I am not duplicating his excellent article, but making a major correction. As shocking as his article is, and with great respect to Mr. Brooks, he understates the problem.
He uses the example of the year 1967 for his computations that the dollar has lost 80 percent of its value in forty years, compared, among other things to the price of gold.
I beg to argue that the two most relevant benchmarks are the price of oil, and the median homeprice, since those two items determine the price of almost everything else we spend our money on.
In 1967 a barrel of oil was $2.90 a barrel. Today, Sept. 2, 2008 oil closed at a five year low of $105, which indicates a loss of 97 percent in the value of a dollar.
National figures on median home prices are subject to manipulation, so I will use my home.
My home was built in 1967, coincidentally the same base year used as a base by Mr. Brooks.
The current market value of my home indicates a 92 percent loss in the value of the dollar. People are mistaken when they think they have made money when a homeprice goes up. What you are really seeing is inflation: it takes more dollars to buy the same thing.
In the 39 or 40 years since 1967, Republicans have controlled the White House most of the time, but there is plenty of blame to go around for both parties.
What this really means is that our government has stolen 92 to 97 percent of the life savings that people had in 1967.
And every year they are stealing more of our life savings. Greenspan is a traitor who belongs in jail, because the statutory job of the Federal Reserve is to preserve a sound dollar.
Greenspan only missed the mark by 95 percent.
We need CHANGE
In case I did not state it clearly, WE NEED CHANGE
Yesterday, watching those poor people lining up for buses to yet again flee a hurricane, my heart broke.
With all our riches how can there still be people in America who are so obviously so impoverished and helpless?
Unfortunately, it is because our system of education is broken, failed, shameful.
How can any politician believe that property taxes from impoverished areas can pay for world class schools and world class teachers?
A factor in our broken system of education is that first, teachers are underpaid so that schools for teachers "sometimes" fail to attract the most talented people.
Second, the curricula are not teaching prospective teachers how to really teach.
I want every teacher in America to receive the same starting pay as computer programmers and engineeers.
I want better curicula for preparing teachers.
And I want 3,000,000 more, high paid, talented, dedicated teachers who are fully prepared to teach THE LOVE OF medicine, bioscience, math and engineering, starting in the first grade.
Let us all work for an America where everey child has absolutely equal and excellent education, so that in the future no American is so unprepared for life that they end up helplessly standing in line for buses to flee for their lives.
Please donate, tax deductible, to these goals at http://www.fluni.com
I cannot think of anything more consistent with the core values of our Democratic Party.
The American nation has an excellent opportunity to change the nature of politics in our country this year. We have a real chance to build lasting alliances that will re-define the political landscape at every level of government and permit us to take back our government by the average citizen.
For decades, the political power of the largest international corporations and the wealthiest of the Super Wealthy have been tightening their grasp on governments in America. They have effectively bought their way to power by giving billions in campaign donations and buying up the media.
The effect has been passage of laws that undermine the power of average citizens to control their own economic futures, have an effective voice in government policies and to hear opposing political viewpoints. It is no accident that most Americans think that their children will not have as high a standard of living as they currently experience. It was economic policy on the national and international levels that forced tens of millions of families to have both parents working to maintain a decent standard of living.
Your rights to sue corporations when they abuse you as a worker, investor or consumer are being stripped away by Republican politicians like George W. Bush, John McCain, Dick Cheney and your allegedly “moderate Republican” member of Congress. The same bunch of Republican politicians are and have been for decades falling all over themselves to pass legislation that ships high-paying jobs with healthcare benefits to Third World nations where the high pay and employer provided healthcare vanishes while corporate profits explode! Yes, Bush, McCain and Cheney love NAFTA, the WTO, CAFTA and the rest of these deals. They have been a goldmine of campaign cash for the Republican Right and the alleged “Republican moderates” in Congress.
By appointing corporate thinking federal judges and government regulators, American workers have seen their rights to form labor unions effectively undermined and often destroyed. The public fiction of “free elections” in the workplace is there for these deceitful Republicans to “defend.” However, in most workplaces, the reality is that these giant corporations make real free elections impossible by intentionally breaking the law (the penalties are a joke), firing pro-union workers, preventing union organizers from talking to workers or distributing material, issuing threats and the like. The reality of these “free unionization elections” is that they are no more free and fair than the “free elections” in the former Soviet Union, communist China or Nazi Germany! Still, the Republicans vehemently oppose passage of the Employee Free Choice Act which would return effective workplace democracy when it comes to unionization votes.
The decline of labor unions has meant the decline of the American Middle Class both economically and politically and corporate forces know it! An effective labor movement has meant real economic opportunity for tens of millions of working class and poor Americans. Labor unions have been the vehicle for millions of racial and ethnic minorities to join the mainstream, Middle Class majority in experiencing the American Dream.
Corporate controlled politicians like Bush and McCain are simply killing that Dream. Will we let them?
The wealthiest of the Super Wealthy control our mainstream media but not our votes.
We all should know that racism has an economic purpose. It is the tool most often used in America to get the working class whites and Middle Class majority to put in power politicians who vote against the economic interests of working class and Middle Class whites. Racism is the tool used to divide the non-economic elite majority so that all working class and Middle Class Americans do not demand government policies that provide real economic opportunity for the vast majority. Racism is a sucker bet for all poor, working class and Middle Class Americans!
Read More »Union Web Sites that can help you buy union-made products
BUILD UNION, BUY UNION, SHOP UNION, BE UNION!
Miscellaneous
http://www.allamericanclothing.com
Clothing (Formerly Union Jean Company)
Clothing
http://www.justiceclothing.com
Clothing
Miscellaneous
Clothing
Leather Jackets (All Jackets Made in USA, Schott Jackets are Union Made)
Promotional Items – Bumper Stickers, Buttons, Pens, Etc.
Air, Hotel, Car, Cruises
Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
Watches, Clothing, Clocks, Etc.
Clothing, Specialty Items, Promotional Items
http://www.backdraftproducts.us
Specializing in IAFF Products Union Retail Stores
Greater Lehigh Valley Area in Pennsylvania
Wines & Spirits Shoppes
Rite-Aid
Super Fresh
Shop-Rite
Strauss Auto
Mailroom Copy & Print Center (call Stephen Crockett at 443-907-2367 for details)
K-Mart , T.J. Maxx Distribution Centers are Union, Retail is Not
Marshall’s
Do Not Shop! Wal-Mart Sam’s Club
Union Web Sites
• Bakery Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM)
Food Products
• UNITE-HERE (UNITEHERE)
Textiles, Hotels, Casinos, Etc.
• International Association of Machinists (IAM)
Motorcycles, Miscellaneous
• United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW)
Retail, Miscellaneous
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
Truck Drivers, UPS, Misc.
• United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1776 (UFCW 1776) http://www.ufcw1776.org Eastern Pennsylvania
• AFL-CIO http://www.aflcio.org
• Change to Win http://www.changetowin.org
-United Steelworkers of America http://www.usw.org
-United Auto Workers http://www.uaw.org
If you cannot find a Union Made product, please contact me at 610-217-5123 or at schlen@union-america.com
In Solidarity,
James S. Schlener
IAFF Local 735
UFCW 1776
Lehigh Valley CLC. VP.
Bethlehem City Democratic Party Chair
by Tula Connell, Aug 1, 2008
http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/08/01/wal-mart-wants-to-make-sure-its-employees-dont-vote-democratic/
Wal-Mart and all its $13 billion in 2007 profits are quaking. The retail monolith is scared that Democrats will be elected to office this fallâ€"and might pass legislation that would level the playing field for workers seeking to join unions.
The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121755649066303381.html reports on Wal-Mart’s corporate tremors today, noting that
in recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.
Downsides, huh? Like getting paid enough to support yourself and your family. Or maybe even the real big downside of having affordable job-based health insurance so that the emergency room isn’t the only option when your child has the flu. Because by not paying its employees enough to afford the company health plan, Wal-Mart dumps the cost of health care onto all taxpayers http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/walmart/upload/walmart_tax_memo.pdf , even making it a corporate policy to encourage new hires to use public emergency rooms, according to author Barbara Ehrenreich.
(You can tell Wal-Mart to stop its unfair and immoral workplace intimidation by signing a petition here http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/wal_mart_petition .)
Wal-Mart has been so intent upon piling up its billions in annual profits, it has created a mini-industry of anti-unionism to ensure it keeps its employees at everyday low wages. So, Wal-Mart is stepping up its efforts to prevent Democrats from being elected this fall, by telling employees http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121755649066303381.html that “voting for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in.” And Wal-Mart employees report feeling pressured to vote for candidates who oppose the Employee Free Choice Act.
Wal-Mart is doing even more arm-twisting workers on their way to the ballot box. Rather than pay its employees a decent wage and provide affordable health care, Wal-Mart is putting mega bucks into front groups that are spearheading a multi-million dollar ad campaign to slam workers, their unions and their efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/ .
For instance, Wal-Mart is the largest member of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, one of the main funders of the $30 million anti-union campaign called “Coalition for a Democratic Workplace http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/the-anti-union-network/chamber-of-commerce/coalition-for-a-democratic-workplace-exposed-20080424-557-273.html .”
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says this latest revelation of Wal-Mart’s egregious meddling into its employees’ voting preferences
goes to show the extent that companies like Wal-Mart will go to maintain the status quo, which allows them to exploit workers to maximize profit. It’s clear the business community intends to spend heavily to protect its interests but working people know this election is about creating real, lasting economic change.
Wal-Mart is ready to use its corporate power as America’s largest private employer to corrupt the political system to safeguard its profits. American Rights at Work has lots of info on Wal-Mart’s actions attacking the Employee Free Choice Act here http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/employee-free-choice-act/latest-updates/wal-mart-mobilizing-against-the-employee-free-choice-act-20080801-605-83-83.html and has a detailed report here http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/wal-mart/wal-mart/wal-mart-rolling-back-workers-wages-rights-and-the-american-dream.html on how Wal-Mart rolls back workers’ wages in an assault on the American Dream. Plus the worker advocacy organization also tracks the front groups behind the Employee Free Choice Act smear campaign, with info here http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/the-anti-union-network/chamber-of-commerce/coalition-for-a-democratic-workplace-exposed-20080424-557-273.html .
Take action now and tell Wal-Mart stop intimidating its employees http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/wal_mart_petition . Sign the petition here http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/wal_mart_petition .
If Hillary is not able to get enough delegates to switch (which she is not asking for) and Obama does not pick her for VP, by working her heart (and Bill his) for and Obama victory while mending fences in the Senate, maybe her clout can be used to become Majority Leader. Just think TWO women as the leaders of our party in both chambers of the Congress. Just an idea. I'll shut up.
Obama has talked about a timeline of withrawl. He talked about talking to Iran. Bush said talking to Iran was "apeasement". McSame said Obama is wrong about a timeline, that he must do what the military leaders on the ground say. HMMMM did you hear that Bush and Iraq talked about a "time horizon" for troop withdrawl? Sounds like a fancy way of saying TIMELINE. Did anyone catch the news that the third hightest ranking diplomat in the State Dept. will be at a meeting with Iraq's nuclear negotiator?
Sounds like Obama knows more about foreign policy than what Bush and McSame and their talking heads are saying in the press.
Did anyone notice in Obama's speech that he wants to make sure rouge organizations (not countries) are stopped from getting WMDs. Why didn't the press report that he will make sure the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is ratified and enforced along with meeting with Russia about cutting even more nuclear weapons. Making us secure by getting rid of nucs that our enemies could get hold of. Doesn't sound like a bad idea. I wonder how long until Bush acts on it and McSame takes credit for the idea. But no the press would rather talk about Brad and Angelina's twins and if Madonna is the reason why A-Rod's marriage broke up. Where is their priority. Thank God for BBC News, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and the web.
Well it took him long enough. Georgie overturned an EO that HIS father signed in 1990 to stop offshore drilling. He says it is now up to Congress. Now more than ever we need to make sure that Congress acts on and passes Rep. Nick Rahall's H.R. 6251 the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2208. It would force oil and gas companies to use the 68 million acres of federal land already leased onshore and offshore but are not using.
Permits for drilling have increased over 300% from 1999 to 2007, but gas prices have not dropped. Didn't President Bush and Sen McBush say just the opposite would happen if they were given more permits? The oil companies have plenty of public land that they are not using. What we need to to work for peace and stability in the Middle East so the market will not keep raising prices due to tensions in the area.
From www.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080714/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
...Bush's proposal echoes a call by Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, to open the Outer Continental Shelf for exploration. Democrat Barack Obama has opposed the idea and instead argued for helping consumers with a second economic stimulus package including energy rebates, as well as stepped up efforts to develop alternative fuels and more fuel-efficient automobiles.
"If offshore drilling would provide short-term relief at the pump or a long-term strategy for energy independence, it would be worthy of our consideration, regardless of the risks," spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. "But most experts, even within the Bush administration, concede it would do neither. It would merely prolong the failed energy policies we have seen from Washington for thirty years."
For more information on HR 6251 please see the following:
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/?option=com_content&task=view&id=389&Itemid=1www.resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=389&Itemid=1
Here is just part of the article from Tommy Christopher:
So, now there is factual proof of what any objective observer already knew had to be the case: That this "movement" to harness the ire of Hillary supporters in McCain's favor is actually the work of Republican provocateurs.
For the full story plese click on the link below
www.news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/07/13/puma-poor-unsuspecting-mccain-androids/
I supported Hillary financially. She moved on. I moved on. So have other Hillary supports. Do PUMA supporters really think she would win as a write in candidate? Do they think that by not voting, that is what she would want? Do they deep down want McCain aka McSame aka MCBush in the White House? Does anyone remember 2000 and Ralph Nader? He is part of the reason (ok yes Gore should have not assumed he would win TN and should have known it had become more red than blue) that we have had the Crook in Thief in the White House the last 4 years. McCain's "maverick" claim is a farce. His voting record is a rank and file Republican according to govtrack.us
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300071
Diplomacy, not War with Iran Action Alert H.C.R. 321 and H.C.R. 362 Please join PDA, The Council for the National Interest and other groups in a national call-in/email campaign to OPPOSE H.C.R 362, the Blockade of Iran bill, and SUPPORT H.C.R. 321,
Tell your representative to vote FOR H.C.R. 321. which calls for a diplomatic initiative with Iraq, Iran, Syria, and neighboring countries as a means of getting out of Iraq and resolving other disputes.
Tell your representative to vote AGAINST H.C.R. 362. If followed, would in effect set up a blockade of Iran, which is considered an act of war under international law. This would constitute a “trigger event” that inevitably would provoke action by Iran, retaliation by the US, and draw us into pointless war similar to the way the Gulf of Tonkin incident pushed us into the Vietnam War.
Find out more at www.pdaamerica.org and sent a message to your representative in Congress at www.capwiz.com/pdamerica/home/