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In the previous article, I asked you to contact your electeds and ask them to write legislation to curtail speculative profiteering. It has been brought to my attention that Senator Bill Nelson (D. Florida) is the sponsor of S.1598. The cosponsors are Senator Bernard Sanders (I.Vermont), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D. Connecticut) and Senator John D. Rockefeller (D. West Virginia). There is a companion bill in Congress, H.R. 3006 that is sponsored by Representative Peter Welch (D. Vermont). The cosponsor is Representative Rosa DeLauro (D. Connecticut).
Although I see loopholes, the Senate and House bills are a start at protecting us from what I feel is predatory investing. Please tell your Congressperson and Senator that you are fed up with speculators driving up the cost of living by bidding up the price of everyday essentials. Tell them that you want them to get those bills out of committee and passed. While you're at it, please thank the sponsors and cosponsors of those bills for standing up for us. Republicans love to use the phrase “job creators” to justify their unconditional love for corporations and the rich. They worship at the altar of the “free” market and while they are on their knees, kiss the rear ends of all manner of greedy people including those who gamble on commodities and drive the prices of the everyday necessities of life up. They want to give these people, who would probably also be comfortable betting with a local bookie on a horse race or the outcome of a sports event free rein to place their bets on the price of essentials like food and gasoline with little or no interference from government.
Commodities traders are NOT job creators, they are job destroyers! Rising gas prices take money out of our pockets, money that could have been used to buy products that keep Americans employed instead of lining the pockets of greedy commodities speculators. Despite what the Republicans say, the real answer to high gas prices isn't “drill baby drill”, if that were the case, US oil companies wouldn't be exporting oil as they are now. The answer to high gas prices is regulate baby regulate! Write to your electeds and ask them to write laws that put speculative profiteering out of business. How many times have you heard Republican politicians or the business people who own them use the derogatory term “union thug?” That term is supposed to evoke the image of a Tony Soprano type union boss holding a hard working, clean cut businessman hostage by making unreasonable demands like no-work jobs for his cronies or else. That stereotype is designed to strike the fear of GOD in naive people who have never been represented by a union. The truth is that when unions are doing what they're supposed to be doing, they create a level playing field for their members. Individually they're mere whispers, united they're one loud voice.
Sadly, in many cases, union leaders are the exact opposite of union thugs, many have become union marshmallows or union cream puffs. They have forgotten their roots, that unions were born in bitter struggles. Many union leaders and members like to think that corporations have become kinder and gentler than they were in the bad old days of armed corporate goon squads firing on union strikers. Corporations haven't become nicer, just more sophisticated in their assault on unions and union members. Bullets fired on picketers have been replaced by bucks tossed into the pockets of our corporate owned electeds in exchange for anti-union legislation and “free” trade agreements. Unions are confronted with a decidedly anti-union legislative climate that limits their effectiveness. Due to high powered anti-union corporate lobbyists, union lobbying efforts can be described as fighting a losing battle, at best. The proof of that is that The Employee Free Choice Act still hasn't passed and we are getting additional right to work for less states. Union local officials are confronted with take it or leave it contracts that have give-backs or worse, have provisions that weaken their locals in the future. Many local union leaders give in when they should be rallying and educating the troops. Many union members think of the short term implications when they should be thinking about their future. It's time for local leaders and members to get together for some frank talk about the future of their local. I suggest that they do that before the next contract comes up for renewal. In short, national union leaders should stop fighting a war of attrition by going over the heads of corporate owned electeds and taking their case to Americas real owners, "we, the people!" Buy advertising, run publicity campaigns, fight for the heart and mind of every working American! Local leaders should get their members approval to dig in and drive a hard bargain on the next contract and take their case public! Let's win this one for the future of all of America's workers and their families! Many people say that Wall Streeters make their profits using “OPM, other people's money!” I like to say corporations and the top 1% make their money using OPS, other people's sweat! Many of the so called “job creators”, the people who the conservatives love to lionize as self-made geniuses that built empires based upon the popularity of this gizmo or that gadget made a large portion of their money off the hard labor of people working in what amounts to mega sweatshops in China.
So called “patriotic” conservatives never question the obvious fact that the corporate job offshoring policies of those “heroes of industry” are decidedly unpatriotic acts that undermine American workers, American families, America's manufacturing infrastructure and the American economy! When one of those “innovators” decides to manufacture the next big thing overseas, especially one that will sell for a premium price, he is saying that squeezing out every single penny of profit is more important that the future of his country and the well being of his fellow citizens. That decision is an act of greed that borders on being anti-social and un-American. Our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend our country, but the arrogant “self-made” corporate slugs can't see their way clear to building their products here and insuring that when our veterans return they, like the rest of us will have jobs and a future. Though fortunes have always been made off the sweat of working people, innovators of the past like Henry Ford knew that their customer base had to be gainfully employed with well paying jobs to be able to afford their products. Today's breed of self-absorbed entrepreneurs who engage in scorched earth profiteering haven't learned that lesson. The recent Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood controversy raises many issues that involve most disease specific charities. To hear what I have to say about disease specific charities, visit my Listen Here! page.
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AuthorHave you noticed that there's no one on Talk Radio who speaks for John and Jane Q. Public? I want to change that situation. When I go into the studio and get on the air, I say the things that you've always wanted to say. The big corporate interests have their lobbyists, I want to be your voice. Just think of me as your guy fighting for your interests. Proud To Be On:Archives
May 2017
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