09 June 2011

Walker's China

If there was ever any doubt about it, it must most certainly have been alleviated by the latest and definitely the most regressive proposal thus far, and we've had plenty of them, to come out of this insane Republican majority in Madison.  As has been reported widely, the legislature is looking at revising the child labor laws of Wisconsin to ensure that minors can work 40 hour weeks.  This proposal should alleviate any concerns that these Republicans are just not conservative enough.  It used to be conservatives just wanted to maintain the status quo, like Newt, no offense intended to the squirmy amphibian, Gingrich.  Evidently the Madison neocons would love to recreate 1855, now that's pretty conservative.     

Before you get all Blagojevich on me, just a brief recap of what has transpired in Wisconsin since January. (It's surprising how many people have forgotten that all of this and more has taken place so far).  The evidence exposes where these Weiners are pointing us. 

Our year began with the Packers laying siege to the NFL and hauling the Lombardi trophy home.  But our celebrations were cut short. The Walker administration called for an emergency session in which several very damaging bills passed including
  • Tort reform, limits citizens' recourse in the cases of injury incurred at work, injury caused by goods bought in a store, injury from health care providers, and limits punitive damage claims. This tort reform makes it nearly impossible to sue a distributor, a seller, or a promoter. Which in turn means that if someone (you) is injured by a product bought at Walmart, the injured person's (yours) only recourse may be to seek damages from the manufacturer, who is probably located in China.  Good luck with that lawsuit. In other words, if it's you, you're screwed, unless you're a millionaire, in which case, I know of a great charity to donate to.  Feel free to contact me.
  • Tax breaks for corporations, these are real tax breaks, but don't take my word for it.  Follow my embedded links to the bills.
  • Requiring a super-majority for tax increases, even though states bring in money by raising taxes, it has become significantly more difficult to raise them.  Nothing in here about your property taxes, though.  Those are going up, just wait and see.
  • The formation of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to which the governor appoints the employees who will not be state employees but will nonetheless have access to Wisconsin's medical coverage and pension plan.  Nice play by KuningasWalker.
  • Providing the governor with unprecedented power over governmental agencies' abilities to make rules, long live the Kuningas.
  • Redefining the classification of wetlands and an exemption from water quality standards.
  • Passing a budget repair bill that stole collective bargaining rights from public employees, essentially killed the public employee unions.
  • Killing the Milwaukee Paid Sick Day Ordinance, which was passed by a real majority here in 2008.
  • The end of medical coverage for hundreds of thousands of medical assistance recipients across the state because of cuts to the Badger Care program.  The assistance programs have come under direct fire by the Journal Sentinel lately.  They claim that fraud is taking place in the Food Share program but they have no evidence of that.  And it's a small percentage of cards that are being stolen.  But like many issues the journal sentinel reports on, they sensationalized the Food Share program by presenting a 3-page investigative style expose that amounted to accessing some Facebook pages and calling a few people.  That's some brilliant reporting guaranteed to raise the ire of any right-wing wacko who adores Mark Belling or the other shmo on WTMJ.  The real story in Sunday's journal was buried on the second page of the Business section: 
    Republican lawmakers voted to trim taxes for corporations and investors while cutting tax credit programs for the working poor.  On a party-line vote, the Joint Finance Committee approved Gov. Scott Walker's proposals to cut capital gains taxes on certain investments and to cut taxes for multistate corporations.  It also approved cuts to the Earned Income Tax credit program for the working poor.
Proposals still in the pipeline include concealed carry, disinfection of municipal water supplies, eliminating the limit on the number of pupils who may attend virtual charter schools, modifying teacher licensure requirements, eliminating the limit on the reduction in general school aid used to fund independent charter schools, covering certain charter school employees under the Group Insurance Board health coverage plan for local government employees, allowing a charter school to elect to participate in the Wisconsin Retirement System.  And I really could go on here for a long time.  Suffice to say that any bill with the name Vukmir  attached to it is detrimental to the average citizens of Wisconsin but a boon to the organizations that supported her (money ain't for nothing - MMAC).   

The turn of the millennium occurred a few years ago but just which millennium it was may be a bit confusing.  Based on the lists of legislation above that the Walker administration (regime), and that iniquitous, contemptible Leah Vukmir, are passing, someone could guess that we've entered the 20th century when corporations controlled the work force, no safety standards existed in the work place, and children lined up waiting for someone to get hurt on the assembly line so they could take the injured person's place.  This is the situation in many places around the world where international (US, German, etc.) corporations have taken hold.  There is an influx of cheap workers and few labor laws to deal with.  It is what China and Indonesia have in their favor at this moment in time.  But jobs are coming back to America because there aren't the tight regulations that Europe has and China may be a bit too risky.  Plus, many states in the US now have republican governors.  So they're open for business twenty-four hours a day.  This is the situation Scott Walker is hoping for because that's what he is paid to do by those funding his administration.  What a Koch.

Vukmir's fondness for child labor derives from
her own past when she was enslaved to
fashion.  "Well I learned to sew," Vukmir
commented.
 
Likewise, the Journal Sentinel is dictated by their advertisers, the main source of revenue.  The boat can be rattled but never capsized.

But what should the people do when the boat needs capsizing?

Whine and sulk and that's what blogging is for.

Scott, don't forget our new slogan: Welcome to Wisconsin, America's China.  I'd like to see that one of these days on a bumper sticker or in a block of cheese on the mantel in the governor's mansion.  I'll send that up to you, since you've been looking to redecorate. 

A 1911 Industrial Worker publication advocating industrial
unionism based on a critique of capitalism. The
proletariat "work for all" and "feed all"
====================================

Child Labor in America: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle is just a great book that everyone should read.  Go read it now.

Robert Ross - Slaves to Fashion
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AChild%20labor&page=1

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Was what Weiner did really that bad?  I won't condone it as being smart but really all I see is a guy who sent a picture of his Johnson with his briefs.  That sounds like presidential behavior.   Stupidly he lied about it.  But come on, people, these indiscretions sell newspapers and lure site visits but they don't balance a budget or end wars.   Weiner's briefs ought to be handled on a personal level - his personal level not the mainstream news.  I mean let's give it a rest and stop acting like prudes.  What are we going to do next eradicate pornography and prostitutes?  Ron Paul believes a prostitute has just as much right to practice his/her profession as a lawyer has.  And you know what that means - getting screwed could get a whole lot easier - I'll take a class action lawsuit and a blowjob.

The common call from politicians and the layman has been for adult behavior to solve our problems.  I always wondered exactly what they meant by that.  Now it's clear they meant the triple X adult behavior.  And that's all right with me but then we should get more pictures.  News: Congress opens the first government approved porn shop.  That's happened already.  It's called the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Finance Committee.  In Wisconsin, they don't even try to hide the lascivious nature of their group.  The name itself reveals what they're smoking in the Joint Finance Committee.

Just remember how many folks, Ms. Palin, were jabbering about seeing pictures of bin Laden.  They wanted to see a prone dead body but not an erect live one.  Well that might be the sickest twist of the whole story.  More violence, less love.  Perhaps that should be the new republican motto.

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