I find comments such as those made by Anonymous to be incredibly short-sighted and self-defeating. The middle class--and those below it--have seen their living standards badly eroded over the past 20-30 years, to the point where fewer and fewer of us have the capacity to educate our children and provide for a decent retirement for ourselves. This is in large part a result of the financialization of the U.S. economy, whicn Emanuel, who made millions on Wall Street, personifies. We shipped a large part of our manufacturing sector oversees, thanks to free-trade initiatives like NAFTA. The loss of millions of middle-class jobs--for no reason other than to enrich Wall Street--has translated into a loss of tax revenue, a trend exacerbated by the refusal of the very wealthy (like Emanuel) to pay their fair share of taxes. On top of this, US companies have jettisoned pensions--which were quite typical in the private sector not too many years ago--leading to a very grim situation for many Americans of retirement age. Now, instead of correcting these fundamental errors in economic policy and restoring economic stability to the vast majority of the U.S. population, Anonymous wants to pull out the rug from teachers (and public schools). Where is the sense in that? How will that help the middle class?
Great article, Harriet. According to what you have reported there will be no Christmas caroling in Wisconsin this year as it would break the same law. Too late for the elections, but it sure will upset a lot of people and maybe hammer it into their thick skulls just what the Bill of Rights is all about, and how their state government has taken away their constitutional rights.
Also don't forget that while this violates their 1st amendment rights, breaking up group sing-a-longs violates Freedom of Assembly also.
Yesterday, Capitol police went to one of the singer's place of employment (which they got from going through his billfold) to issue a citation. Two days ago, they went to 2 of the singer's houses at 4:20 and left citations when the singers were not home.
To help:
For those who share our concerns about recent citations for protest activity at the Wisconsin State Capitol building: While the ACLU of Wisconsin's legal department works with local attorneys to review options for litigation over enforcement of unconstitutional Capitol access rules, individuals who receive citations should contact the Madison Mass Defense coalition at (608) 352-0138 to speak with a National Lawyers Guild attorney for immediate assistance. If individuals wish to further file a complaint with the ACLU of Wisconsin, they can email [email protected] or visit the legal link on our website for more on what kinds of cases the ACLU of Wisconsin accepts.
Is this the Tommy Thompson who was on the Board of, or CEO of, VeriChip, and former head of the U.S. Department of Health who helped get FDA Approval for the Human-Implantable RFID Microchip? If so, Wisconsin has really gone over to The Dark Side! And, there's your "revolving door" in action!
tne company name trail: Destron Fearing a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions; PositiveID, a (different?) subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions. Somebody needs to do a timeline on Mr. Thompson (who, I take it, was never chipped with his own product).
Take a look at the book "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis. Public sector pensions in the new recession age of low state income are bankrupting communities all over the country.
They are looking for guarantees and working conditions that private sector employees are rapidly becoming impatient with. Pay them more money (although Chicago teacher's are extremely well-paid, and most of them deserve it), and let them set up a 401K and figure it out themselves, like the rest of us.
My own school district superintendent is responsible for 4 schools and makes $300,000 plus pension. Most of his duties he is able to push down to willing administrators.
State politicians in Illinois have also been raiding the chicken coop, and with the rate of tax avoidance, reduced property taxes and tax-free corporations - there just isn't the money that used to be there, and saying you "deserve" it or it was "promised" to you doesn't manufacture the money out of thin air. Emmanuel isn't the problem.
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