As a left leaning libertarian minded independent, many of my libertarian friends, will not agree with me on this, but I DO NOT believe that corporations are people and I DO believe that people have a right to organize. I say these things proudly! Below you will find former Rep. Dennis Kucinich's remarks at the recent Rally for Democracy.
#LiveFree
-ADY
"A Regular Guy On The Issues"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 12, 2013
Liberty Tree Foundation
Dennis Kucinich Speaks at Barrymore
Dennis Kucinich and Ben Manski speak to Wisconsinites on February 12th, 2013 as part of Liberty Tree's "Shut the Chamber!" campaign kickoff (complete audio below, courtesy of WORT 89.9FM, followed by printed excerpts).
To hear and download Rep. Kucinich's entire speech (he begins speaking at the nine minute mark), click HERE
Ben Manski:
“
We’ve moved from the question of whether or not this amendment to the Constitution is possible, to whether or not it’s a good idea. We’ve moved into the realm of the possible. We are those who are there as the first to the fight, who make possible the change that other people later come to believe was inevitable. That is our role here tonight.
Dennis Kucinich:
“
We understand our common ground, what all of us stand for, and what our common purpose is. We look forward to the day when all of us will have our rights protected. Our economic rights are linked to moral principles. The kind of moral principles that are bedrock principles upon which this country was founded, the kind of moral principles that animated the creation of our country, today we are seeing those principles destroyed, we are seeing the wealth redistributed upwards, we are seeing the destruction of the public realm, and we are seeing the destruction of democracy itself.
And the fight is here in Wisconsin, because what happens in Wisconsin does and will affect the nation. What happens in Wisconsin will make a difference, and what you do in Wisconsin will make a difference. But let's go back, because this struggle which in some ways intensified over 20 years ago goes back to the trade agreements of NAFTA, GATT, World Trade Organization, they were all about knocking down the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining, the right to strike, the right to decent wages and benefits, they were about knocking down the economic conditions of workers, keeping wages down and the dehumanization of work. We understand that the forward momentum of these agreements were about breaking unions, breaking the public sector, redistributing the wealth upwards and a false austerity. Less democracy.
Showing posts with label Unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unions. Show all posts
Monday, April 15, 2013
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Show Solidarity With Walmart Employees!
Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices
#Solidarity
-ADY "A Regular Guy On The Issues"
#Solidarity
-ADY "A Regular Guy On The Issues"
Sunday, February 27, 2011
We Are Wisconsin, Standing Together
SOME REAL GOOD FOOD FOR THOUGHT FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISSUE!
IS THIS REALLY ABOUT BUDGET CUTS OR NOT?
-ADY"A Regular Guy On The Issues"
Wayne Root says It’s Time for a REAGAN Moment: Wisconsin Teachers-- “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Some real good food for thought from Wayne Allyn Root.
-ADY "A Regular Guy On The Issues"
By Wayne Allyn Root, Former Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee and Best-Selling Author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian”
Ronald Reagan stood up to the Air Traffic Controllers and in response to the threat of a strike simply fired them all. Can you imagine? Air Traffic Controllers- unique individuals with rare and valuable skills, thought irreplaceable, fired en masse. And we never noticed. Supervisors filled their shoes for months, while new ones were trained. Not a single accident. What happened to those Air Traffic Controllers who lost today’s equivalent of $100,000 per year jobs? Few ever found a job with that kind of pay again.
It’s time for a Reagan moment in Wisconsin. The average Milwaukee teacher compensation at retirement age is about $100,000 per year. Yes, I said $100,000. That’s not being reported on the nightly news, now is it? And, what good is all that bloated compensation doing? Milwaukee has a depressing 68% graduation rate. Two-thirds of Wisconsin 8th graders read below grade level.
That $100K annual teacher’s compensation is the highest in the Midwest. Yet, during a ten-year period, while Wisconsin teacher salaries rose dramatically, students saw no improvement. None. Proving once again, taxpayers, students and parents get nothing in return for higher teacher pay. Who spends the most on teacher pay? California and Washington D.C. -- all for dismal results.
Government employee unions, teacher unions in particular, have to be the only business (or should I say “racket") that asks for raises for horrible performance. The worse they do, the more they ask for. It’s always “the money.” The teacher unions never mention that private and Catholic school teachers make far less, with far superior results.
What drove GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy was not the bloated salaries for blue collar union workers. It was the gold-plated pensions and free lifetime healthcare that killed the automakers. Wisconsin (and every other state in the USA) faces the same problem with their public employee unions.
Today, a teacher reported retiring at age 55, after working part-time for 5 short years. She gets “only” about $250 per month for life from the taxpayers of Wisconsin. Receiving $250 per month doesn’t sound like much, until you do the math. If this teacher lives to the average age of 78, she’ll be paid over $65,000 in pension. With cost of living increases it probably goes to $75K. Perhaps that doesn’t sound like much. But, when you realize her entire 5-year working salary was $35,000, taxpayers will pay her twice that much in retirement. But what if she lives to 100? Perhaps triple or quadruple her working pay.
Now, think about all the full-time teachers in Wisconsin making $100,000 (or more) who have not paid a penny toward their retirement, but will get handed multi-MILLION dollar pensions for 25 to 40 years of not working.
But, it gets worse. Wisconsin taxpayers also pay all their post-retirement health care costs, and pay for new teachers to replace them. Ever wonder why America is broke, busted and insolvent? That is why.
Here’s the irony. While these government employees get gold-plated pensions and free lifetime healthcare, the taxpayers who are paying their bills struggle to survive.
Why should taxpayers work their fingers to the bone until the day they die to support teacher and other public employee bloated wages and pensions? It’s time for anger and revolt alright. It is taxpayers who need to go on strike!
It’s time for Governor Walker and other Governors across America to invoke Ronald Reagan. The message is simple: “Accept these modest cuts and end abusive collective bargaining by public employees or “YOU’RE FIRED.” And be sure to charge the teachers at the protests who hold fake doctor notes with fraud.
Good luck finding any job in the private sector paying $100,000 (or even $50,000), to work 8 to 3 with weekends, holidays, sick days and two months off in the summer, then retire young with a bloated pension and healthcare for life.
It’s time to stop being polite and politically correct. Rome is burning. The national debt and unfunded liabilities now totals $100 trillion. The clock on America’s survival is ticking. It’s time to invoke Reagan.
Guess what? If Air Traffic Controllers can be replaced, so can teachers, at far lower salaries and drastically reduced pensions. Look at the test scores. It can’t get worse. I bet we can get the same results for 30% less. Heck, bringing in fresh blood with new, creative ideas might improve the results. How can we find out if we don’t give it a try?
Oh, did I mention my daughter, Dakota, was home-schooled and is now a freshman at Harvard? Where’s my pension?
Where’s The Donald when we need him? Wisconsin teachers union — “YOU’RE FIRED!”
That's a good start. Next week, let’s have this same conversation with the all the rest of our government employees.
Wayne Allyn Root is a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee. He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee. He is the best-selling author of "The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts." His web site:www.ROOTforAmerica.com
-ADY "A Regular Guy On The Issues"
By Wayne Allyn Root, Former Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee and Best-Selling Author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian”
Ronald Reagan stood up to the Air Traffic Controllers and in response to the threat of a strike simply fired them all. Can you imagine? Air Traffic Controllers- unique individuals with rare and valuable skills, thought irreplaceable, fired en masse. And we never noticed. Supervisors filled their shoes for months, while new ones were trained. Not a single accident. What happened to those Air Traffic Controllers who lost today’s equivalent of $100,000 per year jobs? Few ever found a job with that kind of pay again.
It’s time for a Reagan moment in Wisconsin. The average Milwaukee teacher compensation at retirement age is about $100,000 per year. Yes, I said $100,000. That’s not being reported on the nightly news, now is it? And, what good is all that bloated compensation doing? Milwaukee has a depressing 68% graduation rate. Two-thirds of Wisconsin 8th graders read below grade level.
That $100K annual teacher’s compensation is the highest in the Midwest. Yet, during a ten-year period, while Wisconsin teacher salaries rose dramatically, students saw no improvement. None. Proving once again, taxpayers, students and parents get nothing in return for higher teacher pay. Who spends the most on teacher pay? California and Washington D.C. -- all for dismal results.
Government employee unions, teacher unions in particular, have to be the only business (or should I say “racket") that asks for raises for horrible performance. The worse they do, the more they ask for. It’s always “the money.” The teacher unions never mention that private and Catholic school teachers make far less, with far superior results.
What drove GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy was not the bloated salaries for blue collar union workers. It was the gold-plated pensions and free lifetime healthcare that killed the automakers. Wisconsin (and every other state in the USA) faces the same problem with their public employee unions.
Today, a teacher reported retiring at age 55, after working part-time for 5 short years. She gets “only” about $250 per month for life from the taxpayers of Wisconsin. Receiving $250 per month doesn’t sound like much, until you do the math. If this teacher lives to the average age of 78, she’ll be paid over $65,000 in pension. With cost of living increases it probably goes to $75K. Perhaps that doesn’t sound like much. But, when you realize her entire 5-year working salary was $35,000, taxpayers will pay her twice that much in retirement. But what if she lives to 100? Perhaps triple or quadruple her working pay.
Now, think about all the full-time teachers in Wisconsin making $100,000 (or more) who have not paid a penny toward their retirement, but will get handed multi-MILLION dollar pensions for 25 to 40 years of not working.
But, it gets worse. Wisconsin taxpayers also pay all their post-retirement health care costs, and pay for new teachers to replace them. Ever wonder why America is broke, busted and insolvent? That is why.
Here’s the irony. While these government employees get gold-plated pensions and free lifetime healthcare, the taxpayers who are paying their bills struggle to survive.
Why should taxpayers work their fingers to the bone until the day they die to support teacher and other public employee bloated wages and pensions? It’s time for anger and revolt alright. It is taxpayers who need to go on strike!
It’s time for Governor Walker and other Governors across America to invoke Ronald Reagan. The message is simple: “Accept these modest cuts and end abusive collective bargaining by public employees or “YOU’RE FIRED.” And be sure to charge the teachers at the protests who hold fake doctor notes with fraud.
Good luck finding any job in the private sector paying $100,000 (or even $50,000), to work 8 to 3 with weekends, holidays, sick days and two months off in the summer, then retire young with a bloated pension and healthcare for life.
It’s time to stop being polite and politically correct. Rome is burning. The national debt and unfunded liabilities now totals $100 trillion. The clock on America’s survival is ticking. It’s time to invoke Reagan.
Guess what? If Air Traffic Controllers can be replaced, so can teachers, at far lower salaries and drastically reduced pensions. Look at the test scores. It can’t get worse. I bet we can get the same results for 30% less. Heck, bringing in fresh blood with new, creative ideas might improve the results. How can we find out if we don’t give it a try?
Oh, did I mention my daughter, Dakota, was home-schooled and is now a freshman at Harvard? Where’s my pension?
Where’s The Donald when we need him? Wisconsin teachers union — “YOU’RE FIRED!”
That's a good start. Next week, let’s have this same conversation with the all the rest of our government employees.
Wayne Allyn Root is a former Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee. He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee. He is the best-selling author of "The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts." His web site:www.ROOTforAmerica.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)