A deal with the devil is no deal at all

August 5th was the thirty-second anniversary of Ronald Reagan's firing of the air traffic controllers for striking.  As such, strikes virtually never occur in America today, and working people have lost the only leverage they ever really had.  Since that time union memebership in America has plummeted, the gap between rich and poor has reached historic proportions, and the working men and women of America have been fighting a losing battle to keep their heads above water financially. 

Unbeknownst to many (as pointed out in this excellent piece by Steven D for The Daily Kos), was that Mr. Reagan had promised PATCO (the air traffic controllers union) that he would work with them to satisfy their demands (President Carter, in what may have been the worst of many bad decision, would not negotiate with PATCO)--a promise which won him the backing of PATCO in the 1980 Presidential election against Carter.  On August 5, 1981, Mr. Reagan fired 11,000 air traffic controllers, which, also unbeknownst to many set the airline industry back years and cost billions--that's right, billions--more to repair the damage done to the industry than it would have cost to have met all of the demands of the union.  Mr. Reagan, of course, had no desire to work with the union--as we see still from republicans, this was another case of republicans putting their ideology above what was best not only for America, but for the American people.  That we let them anywhere near anything that has to do with monetary policy is a testament to the power of corporate lobbyists (not to mention the ability to be suckered which afflicts far too many Americans).

What Reagan's action also underscores is that all the talk of the need for bipartisanship in the halls of Congress is just so much hogwash--we should be ever vigilant.  A deal with the devil is very often no deal at all.

Sort of like all those jobs republicans have created (repeal Obamacare anyone?) since they ran on jobs, jobs, jobs in 2010.

Peace,
emaycee