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12 March 2011 By Stephen
Lendman Ralph Nader calls Washington
corporate-occupied territory - "every department
agency controlled by the overwhelming presence of
corporate lobbyists, corporate executives in high
government positions, turning the government against
its own people." Nader also said corporations
don't just control government, they are the
government. "The corporation IS the government!" They
bought and own it at the federal, state and local
levels, running it like their private fiefdom at the
expense of working Americans, systematically stripping
them of hard-won rights. They have 10,000 Political Action
Committees and 35,000 full-time lobbyists. "Just
imagine," says Nader, "even the Labor Department is
not controlled by trade unions - it's (owned and)
controlled by corporations." In 1938, Franklin Roosevelt
defined the problem, saying: "The liberty of a democracy is
not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private
power to a point where it becomes stronger than their
democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is
fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by
a group or by any controlling private power." Today it's more virulent and
pervasive than anything Roosevelt could have imagined,
using corrupted politicians to smash worker rights. It's more evidence of America's
fake democracy and the criminal class running it.
Politicians are bought like toothpaste. Mock elections
pretend to be real. Behind the scenes power players
control everything, supported by brazen media
misreporting, whether about war and peace, the rule of
law, or other vital issues, including worker rights. Overnight on March 9, fascist
Republicans erased them in five minutes, in violation
of Wisconsin's open meetings law, requiring "24 hours
prior to the commencement of (special sessions) unless
for good cause such notice is impossible or
impractical." The measure had nothing to do
with budget-balancing. It's corporate ordered union
busting. Wisconsin is a microcosm of America, ground
zero, now breached as well as Ohio. Expect other
states to follow. Public and private sector workers
nationwide are losing out - betrayed by brazen
politicians and corrupted union bosses, selling out
rank and file members for self-enrichment and
privilege. On March 9, New York Times writer
Monica Davey headlined, "Wisconsin Senate Limits
Bargaining by Public Workers," saying: The 23-day "bitter political
standoff in Wisconsin over Gov. Walker's bid to
sharply curtail (public worker) collective bargaining
(rights) ended abruptly Wednesday night as"
on-the-take Senate Republicans rammed through an
illegitimate bill, voting 18 - 1 - with no debate or
Democrat members present. On March 10, Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel (JS) writers Patrick Marley and Lee Bergquist
headlined, "Maneuver ignites furious protests,"
saying: Republicans secretly "devised a
plan to get around the impasse and hurriedly approved
the bill late in the day." Some financial issues were
removed to be voted on separately. Included were
provisions raising worker healthcare and pension
contributions. Democrat Senator Bob Jauch called it
'political thuggery,' saying 'it's akin to political
hara-kiri. I think it's political suicide.' " The measure gives Walker
dictatorial power over BadgerCare health coverage for
low-paid Wisconsinites earning too much for Medicaid.
It also makes 37 civil service jobs political
appointments. Moreover, state and local public
employees must pay half their annual pensions cost
contributions, and minimally 12.6% of healthcare
premiums. In addition, future pay raises are pegged to
annual CPI increases, a rigged index not reflecting
true inflation. Greater ones may only be approved by
statewide referendum, a cumbersome process taking
time. Further, unions must hold annual
votes to let workers decide whether or not to be
members, and state authorities no longer will collect
union dues from paychecks. On March 10, Wisconsin's
Republican controlled State Assembly easily passed the
measure 53 - 42. Walker will sign it into law - by
diktat, not democracy. On March 10, JS writers Lee
Bergquist, Jason Stein and Bill Glauber headlined,
"Demonstrators crowd Capitol in wild scene after
Senate vote," saying: "Protesters took back control of
the Capitol on Wednesday night after Senate
Republicans" stripped their collective bargaining
rights. "Surging past security, (they) reclaimed the
Capitol rotunda...." Others outside chanted, "Let us
in." Inside, they yelled, "You lied to Wisconsin" and
"Kill the Bill." In a shocking act of betrayal, the
Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC),
representing 98,000 public education employees,
instructed teachers to return to classrooms, instead
of calling for a general strike to shut down the
entire state until the bill is reversed. Growing
numbers of teachers and other workers demand one. Ahead of the Senate vote, email
exchanges between Walker and Democrats suggested a
deal, involving union certification votes triannually
instead of as approved as well as other compromises.
All along Democrats, like union bosses, planned
capitulation, but needed enough cover to fool
constituents. On March 10, Murdoch's Wall
Street Journal gave Walker op-ed space to headline,
"Why I'm Fighting in Wisconsin," claiming: He's doing it "to avoid mass
teacher layoffs and reward our best performers," when,
in fact, he and other Democrat and Republican
governors and lawmakers are destroying public
education in their states, and making public
university tuitions unaffordable for millions of
aspiring students with inadequate family and personal
resources to afford them. Nonetheless, Walker claimed the
bill's passage is "good for the Badger State's
hard-working taxpayers. It will also be good for state
and local government employees who overwhelmingly want
to do their jobs well....Our (union busting) bill is a
commitment to the future so our children won't face
even more dire consequences than we face today, and
teachers (won't have to be) laid off (so) government
(can) work for" everyone in Wisconsin. It's instructive to remember
journalist IF Stone's admonition to young journalists,
telling them: "All governments lie," or at
other times, saying, "All governments are run by liars
and nothing they say should be believed." Who better
than Walker and Obama prove it. Like other corrupted
politicians, the president is no friend of labor. Wisconsin Republicans' Wednesday night putch was preceded a week earlier by Walker demanding at least $1.5 billion in budget cuts, besides earlier ones enacted, including: -- $1.25 billion from schools and local governments, including $900 million in education funding (or $500 per student), exposing his real education agenda; -- $500 million from Medicaid at the expense of a million needy Wisconsinites dependent on it; and -- $250 million from the University of Wisconsin, besides sharp tuition hikes, wage and benefit reductions, separating the main Madison campus from others, and possibly privatizing the system, ruining it by selling it off to profiteers. Now, with collective bargaining gone, all other rights are threatened, except one - a mass action general strike, shutting down the state, staying out until Walker's coup is reversed. Protests aren't enough. Inflicting pain on politicians and corporate interests is crucial. Nothing less can work with firm non-negotiable demands for: -- restoring collective bargaining rights; -- social spending increases, not cuts, especially for healthcare, education, and aid to Wisconsin's most needy; -- recalling all Democrat and Republican politicians, eligible under state law, requiring one year in office before possible; and -- replacing corrupted union bosses who sold out their rank and file members for self-enrichment and privilege. Negotiations failed. Mobilized, committed, unified mass action is essential as quickly as possible. On Wisconsin! Then take the campaign nationwide, especially to ground zero in Washington, the heart of corrupted power.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/. |
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