No wise man has the power...

The first thought that I had when I read the title of old Nolan's tripe this week ("UAW will man class war") was "Thank God!"  I mean, who the hell else is going to do it for the working men and women of this nation?

The rest of the piece (?) was the usual republican scaremongering and lies, but arguing with them would be like trying to rationalize with a four year old about the monster underneath her bed.  Fortunately, the four year old will outgrow it.  Republicans, not so much.

It is instructional though as a means of showing republican fear.  The White House is looking more and more like a lost cause for them, and the farther away it gets, the better Dem chances for holding the Senate and retaking the House.  If the 99% Spring is half as successful as the Occupy Movement in getting the tradtional media to discuss income inequality and the ever declining middle class it could a really long November for the party of the old, the white, and the shrews.

So best to get out there early to call the Occupiers dirty hippies (yawn), complain about how the poor bond holders fared vis a vis the UAW in the auto bailout (never mind that this is capitalism--the bond holders paid their money and they took their chances--and lost), scream about class warfare (which republicans only despise when we fight back), and whine about that evil government (despite the fact that Michigan would be a fucking wasteland right now without the federal bailout of the auto industry).

Better that than to hang your hat on the Bush the lesser policies that has resulted in extreme poverty doubling, in 93% of the income gains going to the top 1% (mother fucking 93% for Christ's sake), or to face the fact that 64% of Americans believe unions should have the right to collectively bargain.  Better to scream about imaginary boogiemen than give credit where credit is due for the auto industry bailout.

Republican pols and pundits can afford to blame President Obama for all the world's ills--the backbone of this country, the men and women who actually do the work, can't afford to.  We have to eat.

And we eat much better with unions like the UAW leading the way.

Peace,
emaycee

Sleeping with the enemy

As you read this post, the word I most want to be in your mind is "naivete."

I'll give Tom Walsh credit--he didn't laugh in Bob King's (President of the UAW) face after his speech at the Mackinac Policy Conference.  He noted that King's speech was well-received by the conservative leaning crowd--take that with a grain of salt, as no one in that crowd isn't hoping that King doesn't end up flipping burgers at McDonald's.  Note to King:  if you're serious about improving the lives of the people you represent, skip functions such as these.  It was a complete and total waste of time and did nothing now and never will to help the members of your union.  The people you spoke to just don't give a fuck about you or the working class.  They--as well as Gov. Snyder--are not your friends.  They are the enemy.

To a certain extent, the Free Press has cautioned about the direction in which Gov. Snyder is leading the state (editorials here and here), especially with regard to the poor.  I'm not sure if the sentiments are heartfelt or a precursor to pivoting away from its endorsement of Snyder if his plan doesn't work, but as is usually the case with editorials, they had the same effect as a can of air freshener does on an elephant fart:  none.

This piece by Stephen Henderson is probably the piece over the past few weeks that has bothered me the most.  Henderson starts out with a good premise--paraphrased, is Snyder full of shit?  (Good, God, man, of course he is.)  And then proceeds to basically fall all over himself about how great Snyder is:  agreeing with 80% of what Snyder is doing (if that's liberal media we're all fucked), praising Snyder's positive energy (hate to break it to you but fucking wishing won't make it so), and claiming how much Snyder has changed the state's culture (Snyder has merely copied Reagan--shaking your hand with a smile on his face while sticking a knife in your back).  Sure, Henderson claims he's concerned as to whether all Snyder's bullshit will show the results we need in Michigan, but frankly, as I noted above, I think he, like the Free Press, is just covering his ass for when Snyder falls flat on his face.

Remember that word at the beginning?  This is why you should think about it:  all of the above are sadly mistaken in believing that somehow we're all going to work together to solve our problems.  The plain truth is that the powers that be do not give a rat's ass about our economic problems, and frankly, those are the only problems that matter to those of us who live paycheck to paycheck (at least for now).  There will be no Kumbaya moment until we convince those that have the gold that they won't have the gold much longer if we don't get our share.

Or to quote a very special man:  Power to the people, right on!

Peace,
emaycee

Lord have mercy

For their sake I hope he does, because you can count me the fuck out.

I really appreciate that the business pages of virtually any daily newspaper are not going to be union friendly.  My guess is most ordinary people flip through the business pages like I flip through the fashion pages--a quick glance on the way to the good stuff.  Business pages are written for businessmen, free market worshippers, and tea party members looking for some false validation of their sad little lives.  Still...this one is going just a bit far.  In what is ostensibly a nice business page mention for the UAW--membership rose 6% in 2010, the first increase in six years--the author decides to use four paragraphs to discuss the wages paid to the UAW's leadership.  Apparently, the top 25 officers were paid $3.4 million in 2010, which sounds like a lot of money...until you put some thought behind it.  It actually comes to about $136,000--yes, it's much more than I make, but it's not like these people have lotto type riches.  Further, there's 355,000 members in the UAW;  its leader, Bob King, makes $168,000.  The company I work for employs approximately 70,000 people--our CEO makes almost as much as the top 25 officers of the UAW (and much more with his stock options) combined.  The pay of our top 25 officers would completely dwarf the pay of the UAW's top leaders. 

My question is...why are their salaries even noted in the piece?  The money they are paid is completely irrelevant to the piece...unless it was discussed as part of a bonus they received for increasing membership 6%.  The CEO of the company I work for led us to a sales decrease last year--he still has a job.  And I can flat guarantee you he didn't do nearly as much to improve the lives of the people working for him as Bob King did for the people he leads.

It's another sop from the traditional media to corporations and the small minded, not particularly bright conservative readers who just can't believe their GED didn't get them a six figure job.

Peace,
emaycee

Ain't it funny how time slips away...

My Lord, it's October already...

The Free Press ran your basic puff piece on Bob King, the new President of the UAW. Overall the article was fair, and, to my mind, points out King's strong points (namely, tying all workers across the globe together, making social justice a key platform)--there's never anything wrong with a puff piece on the good guys.

No, what I wanted to point out from the piece is this comment by Paul Kersey, director of labor policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (i.e., conservative think tank) concerning King's push for the union to have a bigger share of the auto industry's success: "Companies ought to be profitable. Bob King seems to want to treat this as a rainbow to prosperity now that the storm is over...and I think it is very premature."

What the fuck? No argument from me that companies need to be profitable. But you know what? So do employees--there aren't many of us who do the shit we do for free. And when exactly would be the right time? A year? Two years? My guess is that Paul Kersey, being the corporate fellator he is, would suggest never. Certainly haven't seen a lot of CEOs in the auto industry waiting for their share--when they wait, so should the UAW. When the execs don't, neither should the UAW. Bob King is right on the money (so to speak here): the time is now.

Peace,
emaycee

Jobs, Justice, and Peace

They marched--men and women, black, white, and brown, young and old, for jobs, justice, and peace. And in their midst was...li'l ol' me, carrying my sign ("Bring the Troops Home Now!" with a b/side of "Money For Our City, Not For War!"), and sporting one big ass grin. Fifty-one years on this planet, and today was the first time I ever joined a rally for a cause I believed in. Indeed, as the saying goes, you are never too old. 'Twas very nice to be among a group of like-minded souls, and even better, souls who sought the betterment of our fellow poor and middle-class Americans. Railing against Wall Street, railing against corporations, railing against continued tax cuts for the wealthy--you have got to love unions and African-American churches. As the poet queen (Ms. Patti Smith) said, "People have the power." Nice speech from UAW President Bob King on the need to continue marching and fighting. Virg Bernero put in an appearance and continued his Main Street vs. Wall Street theme. Debbie Stabenow put in a few good words for the President (he owes her big time). Marcy Kaptur (with whom I was not familiar), an Ohio U. S. Rep., gave perhaps the best progressive speech of the bunch. And, of course, the Rev. Jackson gave his usual stirring speech (plus we all got to recite "I am...somebody!"). A wonderful experience, but... Turnout was moderate at best (a few thousand)--yes, it was a beautiful day here in Detroit, yes it was in downtown Detroit, yes, it was a Saturday, but you'd hope this close to such an important election people would turn out for the cause. Also, when Sen. Stabenow attempted to give President Obama his props, the response was...underwhelming. One has to wonder if his administration has any clue--Democrats aren't Republicans: we don't reward disappointing Presidents (see also, George W. winning in 2004). The enthusiasm gap may be a real problem--never having attended a Republican rally (and never will) I have no idea what they are like, but the mood started great and eventually became subdued. Don't know if it was disappointment in Democrats or hopelesness in the face of corporate power and a corporate media who kisses republican party ass on a daily basis, but the disappointment was real. Finally, the talking points on Wall Street were dead on, but other than Bob King and Sen. Stabenow, very little was done to tie these people to their biggest supporters--the republican party. We really need to remind people that the republican party has never, and never will, stand up for the working people, unionized or not. It is a party for corporations and the wealthy, the poor and the middle class be damned. One other thing--if you're ever organizing a march with speeches afterward, keep the speech segment afterward BRIEF. There's a reason most school courses last an hour--that's about the limit for people's attention span. As the speeches dragged on today it was painfully obvious that people were turning their attention elsewhere (like on going home). Still: raise your fists, brothers and sisters--NO JOBS, NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE! Amen. Peace, emaycee

Jobs, Justice, and Peace

My first reaction to the efforts of the UAW and the Rainbow Coalition was to roll my eyes--another march, ho-hum. But the more I thought about it, the more I figured at least they're trying, and as the song says, "...from small things, Mama, big things one day come."

And then I did a little research on the combined effort and came across this--written by some hack on an AOL sponsored site. Honestly, this guy is defending Toyota, a corporation who put profits before people's lives, and questioning the motives of the UAW and Rainbow Coalition who are striving to create jobs, improve working conditions, and aspiring for a more peaceful world. This idiot (no surprise he shares a last name with the sadist/fascist from the movie Animal House) is compelling reason for making abortion retroactive.

Methinks August 28th would be a good day to join a march for jobs, justice, and peace....

Peace,
emaycee