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ThinkProgress » Wisconsin Gov. Walker Reiterates That The ‘National Guard’ Will Be Used Against A Worker ‘Walk-Off "ThinkProgress has been following both Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-WI) recent “budget repair bill,” which would effectively eliminate state workers’ right to collectively bargain, and his coinciding threat to deploy the National Guard to stop a walkout. Yesterday, the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers criticized Walker, saying that collective bargaining is “fundamental” to the middle class. Approximately 13,000 peaceful protesters flooded the state Capitol yesterday, including nearly 800 Madison East High School students who left school to protest Walker’s bill. Democratic lawmakers listened to testimonies from citizens for more than 20 hours, stretching into the early morning. Many people who hadn’t yet gotten to speak pulled out sleeping bags. Responding to his inappropriate threat to use the National Guard against resisting workers, Walker said last night on Greta V...

The Human Cost of Failed Revolutions | Solidarity "appened Ernest Mandel In November/December 1918 and in March 1920, a Germany governed by workers councils was on the agenda. The defeat of both the workers uprising of 1918-19 and of the beginning revolution in 1920, however, was brought about by two factors: 1) the collaboration of the Social Democracy (which represented a majority political party within the working class) with the military and bourgeois elites, and 2) the immature and weak leadership of the revolution itself. The German working class paid a high price for this missed opportunity, as did a large portion of the world’s population. One cannot, of course, substitute an imaginary “What would have happened if” for the real historical process which did occur. But it is possible to empirically demonstrate that alternative outcomes were objectively possible. Revolutionary and counterrevolutionary classes, along with significant layers of these classes and their represen...

Union Protest: Wisconsin Teachers Calling in Sick en Masse - Teachers Union - Fox Nation "The protests against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) proposals to roll back public employee unions rights are continuing Wednesday, with schools in the state capital Madison closing as the result of teachers calling in sick en masse. Under Walker's plan, as TPM has previously posted, most state workers would no longer be able to negotiate for better pensions or health benefits or anything other than higher salaries, which couldn't rise at a quicker pace than the Consumer Price Index. Walker and state Republican leaders have said the plan is necessary to deal with the state's budget shortfall. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Union Leader: Governor's Budget is "An Attack on Labor" - WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News "Local unions representing public employees are speaking out against Governor Scott Walker's budget repair proposal, saying it undermines all the rights of a union. The bill would strip unions of all collective bargaining power except wages, ending more than 50 years of municipal employee bargaining rights. 'Employees will not have justice. They will not have a say in the workplace. That's anti-American,' Danny McGowan, business representative of Teamsters Local 662, said. Local union leaders are up in arms over the proposal. 'It's nothing more than an attack on labor,' McGowan said. 'We can't fix the states budget woes off the backs of public employees. It's not fair, because it's not their fault.' The president of Local 662, which represents about 9,500 public employees, says he believes the move is about co...

Middle East unrest: Middle Eastern nations scramble to contain unrest - latimes.com "Reporting from Amman, Jordan — To track the growing political movements gaining strength from the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia across North Africa and the Middle East, one would be well advised to get a planner. There were Saturday's clashes between demonstrators and police in Algeria, now referred to as #feb12 on Twitter, much as Egypt's uprising shall forever be known as #jan25. New popular protests are scheduled Monday in Bahrain (#feb14) and Iran (#25Bahman). Libya comes next on #feb17, followed by Algeria again on #feb19, Morocco #feb20, Cameroon #feb23 and Kuwait #mar8. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Democracy Under Attack "Egypt has always been a strong ally of the United States. The country is now in a situation of near anarchy. Doing nothing is not an option, but improper intervention by the US could be destructive with extremely negative long-term consequences to its position in the Middle East, the proliferation of Radical Islam, and the stability of the entire region. Wise and well calculated decisions and actions are essential to the solution of the current disaster in Egypt. The US has several options that can help to diffuse the situation in Egypt. These include: - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Democracy under attack - by the U.S.A. | Examiner Editorial | Editorials | Washington Examiner Editorials Democracy under attack - by the U.S.A. * TAGS: * washington examiner Comments (0) 'BookmarkShare PrintPrint By: Examiner Editorial 09/10/09 11:00 PM America might refuse to honor the upcoming election results of another democratic nation. But our State Department has taken this hostile posture not toward Venezuela or Iran -- where dictatorships thrive through doubtful and fraudulent elections -- but toward Honduras, which removed a usurping president this summer in an action supported by the letter of its own constitution. Nothing has changed about the upcoming election in Honduras. The candidates are the same ones who were running before President Manuel Zelaya was ousted, with the approval of the nation's Congress and Supreme Court. The only difference now is the United States is demanding that the rapacious Zelaya be returned to power. This would punish self-govern...

Federal Eye - 2011 Budget: Spending cuts and reductions "President Obama's 2011 budget proposes more than 120 cuts totaling roughly $20 billion in savings. Here's a look at some of the more interesting proposed cuts and spending reductions. Leave your thoughts on the budget in the comments section below: - Sent using Google Toolbar"

The U.S. Department of Labor Home Page "Browse By: Topic * Compliance Assistance * Disability Resources * Doing Business with DOL * elaws — Employment Law Advisors * Equal Employment Opportunity * Funding Opportunities * Health Plans & Benefits * Hiring * Job Opportunities at DOL * Labor Relations * Leave Benefits * Retirement Plans, Benefits & Savings * Regulations * Small Business Resources * Spanish Language Resources * Statistics * Termination * Training * Unemployment Insurance * Veterans Employment * Wages * Work Hours * Workers' Compensation * Workplace Safety & Health * Youth & Labor You can browse by Audience or Location - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Media Matters for America : "UPDATED REPORT: Fox News' $55 Million Presidential Donation Beck Palin, Gingrich, Huckabee, Santorum, And Bolton Have All Hinted At 2012 Presidential Runs ... These Fox News Candidates Appeared On The Network For More Than 85 Hours In 2010 ... Potential Candidates' 2010 Appearances Were Worth Approximately $54.7 Million Boehlert: After AZ, Fox And Right-Wing Media Have 'Doubled Down' On Violent Rhetoric Beck Beck's Rhetoric Inspires More Death Threats ... NY Times Reports On Death Threats To Frequent Beck Target Piven ... FLASHBACK: 'You're Going To Have To Shoot Them In The Head' ... Beck Explains His 'You're Going To Have To Shoot Them In Head' Comments Republicans Admit Congress Members Avoid Contradicting Conservative Media Beck GOPers 'Privately Admitted Members Carefully Monitor What's Being Said On Conservative Airwaves To Make Sure They Aren't Contradicting It Or Enraging Talkers' ......

The measure would extend tax cuts for those who make less than $250,000 a year. Republicans, who want the lower rates for all income levels, vote against the measure. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group is working on a compromise. Bush-era tax cuts: House OKs extension of tax cut - latimes.com Blogged with the Flock Browser

(Written by an American expat living in the European Union).It wasn't until I left America that I started to realize how badly the American plutocrat owned media lies to the American people through its disinformation campaign.Well today for a span of at least this one Daily Kos diary, you will get to see what the American plutocrat owned media never wants you to see, and that is how Europe in particular and the world in general has come to see America as a country in decline, whose people are so badly misinformed by the media, they actually don't realize that America is the only major industrialized nation in the world that by right of law does not offer universal medical access, paid sick leave, paid maternity leave and paid annual leave. It just seems almost impossible to get that word out to the American people. Even diaries on that subject at the Kos top out at just over 2,000 views. Let's please remember the purpose of the plutocrat owned commercial media isn't so ...

Unless Congress acts to extend programs for those who have exhausted regular state unemployment benefits, millions of jobless workers may soon be phased out of emergency unemployment benefits [1].Unemployment benefits from states typically last for 26 weeks, but since 2008, Congress has on four occasions [2] passed emergency provisions that use federal funds to extend benefits for jobless workers by up to 73 weeks [3], depending on the state’s laws and unemployment rate. These benefits are set to expire tomorrow unless lawmakers intervene. With Federal Benefits Set to Expire, Unemployed Workers Face Shrinking Safety Net - ProPublica Blogged with the Flock Browser

Does Obama think that freezing wages for federal employees will improve the economy which is in a depression ­? If anything it will prolong the pain and suffering for workers and small business. Why didn't Obama go after Wall Street, The Health Industry, and the Pharmaceut ­ical Companies who are robbing us all. Because they paid him off. Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

By a vote of 348-79, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act" on Wednesday afternoon, a bill that threatens trade sanctions against China if the country does not sharply revalue its currency upward. But here's something that Republicans and Democrats itching to start slapping tariffs on Chinese imports might want to consider: Exports of made-in-the-USA cars to China are suddenly booming. Congress to China: Let the trade wars begin! - How the World Works - Salon.com Blogged with the Flock Browser

For the past 50 years, American manufacturing has dominated the globe. It turned the tide in World War ii, and hastened the defeat of Nazi Germany; it subsequently helped rebuild Europe and Japan; and it enabled the United States to outlast the Soviet empire in a Cold War. Concurrently, it met all the material needs of the American people. The Death of American Manufacturing | theTrumpet.com by the Philadelphia Church of God Blogged with the Flock Browser

The United Steelworkers recently filed a petition with the U.S. Trade Representative, accusing China of illegally stimulating and protecting its producers of green technology exports, ranging from wind and solar energy products to advanced batteries and energy-efficient vehicles. After the USTR opened an investigation, EPI International Economist Robert Scott submitted the attached comments outlining how Chinese trade practices "pose a direct threat to the recovery of U.S. manufacturing." Comments on the USTR investigation of China’s subsidies to green industries Blogged with the Flock Browser

Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed in 1993, the rise in the U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico through 2002 has caused the displacement of production that supported 879,280 U.S. jobs. Most of those lost jobs were high-wage positions in manufacturing industries. The loss of these jobs is just the most visible tip of NAFTA's impact on the U.S. economy. In fact, NAFTA has also contributed to rising income inequality, suppressed real wages for production workers, weakened workers' collective bargaining powers and ability to organize unions, and reduced fringe benefits.NAFTA is a free trade and investment agreement that provided investors with a unique set of guarantees designed to stimulate foreign direct investment and the movement of factories within the hemisphere, especially from the United States to Canada and Mexico. Furthermore, no protections were contained in the core of the agreement to maintain labor or environmental standards. As a r...

Thirty years of Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush economic policies. Has put us in this economic ditch “America is looking like a third world country.” By stripping workers of their civil rights, breaking worker unions, deregulation, tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. The conspiracy of the SUPER RICH and Multinational Corporations to rob workers of their dignity and their financial independence. To paralyze them emotionally and financially. To take away their political power. To prevent them from mobility. To take away their voice. To make them invisible. By stealing their homes, by stealing money from their bank accounts, and by getting them deeply in financial debt. As a result, states have lost tax revenues. States have had to raise sales taxes, cut services, and layoff workers. This has affected local communities; it has affected small business because they rely on the locals to spend money for their survival, and community based organizations which all rely on states f...