America vs. Europe--and sanity and decency (guest post)

"Thanks to the U.S. corporate media’s great skills of obfuscation, omission and just plain lying, Americans are quite confused about the political and financial crisis in Europe, and what it means on this side of the Atlantic. People in the United States harbor vague fears that the social turmoil they see playing out in European elections and on the streets may come here. This scares them, which is almost funny, in a very sad way, since what European working people are struggling to avoid is being forced to live like most Americans, at the total mercy of the rich.

Europeans are righteously upset because they have something quite precious to lose: a social safety net that provides levels of security that Americans have never experienced, and that many cannot even imagine. Since most overworked or underemployed Americans don’t know how Europeans actually live, they find it difficult to understand what all the fuss is about. U.S. corporate media fill in the vast blanks in American consciousness with slanders against Europe – the relatively comfortable French and the devastated Greeks, alike – branding them all lazy slackers who don’t want to work hard or pay their bills. America’s damn near nonexistent social welfare structure is packaged as a virtue, while the sights and sounds of European protest are made to seem ominous, dangerous, selfish.

Most Americans of modest means don’t travel to countries where the people live better than they do, or are so oblivious that they don’t notice the deep social service networks that underlie these societies. Americans cannot understand, for example, that higher educational achievement is so often tied to strong national compacts among citizens and fundamental notions of social equality – these qualities being absent in American life. CNN is quick to cite figures on European unemployment, but tells its U.S. audience virtually nothing about the social safety net that makes unemployment in Europe a very different experience than being without a job in the United States." --The United States: An Impoverished, Delusional Society. A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

And ladies and gentlemen, Kansas' own Governor, Sam "The Sham" Brownback is about to make that American Dream even more of a skinflint nightmare, with his austerity budget.

To all Kansans, all I can say is, get ready for the really ugly, scary part of the roller coaster because if the Guv has his way, it's about to get nasty. You'll wish the arts were the only thing you lost and didn't have in your state.

Link: http://blackagendareport.com/content/united-states-impoverished-delusional-society

Labor Ready: The big, shameful success on the backs of the poor, Part I (of 5)

I've been doing some research and have to report on what I have found to be the shameful and very shameless success of the Labor Ready temporary help company and how it's so very much on the backs of the poor and working poor. As it shows above, this is part one--the first way they expoit their help so grossly--of 5 total parts (unless I find yet more ways). The first example of how they exploit their employees is that they charge their corporate and company clients approximately at least $16 per hour for each employee. The employee--worker's--take? Usually $7.25 per hour. So you know, this is virtually always very back-breaking work, too, so you know. They keep $9.00 per hour for every $7.25 the hard-working employee gets. That's the first one. Trust me, it gets worse. MUCH worse. More later.

100 patriotic millionaires---for decency and doing what's right

From Main Street/Working America blog:

An open letter signed by more than 100 “Patriotic Millionaires”—people who care more about the direction of the country than they do about getting yet another tax break:

We are writing to urge you to put our country ahead of politics.

For the fiscal health of our nation and the well-being of our fellow citizens, we ask that you increase taxes on incomes over $1,000,000.

We make this request as loyal citizens who now or in the past earned an income of $1,000,000 per year or more.

Our country faces a choice – we can pay our debts and build for the future, or we can shirk our financial responsibilities and cripple our nation’s potential.

Our country has been good to us. It provided a foundation through which we could succeed. Now, we want to do our part to keep that foundation strong so that others can succeed as we have.

Please do the right thing for our country. Raise our taxes.

One of the Patriotic Millionaires explains her reasoning:

“For me to be sitting and hoarding my money is insane,” said Gottlieb, whose producer credits include Dirty Dancing and who now teaches at NYU’s Tisch school. “We all give to charity, but that’s not the same as creating a more equitable society.”

Gottlieb said she has been upset by the experience of her grandchildren, who attend a New York City public school where arts education has been cut and parents have had to organize an auction to try to fill the gaps. She added that raising taxes on the wealthiest people would be an important way of reducing the deficit.

“For rich people to moan and groan — nobody likes to pay increased taxes — but it’s not going to change your life in any important way,” she said. “What it can do is help your country.”

Even if you’re not a millionaire yourself, you can sign on as a supporter.


It's enough to give you hope, isn't it?


In spite of George W. Bush and his hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts he and the Republicans gave to the wealthiest of the country and in spite of now House Representative Paul Ryan's goal, in his budget, of giving yet more tax cuts to and for the wealthy, these people see what's right and want to follow through with it.


Maybe it will, one day, get through to the Rethugs yet.


I'm not holding my breath.

Link:  http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2011/04/14/patriotic-millionaires-want-to-pay-more-taxes/

CEO's? and ethics?