| Unite the many, defeat the few --- fight for democracy! |
| Where the fight begins! |
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| Chicago UE workers victorious: Go to our Labor Page for thought and analysis of this historic occupation of their work place by workers who were "laid off" by their bosses but became heroes when they refused to go quietly into the night(mare) of unemployment, economic disaster, and health peril in this holiday season. Their victory is our victory! |
| The total bailout estimate is now up to $10Trillion dollars! So the bad news below about AIG is barely a crack in the door. The bailout is being carried out through the Federal Reserve Bank, which is a "private" bank that is guaranteed by the government. In other words the private bankers make the decisions about the use of our money with the blessings and guarantee of our taxes to cover the crap that they do. NO WONDER WE ARE New BAD news --- Another bailout for AIG, $30B after they reported losing $60Bplus, now the government has bought the bad investment by the rich and we are left holding the worthless stock. This sucks, call your congressperson, senators and anyone else in government to gripe like hell and then get revenge the next election. ISRAEL: Attacks children with gusto. The IDF and the government of Israel claim that they don't intentionally kill women, children and old people but that is a lie. When you target residential homes with bombs, missiles, white phosphorous and tank shells then you intend to kill the inhabitants. Furthermore, when you target ambulances, hospitals, schools and buildings flying the UN flag and so forth then you can't claim you are not trying to kill non-combatants. Of course the public relations people in Israel, the same type folk who bring you Wall Street sob stories to get bailouts, claim to have clean hands: what else can you expect? The IDF at last count had killed 1400+ of which 410+ were children and 5000+ injured while the Israeli death toll was 13 including 4 soldiers killed by IDF Friendly Fire. FYI --- Do you know that the IDF hypersonic missiles, faster than the speed of sound, hit Palestinian houses unheard by those who are killed? The same with any other faster than sound projectile. And no, I don't approve of rockets attacks from Gaza into Israel but the scale is different as are the capabilities of the weaponry. As a child, youth and young adult I gave unstinting support to Israel but now I feel shame for what Israel brings down upon the world. Israel's invasion of GAZA brings death, destruction and the questions: Has Israel succumbed to the military tactics of the German state that practiced genocide toward the Jewish people during WW2? Has Israel adopted a racial standard and declared themselves a super race and that one Israeli life is worth the lives of a hundred, a thousand or tens of thousands of "Arab" lives? It seems as though the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force, has been given free reign to murder women, children, old people and police officers in the Gaza Strip indiscriminately. Israel, like the US, declares a mother, a child or someone to be a terrorist and then kills her and the child, often the entire family, with a preemptive strike and then brag about their precision warfare. This is the same bull that the US has espoused in Iraq and Afghanistan as we have committed atrocities against those peoples who did not attack the US. What, are there parallels here? Israel has the right to defend, in fact the duty to defend, its citizens but the standards of warfare in the modern world speak to the scale of response to provocations and Israel is showing no scale of response, they are just killing and killing much as the German military in WW2 surrounded the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw and reduced it to rubble under the theory that one German soldier's life was worth the lives of all the Jews in the ghetto. This is what mass murder and genocide are all about. The Israeli attacks have now killed over 1400 Palestinians and wounded more than 4100 wounded and 25,000 displaced. There is no water, food, or medical care for the wounded, the hungry and the shell shocked (1/22/09). |
| Well, we got a state budget and it lets the rich off as usual while forcing higher taxes on working people --- higher auto licenses, higher sales taxes, higher gasoline taxes and cuts back on things we need like health care, education and the like while still investing too much in prisons, police and stuff for the politicians. Arnie is not smart and we must hope tht now people will know better than to vote for someone just because he says, "Hasta la vista, baby." Have you noticed that he is doing just what he accused Gray Davis of doing? And this movie clown still pushes bond debt, what a fool. News Flash: Gov Arnie is still pushing bonds secured by the revenue of the state school lottery to finance the budget deficit that is now growing like topsy. At this website you will find a whole "lesson" on bonds funding and how it screws the common people while enriching the upper crust who have escaped taxation through the machinations of the Republican Party. Suffice it to say that the rich buy the tax exempt state bonds so that they profit off the bonds that are issued to cover the deficit their tax avoidance caused. Tah dah. Here is a quote from the LA Times, 6/1/2008, from an article on the front page of the California section, "Gov.'s plan faces rocky path". The quote is from paragraphs toward the end of the article on page B13. "To get Wall Street to lend the state the $15 billion against a modernized lottery, California would have to pay $23 billion to $30 billion in interest and other borrowing costs over the next 30 years." That is not UTMDTF making the estimate of interest expenses, but the LAT. And you know as well as UTMDFT does, that the bond payers will get their money before our schools receive funding from the lottery. No bond buyer would buy these bonds without that stipulation. Examine your voter information pamphlet and you will see the costs for most of the bond elections and what we say is true. Paying for bonds doubles the cost of government. That's privatization for you! |
| 6-12-2009 UTMDTF commentary by Hollis Stewart Spare me the alligator tears of the rich as we get screwed and they get wealthier. Comments on the gains in the Stock and commodities markets --- note the rising gasoline prices? The past few weeks the stock market has gradually risen from its nadir in March and April and the traders are jumping for joy and pundits are saying that perhaps the worst is past and the economy is about to turn around. Cow pies! Oh, things may get some better for the rich, but the rest of us are going to see continued hard times. Why? Well, the reason that the market has risen a bit is because there have been heavy layoffs of working people (the unemployment rate is up to 9.4% or more) and to the managerial/ownership class this is viewed as a big plus. If there are less people drawing wages then the remaining employees can be driven to work harder and harder --- increasing "productivity" and this means more profit for the owners and more grief for the working people as their wages and benefits shrink and their families go without. Too, when people are fired and thrown out on the street then the corporations and the rich, who have escaped being fairly taxed, put the burden of supporting the"laid-offed" workers and their families on the government, federal and state through unemployment, Medicaid, and other social programs. Now this is a bit hard but think it through: the managerial/ownership class shifts the cost of maintaining working families on to the social welfare programs and the corporate classes make more profits to be divided as dividends. So those who have mismanaged the corporations, banks, car companies and insurance companies and have been bailed out by the Federal government are profiting through our distress and misery. Here in California our s__tforbrains governor wants to lay off many thousands of teachers, health care workers, other general state workers and close state parks and beaches, and basically destroy the economy in his servile Kowtowing to the rich in the Gone Off(the way) Party (aka the GOP) rather than raising taxes on the wealthy. Oh, he has doubled the cost of auto registration and raised fees paid by the common people but not for the corporations. This from the ignorant Schwarzenegger who attacked Governor Gray Davis for raising the auto license fee and riding the resentment into the governor's mansion in the recall election of 2001/2. Oh, and he swore he would never raise the car registration tax --- duh. And, to be fair our new President, Barack Obama, whom I supported and support, has shown little courage in confronting the rich classes and corporate managerial classes as he has allowed bailouts without protecting the publics interest. Whether he, Obama, will truly fight for the national single payer health care program we need is in doubt at this time. It takes guts to tell the insurance companies to go screw themselves and I still hope he is up to the task but I have my worries. Because the 4th branch of government, the Lobbyists, wield so much capital, i.e. campaign funds and payoffs/bribes it is hard for politicians to stand up to them when the times come for action and courage. |
| See this page to get a better understanding: EconRecoverywithLowWagesNoJobs |
| 11/2/09: Things are not looking bright. The attempts by the administration to salvage the economy have succeeded in making some money for the rich but unemployment is still rising and we still don't have a national health care reform, housing is still too expensive, educational and state and local service workers are productive capacity in foreign countries such as India, China, etc. Why, because they know that real value only exists in real products that have involved human labor in production --- i.e. labor applied to materials results in goods: pipe, steel, tires, airplanes, toilets, chairs, washmachines, well you get the idea. Shuffling papers, bankers, credit card companies, financiers, lawyers, and such do not create value: they live off the value created by those who do the work. 9-10-09: Last night our President spoke to Congress on Health Care and supported the public option while challenging the people of the nation to force the House and Senate to get health care passed. Of course a Gone Off Party Congressperson disrupted the speech calling our President a liar. The GOP idiot, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, later claimed he just over reacted. He was aided and abetted by a jerk Texan, Louie Gohmert, another GOP ignoranti who held a sign that said "What bill?, What plan?" He must have referenced the party of fools, the GOP, that has proposed nothing to help the American people during this health and economic crisis --- but only stand to obstruct and condemn suffering people to more suffering. 8-25-09: Now the nut cases on the right are carrying guns in an attempt to intimidate Health Care Reform supporters and even our President. Stirred up by the right wing radio talk show hosts these dis-illuminati are deluded enough to belief they are helping their nation with this threatening behavior. Recent actions by deluded T-baggers bring to mind the Brown Shirts of Mussolini and the Storm Troopers of Adolph Hitler when the "baggers" have attended public meetings at which congresspersons have attempted to explain Health Care Reform proposals being developed. These ignoranti yell and scream to drown out the Representatives hoping to disrupt democratic process and destroy our system of government. |
11/19/09 --- UC Board of regents raises tuition at the UC system by 32%, claiming they had no choice: Bullshit. They could begin to help students organize to shut down
government in California until taxes on the wealthy and the corporations are raised to 50 or 60% of their income and profits. The "Business Community" profits off the education
system that furnishes it with high quality, educated workers. Now it is time that the business community be taxed to support the education system, K through University and the
rest of California government.
government in California until taxes on the wealthy and the corporations are raised to 50 or 60% of their income and profits. The "Business Community" profits off the education
system that furnishes it with high quality, educated workers. Now it is time that the business community be taxed to support the education system, K through University and the
rest of California government.
Another tidbit from the LA TIMES, 1/31/10, page A1, "From memo to missile: the CIA hit list," that goes into the fact a US citizen may be put on the hit list
to be killed by a drone attack because he has been friendly to terror suspects of the US --- helping the enemy. Makes one wonder. It has been said that
our attacks on Afghanis, Pakistanis and others by the CIA drones have been used as recruiting talking points by our terrorist enemies. Does that mean
that the CIA and our military leaders who make these decisions can be targeted by our own military for helping the enemy?
1/31/10 --- A couple of days ago, Thursday, President Obama met with the Gone Offers in a "town hall" style meeting to try to get them to
work together with him. The result, according to the press, was a failure. The GOP is still intent on defeating and destroying the Obama
administration so that they can win back seats this fall and the office of the President in 2012. In the tit for tat the Prez gave better than he
took and let the Gone Offs know that they will be held responsible. He said that their irresponsible attacks had backed themselves into a
corner where now they lack the ability to compromise and reach agreements on the issues affecting the 'merican people: health care,
jobs, etc. Let us hope that he is right and now the Senate and Congress move ahead to pass legislation in spite of the opposition of the
GOP, the Tea-brain baggers, and other nihilists and right wing anarchists.
1/25/10 --- The powers that be are still trying to convince the public that things are all right or soon will be. A small increase in "consumer
confidence" brought the stock market up a bit today after it fell a lot last week, but that can't last because we still have terrible unemployment.
Yesterday the White House leaked that they are going to put a freeze on domestic spending for many programs, programs that benefit you and me,
to try to reign in budget deficits. Since the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are sucking out vast national fortunes why are they being exempted from
cuts? And why haven't we gotten a medicare-for-all proposal on the legislative table?
1/12/10 --- In the past week the lying Governor Schwartzenegger has released a budget claiming to support education while he actually cuts education. On the other
hand Sarah Palin is so far right, like a fascist, that she makes our gov look like a liberal.
Our liberal democratic government is being controlled by the rich, their flunky managers, and the lobbyist system that functions as a fourth, and
unconstitutional, branch of government. We must rise up and seize our government back before we end up with a system of democratic fascism that
was visualized by Bertram Gross in his famous book, "FRIENDLY FASCISM The new face of Power in America", South End Press, 1980. Pick it up and
read it as well as William L. Shirer's (sp) "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." If you read into the "Rise and Fall" you will find that much of the
program of the GOP sounds like the programs of the German National Socialist Party, aka the NAZIS. Anti-abortion, anti-working people, militarist,
aggressive on the international front and mindlessly "patriotic" to the place where the German people got used to carry out torture and genocide. Sound
familiar?
to be killed by a drone attack because he has been friendly to terror suspects of the US --- helping the enemy. Makes one wonder. It has been said that
our attacks on Afghanis, Pakistanis and others by the CIA drones have been used as recruiting talking points by our terrorist enemies. Does that mean
that the CIA and our military leaders who make these decisions can be targeted by our own military for helping the enemy?
1/31/10 --- A couple of days ago, Thursday, President Obama met with the Gone Offers in a "town hall" style meeting to try to get them to
work together with him. The result, according to the press, was a failure. The GOP is still intent on defeating and destroying the Obama
administration so that they can win back seats this fall and the office of the President in 2012. In the tit for tat the Prez gave better than he
took and let the Gone Offs know that they will be held responsible. He said that their irresponsible attacks had backed themselves into a
corner where now they lack the ability to compromise and reach agreements on the issues affecting the 'merican people: health care,
jobs, etc. Let us hope that he is right and now the Senate and Congress move ahead to pass legislation in spite of the opposition of the
GOP, the Tea-brain baggers, and other nihilists and right wing anarchists.
1/25/10 --- The powers that be are still trying to convince the public that things are all right or soon will be. A small increase in "consumer
confidence" brought the stock market up a bit today after it fell a lot last week, but that can't last because we still have terrible unemployment.
Yesterday the White House leaked that they are going to put a freeze on domestic spending for many programs, programs that benefit you and me,
to try to reign in budget deficits. Since the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are sucking out vast national fortunes why are they being exempted from
cuts? And why haven't we gotten a medicare-for-all proposal on the legislative table?
1/12/10 --- In the past week the lying Governor Schwartzenegger has released a budget claiming to support education while he actually cuts education. On the other
hand Sarah Palin is so far right, like a fascist, that she makes our gov look like a liberal.
Our liberal democratic government is being controlled by the rich, their flunky managers, and the lobbyist system that functions as a fourth, and
unconstitutional, branch of government. We must rise up and seize our government back before we end up with a system of democratic fascism that
was visualized by Bertram Gross in his famous book, "FRIENDLY FASCISM The new face of Power in America", South End Press, 1980. Pick it up and
read it as well as William L. Shirer's (sp) "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." If you read into the "Rise and Fall" you will find that much of the
program of the GOP sounds like the programs of the German National Socialist Party, aka the NAZIS. Anti-abortion, anti-working people, militarist,
aggressive on the international front and mindlessly "patriotic" to the place where the German people got used to carry out torture and genocide. Sound
familiar?
3/3/10 --- The economy, like we opinionated, is moving sideways despite all the "good news" press stories. Why? Because the stimulus
package/s have aimed to help the big capitalists instead of the people of the nation. All the unemployment and low wage jobs are killing
the opportunity for families to support themselves and enjoy an acceptable standard of living. Unfortunately the White House chief of
staff drip down Rahm Emmanuel, is pushing and pushing the stuff that Reagan did that didn't work then and doesn't work now.
Conservative democrats, like conservative Gone Off Party people, just don't understand or don't want to understand that the rich take care
of themselves --- they don't give a squat about working people and the poor. They expect to have good health care, but they don't think
others deserve.
2/28/10 --- In the last few days the government has announced that both new and used, previously occupied, housing sales dropped in the last two
months. Guess the greedy speculators who were bottom trolling to take possession of out of work American's homes have gotten their fill for now.
2/9/10 --- Our President continues to meet with the Gone Off Party in an effort to seek bi-partisan action for the good of the nation but the Republicans
are acting as stupid, as selfish, and as arrogant as ever. Our Pres just needs to forget them, rally the people of the country to fight for Health care and
then get about it. Afterward he can use executive order to take names on those who have tried to hijack the country.
1/31/10 --- A very interesting article in th LA Times this morning, page A32, (California Section, left column, 2/3 down), "Public ignorance bites California
in the wallet." The article reports on a poll of California residents as to their feelings about California government, budget and spending, etc. The
glaring truth the poll reveals is that Californians are ignorant, i.e. uneducated, clueless etc when it comes to understanding the state budget, the
sources of state money: taxes and their proportions and so forth. Basically people don't know how the state raises money, how they spend it, and what
the implications are for our future. We are ignorant because we have been too willing to let politicians do the work while we concentrate on having fun
and frittering away our lives in front of the TV, remaining children instead of growing up to adulthood and acting as informed, responsible citizens.
Furthermore the public put blame on politicians instead of asking, "Why am I ignorant about all this? Why haven't I been taught about this?" Friends, it
is our fault, we have listened to the snake oil people of the Howard Jarvis types and haven't really learned for ourselves. You and I (well not me, I was
against Prop 13) didn't understand Prop 13 and didn't realize that the tax breaks that were to benefit "home owners" and especially older home owners
were also given to business property. That meant that from 1978 on business has escaped from paying their fair share of the revenue to the state.
Business property doesn't turn over like housing and therefore it is seldom re-assessed and taxes become static. A lot of business property is owned by
corporations and then leased to users, so the property assessed value is static since ownership doesn't change.
Furthermore, to get "business development" local governments give tax breaks to corporations and business so that they avoid their tax liability, even
though they are making money off of us, for years and years. Then when the budget is short the state issues bonds that double the cost of government
and the rich who buy the bonds get another tax break as well as the profit made by loaning money to the state. See the web pages on Bonds or Taxes on
this website for some easy to understand explanations.
package/s have aimed to help the big capitalists instead of the people of the nation. All the unemployment and low wage jobs are killing
the opportunity for families to support themselves and enjoy an acceptable standard of living. Unfortunately the White House chief of
staff drip down Rahm Emmanuel, is pushing and pushing the stuff that Reagan did that didn't work then and doesn't work now.
Conservative democrats, like conservative Gone Off Party people, just don't understand or don't want to understand that the rich take care
of themselves --- they don't give a squat about working people and the poor. They expect to have good health care, but they don't think
others deserve.
2/28/10 --- In the last few days the government has announced that both new and used, previously occupied, housing sales dropped in the last two
months. Guess the greedy speculators who were bottom trolling to take possession of out of work American's homes have gotten their fill for now.
2/9/10 --- Our President continues to meet with the Gone Off Party in an effort to seek bi-partisan action for the good of the nation but the Republicans
are acting as stupid, as selfish, and as arrogant as ever. Our Pres just needs to forget them, rally the people of the country to fight for Health care and
then get about it. Afterward he can use executive order to take names on those who have tried to hijack the country.
1/31/10 --- A very interesting article in th LA Times this morning, page A32, (California Section, left column, 2/3 down), "Public ignorance bites California
in the wallet." The article reports on a poll of California residents as to their feelings about California government, budget and spending, etc. The
glaring truth the poll reveals is that Californians are ignorant, i.e. uneducated, clueless etc when it comes to understanding the state budget, the
sources of state money: taxes and their proportions and so forth. Basically people don't know how the state raises money, how they spend it, and what
the implications are for our future. We are ignorant because we have been too willing to let politicians do the work while we concentrate on having fun
and frittering away our lives in front of the TV, remaining children instead of growing up to adulthood and acting as informed, responsible citizens.
Furthermore the public put blame on politicians instead of asking, "Why am I ignorant about all this? Why haven't I been taught about this?" Friends, it
is our fault, we have listened to the snake oil people of the Howard Jarvis types and haven't really learned for ourselves. You and I (well not me, I was
against Prop 13) didn't understand Prop 13 and didn't realize that the tax breaks that were to benefit "home owners" and especially older home owners
were also given to business property. That meant that from 1978 on business has escaped from paying their fair share of the revenue to the state.
Business property doesn't turn over like housing and therefore it is seldom re-assessed and taxes become static. A lot of business property is owned by
corporations and then leased to users, so the property assessed value is static since ownership doesn't change.
Furthermore, to get "business development" local governments give tax breaks to corporations and business so that they avoid their tax liability, even
though they are making money off of us, for years and years. Then when the budget is short the state issues bonds that double the cost of government
and the rich who buy the bonds get another tax break as well as the profit made by loaning money to the state. See the web pages on Bonds or Taxes on
this website for some easy to understand explanations.
| New posting: 11-22-08 on the bailout of the upper crust: bankers and the financiers cuddled and we are shafted. Now insurance companies are at the trough: they took our money, lost it, and now they want to be bailed too. Hate to say I told you so, I did, 10-8-08. Check out the bailout page today. Surprise --- no help for us on foreclosures! |