Steve Koski sends this from Lansing, Michigan, where state police are planning to close roads around the Capitol in preparation for protest tomorrow over anti-union legislation. More on the show tonight. (You, too, can send stuff; we love that kind of thing.)
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
Video: Congress no help in Obama's push to address climate, energy issues
Video: Actor James Gandolfini dead at 51
Video: House GOP in disarray on immigration
Video: FBI wields powerful spotlight with 'most wanted' list
Video: Brazil's 'day off' from protests marked by protests
Video: More questions than answers from FBI self-policing
Video: Lew adjusts signature from confectionery to fiduciary
Video: What’s up tonight
Leave a Comment:
Unions were once needed but they have run their course.Corrupted organizations in league with people that real working men have nothing in common with and disdain the very men they claim to represent.
If Michigan wants a revival of industry and wants to leave the "Rust Belt", then they have to become a right to work state.High taxes plus unions always equals decay.
What is this BS ? Has the gop/tp Instilled Martial-Law ? These are public streets where the citizens have the right to park, after-all the citizens paid-for and built these streets ! Also the State capital is Law-fully Opened to the public or at least it is supposed to be , didn't a Judge just Rule on these very rights of and for the citizens ! This is the 3rd time that the gov.snyder has Blocked public access to the State Capital of Michigan and This is also the 3rd time IN History that the citizens have been Denied their rights to enter and voice their opinions in Michigan at the state capital ! These gop/tp are proving time and time again just how Anti-American they Are ! I would say that this is Abuse of Power and Anti-American !
Yes, S.N.A.F.U.A.U it is BS. It's also F.E.A.R. that causes Snyder to barricade his a— — inside OUR house. Like your post!
Amazing how so many idiots defend so called right to work laws that are proven to cause lower wages ans fewer protctions for labor while giving business bigger profits and fewer taxes and regulations.
What kind of people defend it? The same dolts who make low wages yet scream about estate taxes they will never owe because they will never have enough net assets to surpass the the tax free limits. The same dolts who scream about entitlements while they draw them. The same fools who want to give their SSI to wall street. Yup, those people.
I assume that the police who are "barricading" the streets are also union workers?
Never bite the hand that feeds you crumbs, right, billhillie45?
Just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean it has no value to the working class. Even at it's lowest point, to outlaw unions which are not immoral or a civil danger is in itself curious.
This move strictly benefits one subset of society, business owners, at the denigration of a much larger sub-set, American workers.
RECALL!
billhillie45 Pull head out of you nethers,,,,,,,,,,, this has NEVER WORKED
Needmore...who outlawed unions?
just asking....
Unions were once needed, now, not so much.Corrupt organizations in league with people that disdain real working men is what they have become.Michigan must retreat from the "Rust Belt" by purging these goofy laws out of their state.
Sounds to me like billhillie is hooked on Koch...
He's a Marlboro commercial...
Billy Boy, And I bet you blame the Union over at Hostess for the Pension being taken from the Workers paycheck's and diverted to "other uses" dont you? Union's fault, Dont forget the pay cut, While we also take hefty Bonuses. Corrupt? Real piece of work Billy boy
Okay.... Billy.... That's twice you've said "real men...." Do I sense a problem with real women whose ability to work for a living wage because they have been represented by unions has grown over history, or are you just using the masculine to represent all people? And who are the unreal men?? Repubs??
billhillie45, its been working great in California, oh wait, the state is broke. Worked great for Hostess, oh wait they went backrupt. Well maybe they can get it right in @!$%#agan, NOT. I guess BO will bail them out like they called for in Detroit.
Sarge...I do blame the Bakers union for being so arrogant in their negotiations that they are the cause of 18,500 people being unemployed because they were not willing to accept the 8% pay cut and be willing to pay for a portion (17%) of their healthcare costs.
The executive management team had agreed for their salaries to be taken back to their old levels AND in the case of at least the top 3 executives, had agreed to take ZERO pay until what time the company emerged from bankruptcy. The total amount of the executive team increased salaries and bonus's amounted to about $5,000,000 a year. The total amount of reductions that the company was looking for was an estimated $74,000,000 annually.
Which one do you think would have a bigger impact on the profitability of the company?
just saying...
I'll be there tomorrow, and I'm pissed! So are 96,000 teachers. By the way, we're not going to be alone, our other union brothers and sisters will be there to. Hey billhillie, why not post a photo so we can recognize you and say, Hi!
Godspeed!
That is utterly ridiculous. They're gonna need more than that, maybe some tanks would help. What Country am I living in again? What century is this?
Ahem. Those "cops" also belong to a UNION. What ever happened to worker solidarity?
As beloved Ben said, we shall all hang together, or surely, we will all hang separately.
Guess it's never bite the hand that feeds you crumbs, Day. Oh gawd, they might take the crumbs away! sheesh...
Why don't you post a pic underfire? I ain't too pretty to look upon myself.96000 teachers you say? You do mean activist not people interested in teaching the three "R's".It's all about them and their political beliefs plus their benefits packages.I used to be a union member,dang near starved.Had to pay dues even when we were sitting at home unemployed,now that's compassion.
hillbillie continues showing just how ignorant of facts he is. Just keeps posting right wing BS. OH well, I guess we need some humor.
He blames the schools for his lack of education when clearly he shows how he never learned to do anything more then parrot the teacher, his personal failure and not the schools fault, he should have listened to teacher when he/she told him about libraries, bet he was to busy dropping pencils on the classroom floor.
willy , why haven't you ever passed the 2nd grade ?
Products made in right to work for less states, should have the State Name follow by a RTW label, so I can buy a real American Product instead. Boycott RTW States!
I'm boycotting Koch products, products from Fox advertisers & Limbaugh's advertisers, and now RTW states... just what is an American consumer supposed to buy! I want my share of the crumbs of the American dream!!
/snark/
I hear you loud and clear... Lets not forget we are all Americans. Please I agree with you that RTW SUCKS but we are still one country boycot non union companies not the state. Don't let ourselves be lowered by the Repb. or the Tea Baggers but we must fight the good fight I agree
So you don't think people have the right to work without being force to pay Union dues? I guess you can't wait for Odumbicare so you will be forced to pay into that too.
Anything, to help out our brothers and sisters is alright with me.
they can already work with out paying into union due, you just dont get the benefits of a union if thats your choice. the RTW would make workers not paying dues have all the advantages , thus in turn breaking the unions banks.
Funny, but I don't see anything threatening about that pic at all. It just stated they are planning on closing roads in anticipation of a large turn out. Makes sense to me. But, maybe I'm missing something? The protests in WI were largely peaceful - loud, maybe, but peaceful. Should we expect anything different from MI?
Only from the cops. They've been the side that has started every protest violance so far. And as stated, those are public roads and a public building.
All revolutions are peaceful. It's the status quo that is violent.
I think a silent protest might work, but that takes a lot of organization, pass it on, there's just something more intense when faced with a silent majority, carrying flags. The pictures we will see are haunting reminders, of what we do not need. It's a funeral procession for the GOP. It's a send off party, they oughta arrest those in that capitol, for obstructing justice, reverse the process, and honor and respect our President for once. Now, that would send a message, The police are tired of being put in the middle of this High School drama caused by the GOP. Grow up, Republicans.
There is a group of house and senate bills currently being pushed through our Lame Duck Legislature here in Michigan which will first cripple and then dismantle public education in our state. One bill is being touted as "The Elimination of the Personal Property Tax." What's not being explained to those Michiganders who don't actually inform themselves by reading the bill is that corporations who own manufacturing sites are the ones who benefit from this bill. We will no longer tax their property and machinery, which will significantly reduce the school aid fund. Then, when that money is gone, local school boards will have to go out and ask their communities to pay higher taxes so that the lost funds are replaced. So it's not a tax cut for ANYONE except business. The folks who live in local communities (and do you know ANYONE who doesn't live in a local community?) will end up paying higher taxes...and when they say "NO," schools will no longer be able to pay their bills and they will FAIL. But not to worry, there are a whole bunch of other bills in the package with this one that make it possible for taxpayers to fund charter schools owned by corporations. Taxpayer money will fund 'for profit' schools. Those schools will be able to discriminate ... they can set their own admissions policies and they won't have to serve students with academic, emotional, or social issues. They can, if they wish, only admit those students who "make the grade." The public schools will exist but only in order to take on the neediest students. And all of this is happening in the United States of America. Right now. The best part of this is that we're making a huge fuss over the "Right to Work" legislature which our governor has told us is not "on his agenda"....until last Thursday when it suddenly shot to the tip top of his agenda. He announced that he will sign the Right to Work bill which has passed the lame duck Republican led house and senate here in Michigan. Governor Rick Snyder, the man who was not interested in divisive issues like Right to Work, is suddenly very interested in it. And he's going to sign it. So there's a lot of hoopla here in Michigan over that issue, with good reason. While we're focused on and protesting against that, the bills that will make public education in Michigan a thing of the past, are being quickly moved through committee and on to the floor for votes. And nobody is noticing. Good play.
There is a group of house and senate bills currently being pushed through our Lame Duck Legislature here in Michigan which will first cripple and then dismantle public education in our state. One bill is being touted as "The Elimination of the Personal Property Tax." What's not being explained to those Michiganders who don't actually inform themselves by reading the bill is that corporations who own manufacturing sites are the ones who benefit from this bill. We will no longer tax their property and machinery, which will significantly reduce the school aid fund. Then, when that money is gone, local school boards will have to go out and ask their communities to pay higher taxes so that the lost funds are replaced. So it's not a tax cut for ANYONE except business. The folks who live in local communities (and do you know ANYONE who doesn't live in a local community?) will end up paying higher taxes...and when they say "NO," schools will no longer be able to pay their bills and they will FAIL. But not to worry, there are a whole bunch of other bills in the package with this one that make it possible for taxpayers to fund charter schools owned by corporations. Taxpayer money will fund 'for profit' schools. Those schools will be able to discriminate ... they can set their own admissions policies and they won't have to serve students with academic, emotional, or social issues. They can, if they wish, only admit those students who "make the grade." The public schools will exist but only in order to take on the neediest students. And all of this is happening in the United States of America. Right now. The best part of this is that we're making a huge fuss over the "Right to Work" legislature which our governor has told us is not "on his agenda....until last Thursday when it suddenly shot to the tip top of his agenda. He announced that he will sign the Right to Work bill which has passed the lame duck Republican led house and senate here in Michigan. Governor Rick Snyder, the man who was not interested in divisive issues like Right to Work, is suddenly very interested in it. And he's going to sign it. So there's a lot of hoopla here in Michigan over that issue. While we're focused on and protesting against that, the bills that will make public education in Michigan a thing of the past, are being quickly moved through committee and on to the floor for votes. And nobody is noticing. Good play.
I am sincerely sorry for you folks, until the Reich no longer exists will these problems go away, everybody MUST VOTE!!!
Everyone is wondering why now? Why is King Snyder pulling this crap now? Gee, we just had an election. No doubt Snyder and his buddies hoped they could get even more power than they already have. Voters had another idea.
I believe Snyder had this is mind all along. Super wealthy rightwingers want absolute power; they are pumping money into many states to make sure the entire country is right to work. The Kochs, ALEC, Rove, the Mackinac Center, DeVos, etc, etc. all hate unions and want an endless supply of cheap labor to feed their greed machines.
If unions can be weakened in two states that are known as proud union states (Michigan and Wisconsin) you can bet this will happen across the country.
You have been warned people. If you live in a state that isn't right to work, these wealthy rightwingers will be coming for your job, wages and benefits.
First the Ambassador bridge, now this?? Governor Snyder and the Republicans can't do whatever they want without the vote of the people. C'mon!!
What's disgusting? UNION BUSTING!
Dumbicrats thought it was fine for BO to issue Exceutive Orders while Cogress was on break so turn about is fair play. Unions have caused enough damage to our economy anyway. Why did jobs get shifted overseas, because on Unions.
Sorry it was not unions that caused the economic mess that rests on the back of the GOP and Ronnie I'm so stupid I spent 2 trillion dollars on a system that never made it off paper Reagan who came up with trickle down supply side economics along with borrow and spend deficits. Funny how you righties never give credit where credit is due, rather you point fingers while saying not me.
Michigan State Rep. Brandon Dillon blasts Republican House for the way that they are ramming the Right-to-Work legislation through during lame duck.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsI2xc_FYX0
C'mon...call it like it is, Rachel...police blocking citizens from the state legislative session?? Unannounced, hurry-up votes??? This is 1930's FASCISM in Germany. Read Ken Follett's new book, WINTER OF THE WORLD for a best-selling review!! Thank God for our modern media, which can't so easily be shut down!!
C'mon, Rachel, Call it like it is...police keeping citizen/protesters out of a hurry-up vote in the legislature??? What is this, 1930's-style Germany's Fascism?? Read Ken Follett's new book, WINTER OF THE WORLD for a review of history. Thanks be to our modern journalism which can not be easily shut down.
You know, my first election that I voted was in 1980. I registered as a democrat and voted for President Carter. In 1984 I voted Republican because I thought that we should always have a balance Government between Dems and GOP. Now I know why I thought that way... What Michigan is doing right now is not democracy, it is a parliament. Not letting the people negotiate for their side is unbelievable to me. I hope that their Governor does not have a Cayman Island account.
Unions serve no purpose anymore.....zero. We all know that their time in the sun is over. It is not 1900 anymore.
Corporations serve no purpose and neither do the wealthy yet oddly you support them taking the country back to the 1800's and the robber baron days. What this country doesn't need anymore are tea bagged republicans who never learned a thing from their failures.
Horse pucky!! Unions serve a purpose, just as anti-discrimination laws and voters' rights laws and speed limits do, for the love of mud: because there are still those among us who would refuse to hire minorities or women, deny a class of people the opportunity to vote, or drive at 100 miles per hour on local streets if there were not some kind of preventative or consequential measure in place. Get real! Would that we lived in a world where such self-serving, amoral--or immoral--persons and corporations had ceased to exist long ago. We don't.... Until we do, unions serve the same purpose they did in Eugene Debs' day--to protect and serve the average American worker.
These repubs~teapartiers are still smoking the SOS , They can't, Nor will they, think all on their own as individuals , they have to await their orders from their controllers , ie- the koch bros. and the corporate wealthy ! They are so pathetic , bought and paid for by these Gomers , just like pet Ratts that live in a cage and have no training ! These Gomers are just simply Automitons~Insert cash or Promises of cash and away they go , just like little toys that are Owned by the poor-poor-little-wealthy-kids ! Just totally disgusting and Anti-American They Are !
BTW - the koch bros. were made in Germany ! and they are attempting to convert America into the New Germany , and the Really Pitiful thing of it is , that these sheepish Gomer followers of theirs are Biting Hook-Line and Sinker ~ Stupid is as Stupid Does ! Money-hungry and Greedy mongers is ALL that They All Are !
whomitmay, if you don't want to work for a corperation there are plenty of Dictaters you could go work for. See where your beloved Union would get you then.
Yeah those are put into place by corporations your problem is you are not smart enough to understand that without corporate help dictators fail. I see where your beloved republicans get you, right to a dictatorship of a third world country. All the failures of the US falls on the back of the GOP.
Husker, If these Corporation's are taking such good care of Working People in America, Then in the last 20 years why do we have working Poor? WAGES, Can you raise a family, Buy a new car, Pay rent or House payment, maybe take a Vacation based on $7.25 an Hour? How about $8-9 an Hour? But CEO pay has increased 400%. Workers are and have been left behind, And I know I'll hear the Well they took the risk , Well I blame you for this, You support this crap, How are Union's to Blame for what Walmart does, They are NON-UNION, YOU bitch about Working people being on Welfare, But then you also in your same view support What Big Buisness has or is doing. YOU are in DENIAL of this along with many other's. If Workers where doing as good as You all think Then WHY the Heck are WE even talking about this. Your talking out your A$$,
This was a cowardly act. Your idea isn't legitimate if it can't stand a discussion with other views. This thing can't possibly stand. Cowards!
I really really liked seeing our president making a speech in Michigan. Let's see more of that!
I am surprised that your reporting didn't mention the Baine connection. I looked up Clear Communication info and found the Following http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Channel_Communications. Also I just found the speech from Mr Smith Goes To Washington on YouTube and found it inspiring and reverent in so many ways. It also has a Baine connection, Senator Baine ends up being corruptive by big business. A must watch clip.
Well if I could spell Bain it would help.....lol
Someone needs to start tracking these Republicans, especially govenors, and the language they are using. In Wisconsin Scott Walker is using the same, "it wasn't a priority or I wasn't planning on doing it" language but in regards to same day voting registration as Snyder is using regarding this union law. Point out the same language and people will be more likely to see what their coordinated effort. Eric Puddy
This anti-labor virus is spreading north of the border.
This past september a similar bill was put forth in our legislature, in a hurry up manner, by The Premier of Ontario . As the first item on the agenda, the first day back from summer break Ontario Law 115 passed with a solid majority. The law is designed to force a collective agreement on Ontario's 76,000+ elementary school teachers. Ironically, the bill is named the "Putting Students First Act of 2012". The bill outlines reductions in benefits, indefinite wage freeze, reduction of allowable sick time, and criminalizes strike action. This week Teachers are taking a day of action across the province, the Minister of Education has agreed not to enforce the criminal penalties for one day of action, how magnanimous, the alternative is to throw all 76,000 protesters in jail. ANyone interested can check out the law: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?BillID=2665
Regardless of our nationality, we should all support those fighting the erosion of civil liberties.
"Right to Work" = "Race to the Bottom"
Having states compete with each other to see who can sell their worker's labor for less - is not very smart.
Neil