Addiction numbers go up same rate as unemployment, Liquor and cigarettes profits go up, when there are no jobs drug sales is your food stamp! Pot sales to offset no jobs! More Homeless more Homeless Veterans!

The reason the jobs bled from America is because of trade agreements like NAFTA.
Removing tariffs was the thing that allowed the robber barons of the new millennia to move our factories to places where people will work for pennies an hour.
46,000 factories lost under bush, near 300 billion a year trade deficit with China per year.
Two answers come to mind. The first would be to let the government solve the problem with tariffs and higher taxes on the rich.
The other choice is for them to leave it to the masses, that didn't turn out so well for the royalty of France!

Down with Tyrants. No matter they be Arabic Dictators or Republican Corporate Stooges!

Two snaps up!

Great comment kennymotown.
I really get tired of the old worn out generalization BS that unions are just too greedy and and full of crime. Yes some union contracts have been more than generious and went too far. But remember this, these contracts were agreed to by BOTH SIDES. When everyone is making lots of money there is no problem. When it comes to tightening the belt, both sides need to compromise.
The states, counties, cities, and companies of America put a lot of their retirement investments into the stock market. High risk investment. If you plan on making more than 6% or 7% on investment your risk goes very high. Take away a lot of regulations. YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY. Those pricks on wall street have lost nothing! They produce nothing! They manipulate the finances of our nation based on emotional knee jerk reactions instead of business.
Moving our jobs out of country is about $$$$$ and that is all it is about.

Wish I could say it was a surprise attack, but I know better I have been to Pearl at least 50 times minimal, easy when you lived in Honolulu for 20 years. Very impressive until you hear the Australian side, like Viet Nam self inflicted wound took out 2,800 people, fooled the public into ww2 just as Lusitana ww1 false flag operations is the secret history of the empire America. NO past NO future SHAME!

Well said Kenny I agree with you on this one however one should keep in mind that the reason America is no longer a producer of goods is because unions got too greedy and unreasonable and big business said screw it and went to countries where workers are paid almost nothing and get no benefits! Union leaders make huge money and it is they who got greedy screwing their own membership,not to mention involving organized crime in Union Business! While workers deserve a decent wage and benefits,and to have their rights protected,a line must be drawn for the good of all and that never happens! Another prime example of a total lack of common sense! By the same token the greedy elite do not care about workers at all so without unions we become like China!

For the most part i am against the unions of today but in this situation i would have to side with them and say we can't let the big wigs have what they want.

With this website we could have a steady stream of editorials about OUR 2011 declaration of independence -- the more we wrote about it the better the chances that mainstream news sites would pick it up (and even if they didn't I don't think it would really matter because Current seems to be attracting quite a bit of attention all on its own). How cool would it be if Bar Karma had an episode dedicated to this??? :-)
Do a trial run on April 15, and no matter how that turns out -- work to make OUR declaration of independence even bigger.

I agree with Luvcreole
Until people realize that both parties have sold this nation out even as they play their left-right game... KEEP US FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER AND AFRAID, our government will send us to new zip code in the desert!!

Pass this on - or get passed up...

Until people realize that both parties have sold this nation out even as they play their left-right game (remember Perot's warning?) it will not make much difference. People must wake up to several realities...about our history (which we water down and boost up too much), and about the reality of patriotism (there are those who are for their country, and then they're those who say they are, but only as long as their interests are served even at the expense of their country) In other words, they're parasites.

Good post; Thanks! I only wish folks would "read their stories" for readability before posting them.

moveon.org is organizing for, This Saturday nation wide rallies get up off your asses, turn the computer off, throw someone in the car with you or take a train, ride a bike, walk but show up and be counted. Go to moveon.org and find out where there is a rally near you. I am taking my kids so they can get a lesson in civics.

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." - Isoruko Yamamoto

I sincerely hope you are right!

http://tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=...

Though thousands of Americans have turned out this week to show solidarity with Wisconsin's public employees and oppose a threat to their collective bargaining rights, union officials say they have not been able to place a labor voice on this Sunday's editions of the weekly public-affairs TV shows. The shows' producers, they complain, are shutting out the workers' perspective.

A union official told The Huffington Post that when none of the Sunday shows' producers reached out to them to book a labor representative this week, several unions started to pitch the shows with affected workers and local and national leaders who they felt could discuss the protests. The official said the response from the shows was essentially "thanks, but no thanks."

"If you're a Sunday show and there are labor fights going on for two weeks, if you can just book ... Chris Christie, why would you actually go out and get somebody who is actually involved in this? That would be work!" snarked the official, adding, "Everybody's been pushing, and everybody's been shut down."

The Huffington Post reached out to producers at Fox News, NBC, ABC, CNN and CBS. NBC Communications Director Erika Masonhall said the lineup for this weekend's "Meet the Press" will not be final until Friday and "will highlight a number of topics and include a variety of guests and opinions."

Accountability, Accountability, Accountability.

Excellent editorial. Voted up.

The elite has decided that the American populous is no better than a third world worker. They have decided the we don't need benefits in turn for our labor. They have decided that we should learn to get along on wages comparable to the nations where they outsource their work and that if we are going to be paid more then we should work harder. This is why they want to dismantle workers rights. That and to ensure that there will be no real power capable of removing them from power. They are paying top dollar to make sure we get there sooner rather than later.

Update: The Reps slammed throught the budget repair bill last night cutting off the remainder of the debate. Taking a vote in almost ambush style. The Dems are outraged. The bill is still dead in the water because the Dems are still out of state.

did you see Rand Paul on Letterman WOW letterman ran him through the ringer it was awesome to witness nice article Kenny

A lot of union rights were stripped away by the previous conservative government in Australia. Now people can be charged, fined, threatened with jail for standing up for basic working rights. This is ridiculous!

Divide and conquer?

The people united will never be defeated!

Great Post Kenny

+^d

this is a revelation for me, i never thought that the unions needed anybody's help. my resentment at being bullied, both in and out of a union had left me closed minded.

I can't believe the Wis. anti labor bill was passed that also from what I have read contained a bill that any Wisconsin utility could be sold to whoever the gov wants without debate....am I the only one who feels that we have dumbed down the american people so far, that there is no longer any hope?

Ah Kenny, now you didn't think I would miss your most excellent post would you?

GREAT post Kenny !!

With the constant influx of information it is so easy to shelve yesterdays issues in favor of todays.

I was just going over the proposed budget cuts and on the chopping block are WIC, Pell Grants, Planned Parenthood, Heating Assistance ect. This on the heels of the the wealthy getting their tax breaks. We, as American have to decide if this is who we want to be. I am so proud and grateful to the people in Wisconsin and I dearly hope the rest of the nation is taking notes.

I surmise that I am one of the few on this site who was alive in 1941 although I was a one year old at the time. As I watch current events unfold, I can only observe that I have been here before. I am one of those '60 liberals Koch-Walker referenced and we are mortal enemies. I am dismayed by hate speech directed at President Obama fueled by the Foxes but I have heard it before. I heard it in 1963 when it was directed at President Kennedy fueled by the John Birch Society. And who bankrolled the John Birch Society - the Koch brothers daddy. That assistant attorney general in Indiana Koch-Cox, I've seen him before. Except then he was the commander of the Ohio National Guard and he didn't talk about shooting protesters, He and the Governor of that state murdered four students at Kent State. So when Koch-Walker puts the national guard on the alert it brings back sad memories. If you think that Koch-Cox was the only Republican reactionary imbeded in the power structure of the several states, you are much too full of the milk of human kindness. The hero of my young adulthood was Martin Luther King, Jr. So you might understand that the resurgent racisim, sexism and homophobia of the right- wing fueled by the Foxes enrages me. And so the battle is joined again, and although I am much to old for the fight I will do what I can. Fair warning - I don't fight fair.