaming Industry where 44,000 Minnesotans are now employed in loud, noisy, smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages and without any rights under state or federal labor laws while everyone profits--- especially the politicians; everyone that is except Native Americans stuck with the poverty-causing debt.
A new, huge Menard's store just began doing business on the iron Range with complaints of racist hiring practices and sexual abuse before the grand opening even took place with almost 200 mostly part-time employees and all employees paid between $7.49 and $8.50 an hour--- more poverty wage jobs compliments of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party carrying out the Republican's agenda.
The minimum wage should be a real living--- non-poverty--- wage legislatively tied to the real cost of living index as monitored by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics and recalculated quarterly with the minimum wage indexed to inflation, too.
What gives any employer the right to pay a man or woman they hire the right to pay people any less than a living wage for a job required to be done?
If employers don't want to pay working people they hire real living wages let them do the work themselves or hire their spouses and children to do their jobs.
And, yes, Elizabeth, there are numerous universal social programs that can be put in place that would provide what wages don't and price controls could be used to roll-back prices on everything from gas to groceries to electricity and home heating fuels... BUT, small business almost always clamor the loudest against these kinds of reforms just as small business cries every time there is any mention of raising the minimum wage to a real living wage.
I would be interested in what Congressman Ellison who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus thinks of my views.
This playing around with nickles and dimes at election time is a bunch of crap.
Let the politicians live on the minimum wage they establish and it will be increased to a real living wage real quick.
Racist and discriminatory employment practices also serve to drive all wages, including the minimum wage, down as huge pools of unemployed people act like a policeman's billy club over the heads of all working people beating our standard of living down.
Raise the minimum wage and enforce Affirmative Action and we pretty much eradicate poverty because as any school child understands, paying people a poverty wage assures workers remain mired in poverty.
We hear a lot of talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" but it seems no one wants to talk about real living wage jobs.
You can put everyone to work at the miserly poverty minimum wage and not a single problem has been solved.
Over one-hundred million people--- almost all people with jobs--- are now enrolled in some kind of anti-poverty program. What does this mean?
It means tax-payers are subsidizing these poverty wage jobs which greedy employers profit from.
Democrats have refused to consider that over 15-million people could be put to work at real living wage jobs if we ended these dirty wars and used the resulting "peace dividends" to fund a National Public Health Care Program and a National Public Child Care Program making both public services available for free to the American people.
These wars are making us all poor and the resulting reactionary politics they spawn result in reactionary legislation intended to reduce our standard of living instead of improving our lives and livelihoods.
Here in Minnesota, thanks to the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party over 44,000 jobs have been created over the last 25 odd years in the hideous Indian Gaming Industry where 44,000 Minnesotans are now employed in loud, noisy, smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages and without any rights under state or federal labor laws while everyone profits--- especially the politicians; everyone that is except Native Americans stuck with the poverty-causing debt.
A new, huge Menard's store just began doing business on the iron Range with complaints of racist hiring practices and sexual abuse before the grand opening even took place with almost 200 mostly part-time employees and all employees paid between $7.49 and $8.50 an hour--- more poverty wage jobs compliments of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party carrying out the Republican's agenda.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
We told you so
This is a very good article: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/03/say-goodbye-to-social-security/
However one important point is missing and there are several glaring weaknesses.
Social Security would be secure and could be vastly expanded with real living benefits paid IF we had a full-employment economy.
Never mind economics--- common sense tells us that we can't have millions of unemployed, under-employed and poverty-wage paid workers not paying into the Social Security Trust Fund or paying so little because of partial employment and poverty wages and still expect the Social Security Trust Fund to remain solvent forever with anything other than very limited programs and meager, miserly payouts.
I would also note that while this writer acknowledges the good work done by economist John Kenneth Galbraith, he fails to observe what Galbraith believed to be primary: ending militarism and wars so society could reap the benefits of "peace dividends" in order to create huge government programs like National Public Health Care and National Public Child Care which would create tens of millions of new jobs providing services that are really needed--- unlike militarism and war which we need like we need holes in our heads.
I think this article is good but needs to be strengthened.
John Kenneth Galbraith was an honest liberal and among the present crop of intellectuals honesty--- liberal or otherwise--- is difficult to come by as most seemed to be influenced in their "thinking" more by the size of their pay-checks than the common good as is readily apparent from all these phony liberals, progressives and leftist intellectuals supporting a warmonger like Obama determined to make the working class pay for Wall Street's imperialist wars through austerity measures such as cutting and slashing needed social programs--- everything from public education to Social Security and even Medicaid and Medicare when the state goal of the Affordable Care Act was supposed to be to strengthen Medicaid and Medicare... more lies.
I would also point out that John Kenneth Galbraith's son, James Kenneth Galbraith, is more on the progressive side than his father was.
Here is an excellent article written by James Kenneth Galbraith (written in 2009):
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2009/0903.galbraith.html
And more recently--- 2012--- aptly titled, "We told you so:"
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/we_told_you_so_20120518//
I would also note that John Kenneth Galbraith never hesitated to bring Marxists into discussions with him on economic matters which provided greater insight to problems and served to strengthen democracy while educating the public.
John Kenneth Galbraith even wrote a book together with a noted Soviet Marxist-Leninist economist.
John Kenneth Galbraith constantly pointed out that it was wrong to think modern societies can have both "guns and butter." This from a man who had experience managing a war-time economy at the beginning of World War II.
Obama has rejected even the most liberal/progressive economic advice in favor of the reactionary advice he receives from those most loyal to Wall Street's greedy, parasitical, money-grubbing interests which always lead to conflict and wars.
Alan L. Maki
However one important point is missing and there are several glaring weaknesses.
Social Security would be secure and could be vastly expanded with real living benefits paid IF we had a full-employment economy.
Never mind economics--- common sense tells us that we can't have millions of unemployed, under-employed and poverty-wage paid workers not paying into the Social Security Trust Fund or paying so little because of partial employment and poverty wages and still expect the Social Security Trust Fund to remain solvent forever with anything other than very limited programs and meager, miserly payouts.
I would also note that while this writer acknowledges the good work done by economist John Kenneth Galbraith, he fails to observe what Galbraith believed to be primary: ending militarism and wars so society could reap the benefits of "peace dividends" in order to create huge government programs like National Public Health Care and National Public Child Care which would create tens of millions of new jobs providing services that are really needed--- unlike militarism and war which we need like we need holes in our heads.
I think this article is good but needs to be strengthened.
John Kenneth Galbraith was an honest liberal and among the present crop of intellectuals honesty--- liberal or otherwise--- is difficult to come by as most seemed to be influenced in their "thinking" more by the size of their pay-checks than the common good as is readily apparent from all these phony liberals, progressives and leftist intellectuals supporting a warmonger like Obama determined to make the working class pay for Wall Street's imperialist wars through austerity measures such as cutting and slashing needed social programs--- everything from public education to Social Security and even Medicaid and Medicare when the state goal of the Affordable Care Act was supposed to be to strengthen Medicaid and Medicare... more lies.
I would also point out that John Kenneth Galbraith's son, James Kenneth Galbraith, is more on the progressive side than his father was.
Here is an excellent article written by James Kenneth Galbraith (written in 2009):
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2009/0903.galbraith.html
And more recently--- 2012--- aptly titled, "We told you so:"
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/we_told_you_so_20120518//
I would also note that John Kenneth Galbraith never hesitated to bring Marxists into discussions with him on economic matters which provided greater insight to problems and served to strengthen democracy while educating the public.
John Kenneth Galbraith even wrote a book together with a noted Soviet Marxist-Leninist economist.
John Kenneth Galbraith constantly pointed out that it was wrong to think modern societies can have both "guns and butter." This from a man who had experience managing a war-time economy at the beginning of World War II.
Obama has rejected even the most liberal/progressive economic advice in favor of the reactionary advice he receives from those most loyal to Wall Street's greedy, parasitical, money-grubbing interests which always lead to conflict and wars.
Alan L. Maki
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