Throw away people...

[Javaman]

We the people have become disposable.

There is an old saying, "no one is irreplaceable". Meaning, if you get fired, there is always someone out there to jump right into your shoes to take over your job.

This past week, when the unemployment numbers came out, they were much higher than expected. The WH was caught off guard. Frankly, I was a little surprised myself. Why? I thought there would be less people because those same people's unemployment insurance had run out, thus eliminating them from the roles, which would reflect as lower numbers.

But the higher number just shows to me, that the quest for lower unemployment rates is a game of chicken. It seems like the unemployed on the roles still keep winning, much to the chagrin of the WH.

My tinfoil hat theory believes that the WH, in a quest to show a positive spin, hopes that enough people fall off the roles to give a false sense of things getting better by showing less people collecting insurance.
Is it really tinfoil thinking or my way of justifying something that scares the living shit out of me? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

A heart breaking post by Lerkfish today, gives me my antidote. The company that called him to interview was expecting a younger, eager and CHEAPER potential employee. When they saw that he was older, more experienced and would require an actual living income, they give him, what I like to call, interview jujitsu. It's like finding out that you will be tested on Geometry, when the day before, you were told to cram for Middle English. The employers can always stack the deck against you. I've seen it here were I work.

It's the grand race to the bottom.

The economy, on paper, will appear better, after the wealth of workers are laid off and off the unemployment roles. This is why the unemployment roles as an indicator of unemployment is bogus.

There are always the excuses by politicians, "it's impossible to count those who no longer collect unemployment". That's complete BS wholly fabricated from the various spin doctors to explain away the inability of our elected officials do their jobs.

Next, the new weapon of word assassination.

Liberalism has become the new catch phrase to describe all that is evil, all that keeps the government from functioning, all that prevents "change" from happening.

Over the past several months, not just from the right, but also from the blue dogs. A quiet but growing chorus of conserv-a-dems have been pushing the "liberal lefts anger" as a point of reasoning behind why they can't get anything done. It's we the liberals that are keeping things from being done because, gasp, we want to hold our elected officials to, gasp again, their campaign promises! I know, unreal! How dare we!

To those who have been paying attention, it comes as no surprise that after the whole kabuki show of horrors aka the national health care debate, that the basic needs we all wanted, 75% of the nation wanted (That's an awful lot of liberals from the left), have been basically thrown under the bus.

It appears as if the "pre-existing condition" portion of the bill, is heading for a permanent vacation under the bus

http://www.correntewire.com/no_discrimination_against_pre_existing_conditions_health_care_bill_could_be_out_window

Or being able to buy drugs 1) at competitive prices 2) from over seas, has also been seen with tired treads on it's face.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/business/11price.html

And it's general knowledge by now that the announcement of the death of the public option hasn't been grossly exaggerated.

So what do we get? A buy in to medicare? nope. We get a "mandate". 30 million people have to buy into it. And if they don't, they get fined, but hey, they still get rebates!!! Hey, that's change!!! Right? Right?

But who wins here? The 30 million people. LOL That's rich. It's the health care corps who win. They get another 30 million on their rolls. That's more money and power for them. Just further capitalizing on their monopolies.

But what of the rest of us? The people who have to deal with the ever rising price of premiums and deductibles? We are fucked.

There are those who will say here on DU, "This is the first step, look at Social Security, it grew over years!!!"

Let me inform those of you who believe this line. When social security was enacted, even some republicans at the time acquiesced to the reality of the situation and understood that something needed to be done.

Today? Fat chance. The moment a new republican president comes into power, I can bet you as sure as shit, they will dismantle whatever this health care reform BS is, but more likely, turn it into a massive money making give away to the health care corps.(more so than it's currently turning out to be) With the colossal push back the Dem "majority"(you know why I put that in quotes) is getting from the republicans, do you honestly believe that they will leave it alone?

Just look at part D of medicare. That was part of the republican "genius" to help the masses. That wasn't a fuck up, that was willful planning.

Health care failed because corporate interests out weigh the will of the people. Our corporate funded and controlled congress people know exactly how their bread is buttered. It's buttered with the sweat of slave wage workers and corporate greed.

And finally, our fear of out of control capitalism, has been misplaced. We were silly to think that capitalism is the new norm. Corporatism is were it's at you crazy cats.

Our glorious supreme court is now mulling over this little gem.

Supreme Court Could Slash Campaign Finance Laws

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/11/supreme-court-campaign-finance_n_418150.html

That's right. If this is allowed, if this happens, the concept of our nation, we the people, government by the people, will have effectively vanished from this earth.

Of course, if you want to get technical, corporations are looked upon as a person under the eyes of the law. So technically again, we the corporate persons should still exist.

There is no need to cry for our future, there is plenty to cry about in the here and now.

We are disposable. We are no longer cogs in a larger machine. We are crappy plastic products imported from a factory of disposable gadgets to our corporate bought and sold spoiled child like politicians and are tossed aside when they feel it convenient.

No consideration is given to what happens to us, what becomes of us, or how we survive. We are only paid lip service. Pile more cheap crap on the public, crap we can ill afford. All to keep us happy in a delirious state of confusion. A confusion which will never condense into any form of rebellion, either peaceful or violent.

We are the boxer in against the ropes, constantly off balance, never able to recover just enough to fight back.

We are being rope a doped.

[YOY]

1. Totally.

Sad that to state the obvious makes one an "extremist".

[Paper Roses]

2. Powerful post...and true. This paragraph really hits the mark:

No consideration is given to what happens to us, what becomes of us, or how we survive. We are only paid lip service. Pile more cheap crap on public, crap we can ill afford. All to keep us happy in a delirious state of confusion. A confusion which will never condense into any form of rebellion, either peaceful or violent.

[Land Shark]

61. "All I want to say is that they don't really care about us" -lyrics of last M. Jackson rehearse-vid

Like him or not, the lyrics of that song were spot on. As was the timing - summer 2009. And M. Jackson couldn't even PAY a quarter million a month and get good health care.

[Richard Steele]

3. K&R

[havocmom]

4. Musing on older workers...

Experienced workers not only expect a living wage, we know a bit about life and are harder to con, which many employers don't like. They seem to not want people with life experience around their more gullible, younger employees. We taint their con games with what we have seen over the decades. Makes us a 'bad influence' on other workers who are more likely to fall for empty promises in exchange for giving employers more power over their lives than their wages actually justify.

[Javaman]

6. Very good point...

I was going to include something like but I didn't want to distract from the main theme.

But you are exactly right. Older people know right from wrong in the work place and can not be easily bullshited.

[havocmom]

9. Ask anyone under 30 (or even 40) who Sam Gompers was

Employers want us to forget the power of working together ;)

[Chisox08]

56. I'm 27 and I know who SAm Gompers was.

I happen to have studied the history of the labor movement. Sadly it isn't taught in school anymore.

[Scruffy1]

73. Then you should know

That Sam Gompers was a reactionary whose main interest was to preserve his power among the small groups of skilled trades that constituted the AFofL. He actively opposed industrial unionization and even supplied scabs in some strikes.

[Fearless]

58. As do I, but I teach high school history... n/t

[PSzymeczek]

52. I'm going to be 57

at the end of this month. No one - NO ONE - is going to hire me. Fuck them.

[Zhade]

70. I'm one of those who don't let them get away with shit.

So every day I wait for the axe to fall.

And I'm only 34.

[glitch]

51. crucial point. nt

[cabluedem]

82. IOW, if you are over 40-50ish you are screwed over for the younger generation. Yeap! nt

[havocmom]

87. no, just that many older employees are a threat to employers who are most exploitive

It's a class war, not a generational war, but not many will see it that way.

[cabluedem]

90. I can see it from that standpoint as well.

[GreenMetalFlake]

5. The sooner brainwashed America realizes it hasn't any actual 'representation,' the sooner...

We'll begin to see real "change." Until then, keep spinning your wheels.

[Gman2]

20. If we had the chutzpah of the baggers, WE would change plenty. We lack a spine.

[JFN1]

54. Exactly. The change we seek is not worh risking our comfortable prison cells for...

We won't individually risk anything for the greater good.

And THIS is what has truly killed America.

[fasttense]

74. Yup, until we get so boiling mad and get off our duffs and PROTEST, day after day.

Nothing is going to change. The tea-baggers are a corporate tool. They think they are so grass roots, they are being manipulated to do the bidding of the corporations. Nothing but the same crap that Raygun, bush, Clinton, Wall Street and GE continue to feed us will ever come out of them.

So, the answer is a real grass movement. An anti-corporation, anti-banksters, anti-Wall Street movement. The only remaining path to change is huge PROTESTS across the country, day after day, after day.

If we liberals and progressives were smart, we would start planning now for a continual protest from spring through summer. A protest like in Iran, never ending. A protest that keeps bubbling up, again and again and again.

And if you are too busy, overworked, unable to get to a protest, you should be able to sponsor someone. Look at the numbers of unemployed. Look at the 50+ people who have given up finding decent employment. Look at the college kids who are lucky to get waiter and waitress jobs. We could use them. We could sponsor them to go to the protests. They have the time and we have the money. We could organize so that we have one huge kick off, get at least a million. Then for 7 days have a 100,000 people there every day. Then after that have 20,000 there every week. People who can't come could sponsor someone. That someone would take pictures, wear the names of the people they are sponsoring. Send or post the pictures on the internet, at a designated site.

If we liberals were smart, we could do this. We could organize now for an explosion of protests come spring. If we were only angry enough, fed up enough with the constant welfare for corporations. If only we were capable of this.....

[cabluedem]

84. When we lose everything you will see some spine. Might be too late, however. nt

[diamidue]

88. the baggers

have accomplished nothing but gaining publicity. Much like the anti-war protesters, before them, accomplished nothing. Our country is held hostage by big bankers, Wall Street, the Pharmaceutical & Insurance Industries, agricultural giants like Monsanto, and Blackwater types, etc. Walking around carrying signs is not going to move these groups. They couldn't care less about us. They have big government, the military, and billions of dollars on their side.

I don't think Americans lack a spine. I think they are lost as to where to begin to fight. And they lack leaders and clear goals. But watch out. I have a lot of faith in Americans. They WILL wake up.

[cabluedem]

83. We have a winner, folks !!!! BINGO!!!

[raccoon]

92. You got that right! Elections alone don't bring about REAL change. nt

[shadowknows69]

7. Happy, in a sad kind of way to K+R Javaman.

From your friend, the throw away person known as Shadow.

[flyarm]

8. K&R from this throw away retired Union worker!! I believe my life's work was thrown away too!

You know all the years and years of my labor that took concession after concession for my health care that is about to be excise taxed ...I just want to know where i go to get my money back that I already paid for this in my labor for 33 years........

never mind..I know meme..we are just fucked and are supposed to suck up to the fuckers!

I will be voting against every incombant politician next Nov...that is the only voice I have left.

[Gman2]

19. That is the voice that baggers have whispered to you.

Obama is GOD, obama didnt do all you commanded of him. He is a traitor. All politicians are traitors. Term limits. All Government should be limited, privatized or abolished. That script is bagger, and you buy it.

[flyarm]

23. i have no idea wtf you are talking about..I don't know a "bagger" or what you are refering to

I do however know my union leaders and in fact my husband was VP for 11 years of his union..and i know damn well when "we the people" are getting fucked!

I don't need anyone to tell me that!

maybe you are getting bagged or are used to gas bagging people!

I don't know..

But what I do know..I trust Union people more than any unknown person on an internet message board for my information!

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Impact of the Excise Tax on the Middle ClassHealth Care Excise Tax = A Big Middle Class Tax Increase

**Communications Workers of America

http://www.healthcarevoices.org/pages/impact-of-the-excise-tax-on-the-middle-class

JCT data shows excise tax in the Senate bill would strike at the heart of the middle class

Health care legislation under consideration in the U.S. Senate would raise $149 billion over ten years by imposing a 40 percent excise tax above certain thresholds on insurance company health plans and self-insured plans offered by companies to their workers. This tax would have a dramatic effect on those plans forcing steep reductions in benefits, shifting of costs to workers and a significant increase in taxes on millions of middle-class families.

Contrary to claims by proponents that it will affect only “Cadillac” health plans, like those enjoyed by Goldman Sachs executives, according to Joint Committee on Taxation(i) data the excise tax will:

Affect 19 percent of workers with employer-sponsored health coverage in 2016.
Affect nearly 25 million households(ii) in 2019, including one-fifth of middle-class households making between $50,000 and $75,000.
Affect about 25 percent of health plans by 2019.
Cost affected households an additional $7,500 in taxes on average between 2013 and 2019, or more than $1,000 a year.
In 2019, cost affected taxpayers who are millionaires an extra $2,600 in taxes and those making between $50,000 to $75,000 an extra $1,100 in taxes, but the wealthy taxpayers’ income will be at least 13 to 20 times greater.
Be a tax increase of 0.1 percent of income for those households affected that make more than $1 million a year and be a tax increase of 1.4 percent for those households affected that make $50,000 to $75,000.
The JCT assumes that 82.5 percent of the revenue raised from the tax will be generated by increased wages to make up for health benefits cuts and increased cost sharing. However, most employers say they will not increase workers’ wages in response:

Only 9 percent of human resource executives in a recent Towers-Perrin survey said if health care reform reduced their benefit costs would they increase salary or direct compensation; 78 percent said they would retain the savings in the business as profit.
Just 16 percent of health plan sponsors in a recent Mercer survey said they would convert any health care cost savings into higher pay for their workers.



xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
AFL-CIO

Source: Talking Points Memo

Trumka Blames The Senate, Republicans And Some Democrats For Controversial Health Care Tax
Brian Beutler | January 11, 2010, 1:00PM


Speaking at the National Press Club this afternoon, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka blasted a controversial provision in the Senate health care bill, which would impose a stiff tax on high-end health care plans--a penalty that would impact many middle class workers and union members. From the prepared remarks: "thanks to the Senate rules, the appalling irresponsibility of the Senate Republicans and the power of the wealthy among some Democrats, the Senate bill instead drives a wedge between the middle class and the poor."

The bill rightly seeks to ensure that most Americans have health insurance. But instead of taxing the rich, the Senate bill taxes the middle class by taxing workers' health plans--not just union members' health care; most of the 31 million insured employees who would be hit by the excise tax are not union members.

The tax on benefits in the Senate bill pits working Americans who need health care for their families against working Americans struggling to keep health care for their families. This is a policy designed to benefit elites--in this case, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and irresponsible employers, at the expense of the broader public. It's the same tragic pattern that got us where we are today, and I can assure you the labor movement is fighting with everything we've got to win health care reform that is worthy of the support of working men and women.

Read more: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/trumka-blame ...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Economic Policy Institute !

EMPLOYER HEALTH COSTS
DO NOT DRIVE WAGE TRENDS
B Y L AW R E N C E M I S H E L
http://epi.3cdn.net/f121df10fab53d2b16_3nm6bhd7e.pdf

snip:

However, in the dysfunctional health insurance market, high-cost does
not equal high-value; and it is not comprehensiveness of coverage that is the primary predictor of who will be affected by
this tax, rather it is the size of the firm they work for or the age of their co-workers. The fact that Chevy plans are about
as likely to be taxed as Cadillac plans is one reason to be cautious about relying on such a tax. Bivens and Gould (2009)
document this as well as other reasons to prefer the more straightforward, progressive financing in the House bill.



snip:
There is logic to their argument, but it is only skin-deep and deeper examination will show it to be simply not true. The
logic can be seen looking at trends in health care premiums and wages—wage growth fared better in the late 1990s when
health care premiums grew more slowly than in the early 1990s and wages performed poorly in the 2000s, a period when
health premiums grew strongly again.3
However, digging just a bit beneath the surface reveals the following:
1. Health care costs are not large enough to substantially move wages as these proponents claim;
2. Examination of actual wage and benefit trends confirms that changes in the trajectory of health care costs did not
materially affect wage trends over the last 20 years; and
3. The wage behavior described—accelerating in the late 1990s and more slowly thereafter—actually best characterizes
wage growth for low-wage workers who have minimal access to employer-based health care. Conversely, this pattern
of wage-growth over time is least pronounced for higher paid workers with the most health coverage.
Clearly, this “health care theory of wage determination” is wrong, and other factors explain these overall wage trends.
The simple explanation is that productivity accelerated in the mid-1990s, and the low unemployment (and hikes in the
minimum wage) facilitated faster wage growth. That this wage growth disappeared entirely in the 2002-07 recovery is
not due to faster health care cost increases but to weak employment growth and employers’ ability to achieve increased
profitability rather than pass on productivity gains to workers. This reveals a fundamental flaw in our economy: productivity
gains are not passed on to higher living standards for workers.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Voters Oppose Taxing Health Insurance Plans
http://www.healthcarevoices.org/pages/voters-oppose-tax...

from : Communications Workers of America



Voters Oppose Taxing Health Insurance Plans

As Congress deliberates over how to fund health insurance reform, new polling, commissioned by the Communications Workers of America and conducted by Anzalone Liszt Research, finds that voters overwhelmingly oppose taxing high-cost health insurance plans as a way to help fund health insurance reform, but support raising taxes on the wealthy to accomplish the same goal. The Anzalone poll surveyed 2,200 likely voters in 10 states including seven with 2010 frontline Senate races (Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Nevada and North Dakota). Also polled were Indiana, New Mexico and Virginia.

Support for taxing high-cost insurance plans would have electoral implications as well, as over 60% of voters say that it would make them less likely to re-elect their member of Congress in 2010. This strong opposition to an excise tax on health insurance plans spans all regions, as well as all seven of the states surveyed that will have frontline Senate races in 2010.

The Senate health care bill would raise $150 billion over 10 years by assessing a 40 percent excise tax on the value of health care plans that exceed a certain level of spending. The House bill raises $460 billion over 10 years by assessing a surtax on the incomes of wealthy Americans. Choosing between these two options will be a major focus of a House-Senate conference on the bills.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Unions Rally to Oppose a Proposed Tax on Health Insurance (NYT)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/business/09union.html


By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: January 8, 2010

When millions of blue-collar workers were leaning toward John McCain during the 2008 campaign, labor unions moved many of them into Barack Obama’s column by repeatedly hammering one theme: Mr. McCain wanted to tax their health benefits.

But now labor leaders are fuming that President Obama has endorsed a tax on high-priced, employer-sponsored health insurance policies as a way to help cover the cost of health care reform. And as Senate and House leaders seek to negotiate a final health care bill, unions are pushing mightily to have that tax dropped from the legislation. Or at the very least, they want the price threshold raised so that the tax would affect fewer workers.

-snip-

In recent days, labor’s strategy has become clear. Unions are urging their members to flood their representatives with e-mail messages and phone calls in the hope that the House will stand fast and reject the tax. The A.F.L.-C.I.O., a federation of nine million union members, has declared next Wednesday “National Call-In Day” asking workers to call their lawmakers to urge them not to tax health benefits. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is urging members to tell their representatives that “such a tax is simply a massive middle-class tax hike that this nation’s working families should not be forced to endure.”

Many Democrats fear that enacting the tax will hurt their re-election chances.

“This would really have a negative impact on the Democratic base,” said Representative Joe Courtney, Democrat of Connecticut, who has enlisted 190 House Democrats to sign a letter opposing the tax. “As far as the message goes, it’s a real toughie to defend.”

While union leaders would prefer killing the tax, some say privately that they could live with it if the threshold is lifted to $27,000, say, or $30,000. They argue that many insurance policies above $23,000 are typical of the coverage in high-cost areas like New York or Boston, or policies that cover small businesses or employers with older workers.

According to a union survey, one in four members would be hit by a
$23,000 threshold
, but only one in 14 if the threshold were raised to $27,000.

White House officials, however, voice concern that raising the threshold that much would lose $50 billion of the $149 billion in revenue that the tax is expected to generate over 10 years.

-snip-

[flyarm]

24. its the voice of this man and union men/women like him i listen to!

AFL-CIO president blasts the "world view" that "has brought Democrats nothing but disaster"



http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/union-chi... /


“Too often Washington falls into the grip of ambivalence about the fundamental purpose of government,” Mr. Trumka said. “Is it to protect wealthy elites and gently encourage them to be more charitable? Or is it to look after the vast majority of the American people?”

Mr. Trumka and other union leaders said they would tell Mr. Obama at their White House meeting Monday afternoon that it would be economically and politically unwise to enact a tax on high-priced, employer-provided health benefits as part of the health care overhaul. Union leaders argue that this would hurt the Democrats politically because it would be seen as a tax on middle class workers when Mr. Obama promised not to increase taxes on the middle class.

-snip-

Instead of taxing the rich, the Senate bill taxes the middle class by taxing workers’ health plans — not just union members’ health care,” he said. “Most of the 31 million insured employees who would be hit by the excise tax are not union members.”

He added, “The tax on benefits in the Senate bill pits working Americans who need health care for their families against working Americans struggling to keep health care for their families.”

He said too many politicians in Washington – both Democrats and Republicans – “now take for granted government’s role as protector of Wall Street and the privileged. They see middle-class Americans as overpaid and underworked. They see Social Security as a problem rather than the only piece of our retirement system that actually works. They feel sorry for homeless people, but fail to see the connections between downsizing, outsourcing, inequality and homelessness.”

“This world view has brought Democrats nothing but disaster,” he said.

“We crave political leadership ready to fight for the kind of America we want to leave to our children and against the forces of greed that brought us to this moment,” Mr. Trumka said. “But instead we hear a resurgence of complacency and political paralysis. Too many people in Washington seem to think that now that we have bailed out the banks, everything will be okay.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


He speaks for me, as do all the other union leaders that give a damn about the middle class and the poor in this nation!

I give a damn, about those that give a damn, about what the democratic party used to stand for!
And what i have stood for all of my 39 years of voting for democrats!..and being an elected democrat.

I know what i stand for ..that has never waivered in 39 years! Nor have my principles and values as a democrat.
I can't say that for others.

[Gman2]

25. "I will be voting against every incombant politician next Nov...that is the only voice I have left.

is what I am talking about.


And when you vote out all of your own, they will say Psych! Better snipe hunting next time.

[flyarm]

30. and i mean what i say! I have been a 33 yr member of a union , in fact i belong to 3 unions!

and to vote for anyone in congress who would pass this bill as it stands right now would be malpractice to the American people!

This man has got it right..I will put my money and time into working to replace each member of congress..that votes for this piece of shit bill!

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka spoke at the National Press Club a few minutes ago and slammed the Senate bill and its tax on high-end insurance plans and predicted an electoral catastrophe for Democrats, circa 1994, should the party take working people for granted.

January 11, 2010

Trumka warns Dems not to take workers for granted

Initiatives should be rooted in a crucial alliance of the middle class and the poor. But today, as I speak to you, something different is happening with health care.

On the one hand we have the House bill, which asks the small part of our country that has prospered in the last decade—the richest of the rich—to pay a little bit more in taxes so that most Americans can have health insurance. And the House bill reins in the power of health insurers and employers by having an employer mandate and a strong public option.

But thanks to the Senate rules, the appalling irresponsibility of the Senate Republicans and the power of the wealthy among some Democrats, the Senate bill instead drives a wedge between the middle class and the poor. The bill rightly seeks to ensure that most Americans have health insurance. But instead of taxing the rich, the Senate bill taxes the middle class by taxing workers’ health plans—not just union members’ health care; most of the 31 million insured employees who would be hit by the excise tax are not union members.

The tax on benefits in the Senate bill pits working Americans who need health care for their families against working Americans struggling to keep health care for their families. This is a policy designed to benefit elites—in this case, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and irresponsible employers, at the expense of the broader public. It’s the same tragic pattern that got us where we are today, and I can assure you the labor movement is fighting with everything we’ve got to win health care reform that is worthy of the support of working men and women.

<snip>

Let me be even blunter. In 1992, workers voted for Democrats who promised action on jobs, who talked about reining in corporate greed and who promised health care reform. Instead, we got NAFTA, an emboldened Wall Street – and not much more. We swallowed our disappointment and worked to preserve a Democratic majority in 1994 because we knew what the alternative was. But there was no way to persuade enough working Americans to go to the polls when they couldn’t tell the difference between the two parties. Politicians who think that working people have it too good – too much health care, too much Social Security and Medicare, too much power on the job – are inviting a repeat of 1994.

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0110/Trumka_warns_Dem...

[Gman2]

34. And when cynical Rethugs turn and all vote in lockstep? This is called throwing the

baby into the battery acid.

[liberation]

48. ... and if my grandma had balls we would have called her grandpa

Do you have any actual point, or you think you are going to force people to march in lockstep by the sheer power of your condescension?

Each citizen has the right to do as he or she pleases with their votes. It is their voice, those votes don't belong to you nor any party or candidate you are fawning over.

[Dr.Phool]

42. I know where Fly lives.

She has no incumbents worth voting for. In fact, neither do I.

[flyarm]

46. +1..i never said i would vote for a repig..i will help other dems run against the dem incumbants!

And force a primary for any dem in my state or district that votes for this piece of shit bill!..and believe me ..many people in my state and county and district listen to me!

Oh and they love my money!

Right Dr Phool?

And Dr Phool is right..most dems that run in my state and local..are repigs that game the system!..but i will not hold my nose voting for them ever again..my children and grandchildrens future depends on me voting the fuckers out that would strap future generations with this piece of shit bill...,.if i am getting dems who act like repigs..why should i give a shit ..or bother or give the lying liars my money and my time?..I am over being sick of assholes that promise the world and sell us out each and every time..this issue is too important..it effects all our lives and health! It effects my children and their children!

[liberation]

49. You don't have to explain your vote to anyone, much less those who feel entitled to your vote...

... let them get our votes the old fashion way: by earning them. I say.


A party or candidate whose only electoral value propositions are fear and that they are not as bad as the GOP, it is the representation of a morally (and ideologically) bankrupt collective who would most likely not be able to govern their way out of a wet paper bag. The fact that people are surprised that the Dems suck donkey balls is amusing, when all they have to offer as means of an electoral program... is just that, that they are not as bad as the Republicans. What were we expecting with such low standards? Hey, sure they are not as bad as the GOP... but neither is the crap my dog just pooped this morning, and I don't see people rushing to get dog poop into elected into office anytime soon.


The same people who feel entitled to your vote, and who either bully others into submission or demand you give them explanations, are the same people who have made it possible for our current system to devolve into the "evil of two lessers" crapfest we have right now. For that I say, that people like you don't owe any of those assholes any explanation. F*ck'em, it is your vote, it is your conscience, it is about the last thing they don't have full control over... and look how f*cking hard they are trying to control even that.

[Zhade]

71. Obama is a liar. That's a documented fact.

"I didn't run on the public option".

I don't need a dipshit republitard to tell me what I can see with my own fucking eyes. But then, you can't see under all that sand.

[Soylent Brice]

10. K&R

thanks. now i'm depressed.

[juno jones]

11. K&R! n/t

[inna]

12. KR

:kick:

[hfojvt]

13. unrec!! Where is Tahitinut when you need him?

"This past week, when the unemployment numbers came out, they were much higher than expected. The WH was caught off guard. Frankly, I was a little surprised myself. Why? I thought there would be less people because those same people's unemployment insurance had run out, thus eliminating them from the roles, which would reflect as lower numbers. "

or the "not this shit again" guy

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4616424#4616545

[Joanne98]

14. The corporations have made everything disposable.

[amborin]

15. KNR

[Gman2]

16. NOPE, the far right out there, are refusing to do other than hunker down, to hobble Obama.

And they are scared shitless that there are enough of them to screw all of us.

[Javaman]

17. Not really sure what you are saying here...

I think your grammar is a little off.

[Gman2]

18. All the sociopathic repuke business owners, are boycotting.

They are refusing to expand or plan for anything but their self induced economic meltdown, to rid us of the communist.

Like the rich did to Chavez. A dove revolution.

[cdsilv]

21. Torches, pitchforks, molotov cocktails......nothing less will do.

[99 Percent Sure]

41. For real. n/t

[cabluedem]

80. With 200 million guns and poverty at the doorstep? Do the math. TSWHTF.

[Javaman]

22. oh okay, I thought that's what you meant.

thanks for clarifying. :)

cheers!

[saracat]

35. The unions are sociopathic GOP business owners to you?

Obama's HCR attacks the unions.I guess that is okay with you? in case you didn't know unions represent the workers.The GOP business owners actually like this bill. They will no longer buy insurance.The fine is cheaper!

[Gman2]

37. No, I'm saying that Obama has few options, to make jobs, or anything else.

[saracat]

40. Why? He will have less options after Nov so the time to act is now.

He has as many options and more than FDR did.But he prefers being in the middleHe pratices strategic ambiguity, and that is an actual official WH term that they really use.

[99 Percent Sure]

44. Yep, Gman2. That's what's most troubling for the many who are figuring this thing out.

The revolt has to come from We the People. It's still our country, too. We're not helpless, there must be something we can do. It won't be easy, but something that evokes positive change for We the People is definitely doable.

We've lost the art of being enterprising citizens in the last 30 years, but we need to get it back, and quickly. We have to get so fed up with the lies, the half-truths, the bought and paid for media, the bought and paid for US Congress, the stripping away of our humanity by denying so many of us a job or even a home and health care. Not allowing those of us who have worked since we were teens to work, or even preventing college graduates from becoming employed in jobs that pay a liveable wage is, frankly, immoral and wicked.

Them telling us that we will "get back to where we were" is abominable, since "where we were" is what got us in this hellish mess in the first place. Nevermind the fact that there is no way that the majority of the millions of us over 50 will ever step foot in a job, let alone a job that pays a living wage, again in this life.

We need to channel our anger, put our heads together, decide what we need to do, then do it. We've been had, but we don't have to keep being had.

To the author -- wonderful post.

[change_notfinetuning]

26. But bull market went up anyway in this BULLS HIT (the jackpot) recovery. n/t

[Little Star]

27. k&r

[maryf]

28. Keep ranting!!!

K&R

[DisgustedInMN]

29. K&R

[etherealtruth]

31. I've nothing to add but a rec

[Lorien]

32. "Liberalism has become the new catch phrase to describe all that is evil..."

Um, "New"?? This crap has been going on since 1980, and until we unite against the RW propagandists it won't change in the slightest.

[cutlassmama]

33. K&R Javaman. You're right as always.

[katandmoon]

36. K&R. We're fucked.

[NuttyFluffers]

38. we need a quick way to outsource CEOs and upper management. ;)

:bounce:

[Loge23]

39. I would suggest civil disobedience...

...but then we'll become "terrorists".
They really have the game right now.

[99 Percent Sure]

45. The Patriot Act decimated the Bill of Rights, along with about 3 or 4 other constitutional

amendments at least, especially the ones on declaring war, treason and such.

But we could make it difficult for them to lock up a million people congregated in one place in major metropolitan areas. At least they'd have a hard time locking all of us up at once.

[MrMickeysMom]

65. Then present a new way to disobey... change the game

Come on.. how about a little one minute theater in the back drop of every Washington or talking head televised event?

[Delphinus]

75. You might be on to something ...

changing the game, finding a new way to disobey.

[Loge23]

79. Good idea!

Americans are conditioned to short attention span events anyway these days - I like it!

[FraDon]

86. Bingo! • It's time for another tactical metamorphosis.

The revolution will be televised. And YouTubed, and Twittered.

As an outraged pacifist, I want to see it through a lens of non-violence. Lightning FlashMobs. WiFi Gandhi. Cesar Chavez • MLKjr PodCasting.

There may still be time.

Things will have to be pretty far along before Cheney&Scum takes down our innertubes.

… As a precaution, it wouldn't hurt to download and print out the Semaphore alphabet.
.

[MrMickeysMom]

89. That's funny... Semaphore alphabet!

We could get quite creative with a simultaneous messages to the masses.

[DeadEyeDyck]

43. K&R n/t

[sabrina 1]

47. I wonder

if 'we the people' have been too complacent. Sometimes if you can't beat them, it might be better to join them.


Of course, if you want to get technical, corporations are looked upon as a person under the eyes of the law.

And where does that leave the people? The reality is that Corporations have been granted the powers that were meant to remain in the hands of the people. THEY buy Congress who then do their bidding more often than not, to the detriment of the people.

Maybe we the people need to incorporate. We live in a corporate state and we are not a part of it. We can't change it, why not use it to our benefit? One giant Corporation made up of the American people. Maybe that would give us access to our own government.

Wonderful post, even if it is a reminder of how screwed we are.

[varelse]

50. K&R

Even though reading this made me want to kill myself. :(

[scentopine]

53. The King ShallTax His Unwealthy Subjects at His Divine Pleasure -nt

[winyanstaz]

55. yes...the government is out of control..has been for a while now...

the question is...HOW to turn this around?

[slipslidingaway]

57. knr nt

[mntleo2]

59. Now you all know what the poor has been feeling for years

...Welfare DeFormed was enacted 13 years ago amid torches and pitchforks, applauded by the middle class who blamed the poor for all our society's woes. When in fact the rich entitled were the culprits, busy telling them to "Quick look over there at the welfare mom!" Meanwhile while it seemed SO good to look down one's nose at the poor, the rich were pilfering your bank accounts, raised taxes on everyone but themselves, and took away our rights.

Activists like me at the time TRIED to tell you all that the poor are always the canary in the mine ~ if it worked for them,. then the middle class were next. But the middle class refused to see that when our country passes laws it is actually against the Constitution to target a single class of people and they ignorantly thought those laws were just aimed at the poor. I went to CHURCHES for God's sake trying to raise the conscience as to what was happening to the poor and that everyone else was next. The hatred against the poor blinded them and the hostility was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Guess JAAAYYYZUZ only loves the rich according to them, forget about all that was taught that is the opposite way from the man they professed to love so much. Even while whole families shivered in their cars where they lived, right by these church's front doors.

If there is anything this country should learn, maybe now they will get that when things do not seem to affect them, when it seems to only hurt others, then eventually laws made in this country apply to ALL and it WILL come back to hurt them too. Which is why you stand together against such things, not only because it is preventing needless suffering and cruelty and is moral and ethical, but if all a person cares about is themselves, then they better see that indeed, "whatever happens to the least of these happens to YOU ..." not only "just" to God, as this supposed prophet said 2000 years ago.

Sure enough now the middle class are next. It breaks my heart and I am sorry, but you were all warned. And on this very forum were those like me were openly and cruelly jeered at about what we desperately tried to prevent not only for the families who were being targeted, but for what was coming next for the rest of us. For over 15 years since "The contract ON America" was touted and shouted over the airwaves and everywhere we dreaded and PRAYED we'd never have to say it and I hate to say it now but ...I told you so.

Cat In Seattle

[susanwy]

66. What your generalizations

I was COMPLETELY against welfare reform and so were my middle class parents at the time.

They took away the opportunity to get welfare benefits and be a FULL TIME college student - talk about absolute stoopidity. How were people supposed to get an education to pull themselves out of poverty? If it had not been for food stamps and child care credits I would NEVER have finished college.

So, watch that broad brush please. I was out there warning others too, and I knew a lot of other middle class progressives that were too.

Susan

[Zhade]

72. I hear your pain. Some of us listened, but not enough.

We all could have done more. And we will live to regret it.

My goal is to live to ensure the rich regret it.

[Goldstein1984]

60. I may be an optimist, but I think that

Power better start listening to We the People very soon, or they aren't going to be happy.

We have the ability to tar and feather oppressors. We've done it before.

Yes, Liberalism and Activism are unpopular. As both parties drift further to the Right, they discredit those who stay on course. We, I didn't leave the party until it was clear that the party had already left me.

In only the last week I've gone from being resigned to more of what we have, but I've beginning to hear rumbling in the media, even the mainstream media. I'm hearing the word REVOLT coming from the mouths of people with a large following.

I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It looks like Power being burned in effigy. Or maybe it isn't going to be an effigy.

[MrMickeysMom]

62. Jesus, that is a good post ...

Here's my reaction ... I saved up some money to run twice in the past few years for local council races which has placed me now in the heart of local govt. After a year of dealing with the local version those in power who are on the take, I got two more people to run and win with me... and then there were three. More I'm sure will be encouraged after that. We're not going to die a slow death if WE have anything to say about it, at least, inasmuch as we can control services and stimulate business, thinking outside that damnable box.

None of us have to take this. My grandma said, "Many hands make less work." So, let us keep doing whatever will allow us to maneuver this ship around, okay?

If we're going to react to fascism by exclaiming, "we're fucked", please don't let the little pitty party last more than a few months. Because even though we have the right to react with anger, I'll give you that, our next step should be to start dancing like a butterfly then sting like a bee. That's the only way we're gonna come out of this rope a dope. We should have every fucking politician running scared the same way. They are going to be scared because one of the things that will make a difference is our being able to vote and demand action.

I refuse to be punched around by some conglomerations idea of a global economy based on slave labor, especially since I recall in the 90's thinking how so many of us who could have actually retired could have anticipated many "boomer" opportunities to compete in the work force DUE to our experience, training, and education. What a joke that has become these days, right? I'll be lucky to hang on to my reduced role in health care due in large part by a shrinking market. This is after all the training, education and expertise because corporatism in health care have shown me that nobody gives a shit about my expertise. WalMart, meet health care delivery system. Bad as it is and about to become, it'll be even worse under Republican reform.

This is how things deteriorate after 20 to 30 years of Reagan deregulation, tax and trade laws, coupled with voodoo economics creates the Wally world of the desparate low-bid worker.

We have to change it locally, drag campaign finance reform into action, and turn activists.

[Yavin4]

63. The UE Rate Is Not Determined By UE Benefits

It's based on a household survey.

[susanwy]

64. Shhhhhh

don't you know we're supposed to be distracted and talking about RACE relations today. Get with the program.

:sarcasm:

I'm so right there with you babe. Thanks for the rant and stay strong.

Susan

[voc]

67. Excellent post...

What do you think Obama meant when he said change comes from the bottom up?

He knew"We the People" would have to effect change.
He also knew what he was up against.
When the middle class feels it, change will come to America.

Fired Up Ready to GO!

Let that be our battle cry.
Or we can continue to whine on message boards until
there is no middle class
only a very large underclass.

[flyarm]

85. that is what we are getting anyway,Labor went to Obama yesterday..they were representing the middle

and they were told to stfu!..basically..they were told the middle class was getting this tax..now go away you underlings!

so spare us your hopey changey shit please!

and as far as I am concerned..the dems lost my vote yesterday..along with a shitload of us!

[tavalon]

68. Antidote?

I read that word and it kept me reading. I don't see the payoff? What is the antidote?

[Zhade]

69. Indeed. Well-said... unfortunately.

NT!

[BrainDrain]

76. Is it Time to Revolt Yet?

Kinda sounds like it is to me....

[cabluedem]

81. If things dont change, its inevitable, IMO. nt

[cabluedem]

91. Self-delete

[blindpig]

77. k&r

We are not humans, we are commodities and consumers, that's how it works in a capitalist society.

[lonestarnot]

78. Totally sucks ass doesn't it... sigh

:(