How Politics Works
Editor’s note: We’re back after an extended and somewhat unintended hiatus that involved travel, a lot of work, more travel, and much more. Unfortunately, the travel yielded little in the way of interesting photos and stories, and the work has been – well, work. During the hiatus, we began considering – and are continuing to consider – what course New Mexico Central should take in the future. We know there will be some changes in focus, but we’re not sure where it’s going. Articles will likely be spread out just a bit for the near future.
by John Weckerle
Today’s news reading included a link to an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune (and this one at NPR), which reports on a conversation in which a liberal blogger (Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy), pretending to be conservative billionaire David Koch, a major Tea Party financial supporter and contributor to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s political campaigns, had a rather frank and interesting conversation with Governor Walker regarding the current ruckus in Wisconsin over union rights. If nothing else, the article highlights what appears to be a very cozy and mutually beneficial relationship between government officials interested in ending union influence and large business interests seeking to do the same. It looks as if it’s big government and big business against working Americans, at least in this particular situation – and it’s perhaps ironic that big business helped the current big government officials gain power by whipping up anti-big government sentiment.
We find it interesting that the unions in question have agreed to concede on all financial issues, but not the elimination of collective bargaining. Republicans, Governor Walker especially, have painted this as a fiscal issue, and have replied to the unions’ offer with a resounding “No.”
No doubt there will be an outcry of “foul play!” – and we’re certainly not advocating this kind of “journalistic” behavior. However, it has become an unfortunate part of reality; the practice has become all-too-commonplace, and some people have done far worse. Let us not forget James O’Keefe’s phony ACORN videos and Andrew Breitbart’s gross dishonesty in the Shirley Sherrod fiasco. (And no, we’re not excusing the White House’s behavior in the latter case, nor that of the U.S. government in the case of ACORN; let’s get our facts straight before we start shooting in the future, shall we?) In the current case, the perpetrator of the ruse may have deceived Mr. Walker, but he didn’t publish anything false – Mr. Walker’s administration has already verified the authenticity of the recording.
As for the heart of the matter, we’re sick and tired of seeing the weight of the various state budget deficits – not to mention the Federal one – being placed on the shoulders of government workers. The pay freezes, benefit reductions, furloughs, etc. are unfair and are financially equivalent to a tax on government workers, levied to avoid having the rest of us, especially the rich, pay our fair share. If anybody shoulders the burden, we all should, and faced with a choice of seeing these people targeted or seeing my taxes go up, I’ll take the latter in a heartbeat. Then again, I didn’t want the Bush tax cut when it was enacted, nor did I want it when it was extended. Neither are unions the cause of the problem, in Wisconsin or elsewhere, as this article explains. The current situation is nothing more than a right-wing ideological war on unions dressed up as a budget issue. Police officers, firefighters, teachers, state and federal employees: we’re on your side, and we hope you win.
2 Responses “How Politics Works”
Unions have made it possible for the expansion of the Middle Class in America in the 20th century. It’s clear that the very existence of the Middle Class is under attack and being made to shoulder the majority of the budget cuts along with the poor. The past 10 years has seen a shift of tremendous wealth to the top 2% income bracket. The Koch brothers who were the chief beneficiaries of the Citizens United Supreme Court Decision, now pour billions into anti-worker, anti-middle class, and anti-democratic causes and candidates through their Americans for Progress propaganda machine. We saw the results of that in the nasty 2010 election ads full of untruths and explosive vitriole. Social Security is also under attack in this climate although it’s been paying for itself and providing money for the rest of government for many years through the use of its surplus funds. The bonds issued to the SS Trust Funds will keep SS funded for 26 more years. We need only raise the SS tax ceiling above the current $106,800 to fix its future according to Robert Reich http://www.truth-out.org/robert-reich-budget-baloney-167874 who used to sit on the SS Trust Fund Board because it was last raised in 1983 to cover 90% of income, but today, because of the transfer of wealth to the highest income brackets (largely because of the Bush tax cuts), it now only covers 84% of all income, hence the gap in funding. All New Mexicans who want to preserve democracy need to unite to back a decent and effective candidate to fill Bingaman’s seat in 2010. Also, for those on the Left who who bothered by Barack Obama’s pragmatism and therefore don’t want to support him, they need to get a reality check as to what the Kochs in the world are doing to undue the progress achieved in the past two years. Being AWOL in 2010 elections is not an option.
Unions have made it possible for the expansion of the Middle Class in America in the 20th century. It’s clear that the very existence of the Middle Class is under attack and being made to shoulder the majority of the budget cuts along with the poor. The past 10 years has seen a shift of tremendous wealth to the top 2% income bracket. The Koch brothers who were the chief beneficiaries of the Citizens United Supreme Court Decision, now pour billions into anti-worker, anti-middle class, and anti-democratic causes and candidates through their Americans for Prosperity (http://www.americansforprosperity.org/national-site) propaganda machine. We saw the results of that in the nasty 2010 election ads full of untruths and explosive vitriole. Social Security is also under attack in this climate although it’s been paying for itself and providing money for the rest of government for many years through the use of its surplus funds. The bonds issued to the SS Trust Funds will keep SS funded for 26 more years. We need only raise the SS tax ceiling above the current $106,800 to fix its future according to Robert Reich http://www.truth-out.org/robert-reich-budget-baloney-167874 who used to sit on the SS Trust Fund Board because it was last raised in 1983 to cover 90% of income, but today, because of the transfer of wealth to the highest income brackets (largely because of the Bush tax cuts), it now only covers 84% of all income, hence the gap in funding. All New Mexicans who want to preserve democracy need to unite to back a decent and effective candidate to fill Bingaman’s seat in 2010. Also, for those on the Left who who bothered by Barack Obama’s pragmatism and therefore don’t want to support him, they need to get a reality check as to what the Kochs in the world are doing to undue the progress achieved in the past two years. Being AWOL in 2010 elections is not an option.