What we learned from Tuesday's Election.

So, one thing that was learned in Tuesday's election is that when given the opportunity, people will vote for socialist candidates. But, we knew this all along; that is why the Democrats and Republicans try so hard to prevent other parties from gaining ballot access by placing all kinds of undemocratic barriers and restrictions in their path.

Here in Minnesota, activists like Michael Cavlan with his Open Progressive Party and the late Greg Paquin and Nicole Buckanaga opened the door with the Warriors for Justice Party.

There is no better time than now for activists to get engaged in electoral politics.

The unifying issues are clear:

Peace.

Full Employment/Living wages.

Real Health Care reform.

Protection of our living environment.

Build electoral coalitions to run candidates for Congress and we will have developed long-term political viability reaching into local and state races which compliment action in the streets and places of employment.

Much can be learned about winning and viability from studying the history of the old socialist Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party of Floyd Olson, Elmer Benson and John Bernard.

Now is the time to challenge Wall Street for political and economic power--- the American people are just plain--- fed up.

And anti-Wall Street alternatives are looking better and better to many people.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. distorts history to fit in with his support for Obama and the Democrats.

At a meeting in Milwaukee hosted by a group of rank-and-file workers who are members of AFSCME where I was asked to make a presentation on the need for a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity," one of the participants informed me that the Harvard educated Bill Fletcher, Jr. spoke at a conference about labor history in Wisconsin.

While in Wisconsin I met with several other people who attended this conference, too.

I understand Fletcher made the erroneous claim that the Taft-Hartley Act was the beginning of the big business attack on labor.

Why does Bill Fletcher, Jr. knowingly falsify history in this way?

Fletcher is well aware that it was the fight between labor and Wall Street's organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, etc. that marked the beginning of Wall Street's attack on labor which one of the results was the Taft-Hartley Act.

But, why does Fletcher intentionally omit any mention of this ferocious and bitter hard fought struggle over the "Full Employment Act of 1945" which labor lost?

Because, if Fletcher mentioned this struggle over the "Full Employment Act of 1945" he would then have to explain that this Act would have required the president and Congress to attain and maintain full employment; and, then, Fletcher and his left-wing Obama supporters would have to explain why they are pushing the Democrat's agenda of continuing to make full employment a voluntary "goal" instead of pushing forward a labor agenda making full employment a mandatory requirement.

Fletcher and his Obama supporting pals are afraid of a huge battle that would be a rematch of the fight over the "Full Employment Act of 1945" because then Democrats would be held accountable every time they mouthed the words, "jobs, jobs, jobs."

I give Kevin Zeese a lesson about full employment.

Kevin,

I have kind of set for myself the task of getting politicians to understand the difference between full employment being a "goal" and a mandated "requirement." This is a dirty job; but someone has to do it.

Do you understand the difference between a "Full Employment Act" which makes full employment a "goal" and one that makes full employment a "requirement?"

As the Attorney General of the Green Shadow Cabinet, I think we have a right to expect you to:

1. Acknowledge you understand the difference; and,

2. Tell us which you support.

It would be helpful to all concerned that the Green Party provide its position on these two points, too.

I am assuming you agree with me that we all have a right to have these two points answered?

Have you read the "Full Employment Act of 1945" and the Congressional testimony? Here is a link. Click on the very top "botton/tab" in the upper right-hand corner.

You may consult "Black's Law Dictionary" or any common dictionary for the definition of a "goal" and a "requirement."

Let me make it easy for you. Here are the definitions.

Perhaps you are like those Canadians and figure a "goal" is a point scored in hockey? My grandkids think a "goal" is a point scored in soccer. Well, there is another definition of "goal," too:

goal

noun \ˈgōl, chiefly Northern especially in 1b & 3a also ˈgül\

: something that you are trying to do or achieve
: an area or object into which a ball or puck must be hit, kicked, etc., to score points in various games (such as soccer and hockey)

: the act of hitting, kicking, etc., a ball or puck into a goal or the score that results from doing this

​Here is the definition of "requirement:"

re·quire·ment

noun \-ˈkwī(-ə)r-mənt\

: something that is needed or that must be done

: something that is necessary for something else to happen or be done

:  something required:a :  something wanted or needed :  necessity  requirements>

b :  something essential to the existence or occurrence of something else :  condition  requirements for graduation>

Definitions of the words "goal" and "requirement" don't change because we are talking about jobs and full employment.

Here is the definition of "job:"

job

noun \ˈjäb\

: the work that a person does regularly in order to earn money
: a duty, task, or function that someone or something has

: something that requires very great effort

 JOB

1

a :  a piece of work; especially :  a small miscellaneous piece of work undertaken on order at a stated rateb :  the object or material on which work is being donec :  something produced by or as if by work  job>

d :  an example of a usually specified type :  item  job>

2

a :  something done for private advantage  job>

b :  a criminal enterprise; specifically :  robberyc :  a damaging or destructive bit of work  job on him>

3

a (1) :  something that has to be done :  task (2) :  an undertaking requiring unusual exertion  job to talk over that noise>

b :  a specific duty, role, or functionc :  a regular remunerative positiond chiefly British :  state of affairs —usually used with bad or good  job you didn't hit the old man — E. L. Thomas>

4

:  plastic surgery for cosmetic purposes  job>

— on the job

Examples of JOB

1. He took a job as a waiter.
2. She has a high-paying job on Wall Street.
3. She's trying to get a job in New York.
4. The new factory will create thousands of jobs.
5. They offered him the job but he turned it down.
6. The blood's job is to carry oxygen to the different parts of the body.
7. Construction of the bridge turned out to be a bigger job than they had expected.
8. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

​

Here is the definition of "full employment:"

full em·ploy·ment

noun

noun: full employment

1. 1.

   the condition in which virtually all who are able and willing to work are employed.

   
   

   
   

I hate to think what my job will be like when I have to start explaining to all of you what a real living Minimum Wage is or what causes poverty. Then if we get into the complex world of "cost of living" and "standard of living"... oy vey.

Alan L. Maki

 

For more information on "full employment," check out:

http://fullemploymentnow.blogspot.com/

Guest blog by Brian McAfee of Muskegon Hts., Michigan

Brian McAfee
2838 Mason Blvd.
Muskegon Hts.,  MI 49444
USA
(231) 737-8726
brimac6@hotmail.com  



6.6 Million Children Under the Age of Five Died Last Year Mostly from Easily Treatable Diseases.

                                                            
        by Brian McAfee

  Most of the deaths have been from pneumonia, malaria, or diarrhea.  Over 70% of these deaths have occurred in Africa and South-East Asia.  Nearly half of all under five deaths occur in five countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

  The women and children of the Congo have had to endure two decades of warfare, hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees and systematic rape and other atrocities committed against the women and girls by both government soldiers and rebels.  This system is propped up by foreign mining of rare earth minerals for cell phones and other electronics.  Western governments and capitalism props up this system of abuse and violence.

  Nigeria accounts for more than 30% of early childhood deaths for malaria and 20% for HIV/AIDS.  According to the UN Nigeria accounts for one in every eight child death, this is a trend that must be combated.

  Other regions where the situation has been dire for tens of thousands of children are Cambodia, Guinea, Mozambique and Nepal.

  In Nepal 26,000+ children die before age 5 according to a Save the Children report.

  Angola and  Namibia are experiencing their worst drought in 30 years leaving more than 100,000 children without food according to UNICEF.

  There has been some progress, a two thirds reduction in child mortality in Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi and Tanzania.  Much of it from the work done by UNICEF, OXFAM, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders.

  Another factor that can have a direct effect on people's well being is climate change.  The size and severity of floods in West Africa and droughts in East Africa.

  In President Obama's first inaugural address he said "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work along side you to make your farms flourish and let clean water flow."

  Leading proponents of an ongoing concern and care for the poor and the needy of the world have included Mahatma Gandhi,  Gandhi said "I believe implicitly that all men are born equal.  All whether in India or in England or America or in any circumstance or in any circumstances whatever have the same soul as any other... I consider that it is unmanly for any person to claim superiority over a fellow being, he who claims superiority at once forfeits his claim to be called a man."

  Along with Gandhi the other twentieth century figure (though unlike Gandhi he is still with us) is Nelson Mandela who I admire for his decency, courage and his humanistic principles.  Nelson Mandela's ethics are based on the South African philosophy of Ubuntu, basically active human kindness and empathy.  Ubuntu ethics should be expanded globally.

   Time will tell on the full impact of a new Avatar in the pursuit of decency.  Malala Yousafzat, the 16 year old girl who was shot by the Taliban for going to school in Pakistan.  She has had surgeries, recuperated from her injuries and written a book.  Malala now follows/studies Badshah Khan non violent Islamist and protege of Gandhi.  While Malala's campaign for universal education for girls and women is a righteous one and deserves our support we should continue to bear in mind the thousands of girls in Swat Valley and other parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, whose names we do not know.

   Suggested reading

    All Men Are Brothers, Autobiographical Reflections - Gandhi
    A Man To Match His Mountains, Bashah Khan, Non Violent Soldiers of Islam by Eknath Easwaran

Eugene V. Debs

Today is the birthday of Eugene V. Debs, one of the most prominent Americans to be excluded (or at least greatly minimized) in our nation's history textbooks. Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana (where his home is now a museum operated by the http://www.debsfoundation.org/ ). He was a lifelong champion of labor, independent politics, socialism, peace, and civil liberties:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

http://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/

In honor of his birthday, Haymarket Books is offering (today only) a 50% discount on Ray Ginger's The Bending Cross, perhaps the best of the many biographies of Debs. See:

http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/The-Bending-Cross-A-Biography-of-Eugene-V-Debs Enter the coupon code EDEBS at checkout to purchase the book for only $9.

I highly recommend this book. If you already have a copy it would make a great holiday gift for someone.

Eugene Debs paved the way for breaking free from Wall Street's two-party trap. Debs received almost one-million votes for president while sitting in prison for his outspoken opposition to World War I.

Open Letter to Governor McCrory by North Carolinians of Good Will

This should be shared widely...

http://naacpnc.nationbuilder.com/open_letter_to_governor_mccrory

Open Letter to Governor McCrory

The letter was first crafted by four clergy who were arrested during Moral Mondays last Spring. They are the Initiators of this letter. They brought the letter to the NC NAACP 70^th Annual State Convention, where it was unanimously endorsed by over 600 delegates and friends. We warmly invite all North Carolinians who agree with its two requests to sign below. We also invite you to participate in our Moral Monday Service of Redemption at the State Capitol in Raleigh on Monday, December 23, 2013.

After collecting signatures, the NC NAACP will deliver this letter to Gov. McCrory on November 27th, 2013 during the Hanukkah and Thanksgiving season.

Open Letter to Governor McCrory by North Carolinians of Good Will

Dear Governor McCrory:

We, the undersigned concerned clergy and people of good will in North Carolina, have seen the devastating impacts of the immoral policies of our state legislature, supported and approved by you. We write to remind you that the measure of a society is its treatment of the least among us -- the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the incarcerated.

Our state's policies and practices are being weighed on the scales of justice. They, and all of us who stand on the sidelines and watch them go into effect without raising our voices, are judged on the criteria established in our faith traditions and the principles in our documents which first constituted our nation and state. No matter which measure of human decency is used, our moral profile is a scandal. We ask you to focus on two of the most arrogant and hurtful policies you supported and approved.

Your denial of Medicaid insurance to some 500,000 of our neighbors will cause many to be without health care. The denial of health care is not because of their inability to pay or their lack of concern for their health. Rather it is caused by their own government! When this ideological policy goes into effect, it will result, according to some estimates, in 2,000 of our North Carolina neighbors each year dying untimely, otherwise preventable, deaths. We therefore implore you to accept the federal funds available for medical insurance for our half million neighbors which you rejected for ideological reasons at the beginning of your term.

Meaningful employment and a living wage are necessary for human dignity. We believe everyone able to work, should work. We must acknowledge we are in financially difficult circumstances. Thousands of our neighbors are still struggling to find work. North Carolina has the fifth highest unemployment rate in the nation. We therefore implore you to accept the federal funds available for unemployment insurance for our 170,000 neighbors which you rejected for ideological reasons earlier this year.

You have the power to address these two inhumane policies. In less than 70 days their full fury will be felt by our neighbors, as they both go into effect on January 1, 2014. We respectfully request that you call a Special Redemption Session of the Legislature, and use your powers to guide them out of the ideological and moral dead-ends of these dumb inhumane policies. We would be pleased to celebrate with you, on the Moral Monday that falls on December 23, 2013, when you lead the state away from these acts of moral irresponsibility.

We shall hold a Moral Monday Service of Redemption. The many faith and ethical traditions our Moral Monday movement represent all have special days we celebrate during this season.

You have said that as you govern you are "not afraid to step on toes." As you step on toes, we pray you will not step on God's toes. We pray you have the grace and wisdom to accept the federal funds for the medicaid and unemployment insurance for those who are eligible. We pray you will heed God's call. We pray you will listen to all faiths and ethical commands. We pray you will uphold our constitution.
In the spirit of our Holy Scriptures and the Constitution,

Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler,	Rev. Dr. William Turner
Elder Carrie Bolton,	Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II

The Initiators of this Letter

850 signatures

Will you sign?

First Name

Last Name

Email

Conference/Workshop being organized

Note: The New Progressive Alliance and Uniting People are looking for free space to hold a conference/workshop in Duluth, Minnesota on January 11 to initiate struggles for real health care reform, a living Minimum Wage and full employment legislation. Does anyone have suggestions? This will be free and open to the public. We will be taking this conference/workshop to other Minnesota cities, too; so any suggestions for free meeting places will be appreciated.

An excellent an informative read from Immanuel Wallerstein: "Consequences of U.S. Decline"

Commentary No. 364, November 1, 2013

"Consequences of U.S. Decline"

I have long argued that U.S. decline as a hegemonic power began circa 1970 and that a slow decline became a precipitate one during the presidency of George W. Bush. I first started writing about this in 1980 or so. At that time the reaction to this argument, from all political camps, was to reject it as absurd. In the 1990s, quite to the contrary, it was widely believed, again on all sides of the political spectrum, that the United States had reached the height of unipolar dominance. 

However, after the burst bubble of 2008, opinion of politicians, pundits, and the general public began to change. Today, a large percentage of people (albeit not everyone) accepts the reality of at least some relative decline of U.S. power, prestige, and influence. In the United States this is accepted quite reluctantly. Politicians and pundits rival each other in recommending how this decline can still be reversed. I believe it is irreversible.

 

The real question is what the consequences of this decline are. The first is the manifest reduction of U.S. ability to control the world situation, and in particular the loss of trust by the erstwhile closest allies of the United States in its behavior. In the last month, because of the evidence released by Edward Snowden, it has become public knowledge that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has been directly spying on the top political leadership of Germany, France, Mexico, and Brazil among others (as well, of course, on countless citizens of these countries).

I am sure the United States engaged in similar activities in 1950. But in 1950, none of these countries would have dared to make a public scandal of their anger, and demand that the United States stop doing this. If they do it today, it is because today the United States needs them more than they need the United States. These present leaders know that the United States has no choice but to promise, as President Obama just did, to cease these practices (even if the United States doesn't mean it). And the leaders of these four countries all know that their internal position will be strengthened, not weakened, by publically tweaking the nose of the United States.

Insofar as the media discuss U.S. decline, most attention is placed on China as a potential successor hegemon. This too misses the point. China is undoubtedly a country growing in geopolitical strength. But accession to the role of the hegemonic power is a long, arduous process. It would normally take at least another half-century for any country to reach the position where it could exercise hegemonic power. And this is a long time, during which much may happen.

Initially, there is no immediate successor to the role. Rather, what happens when the much lessened power of the erstwhile hegemonic power seems clear to other countries is that relative order in the world-system is replaced by a chaotic struggle among multiple poles of power, none of which can control the situation. The United States does remain a giant, but a giant with clay feet. It continues for the moment to have the strongest military force, but it finds itself unable to make much good use of it. The United States has tried to minimize its risks by concentrating on drone warfare. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has just denounced this view as totally unrealistic militarily. He reminds us that one wins wars only by ground warfare, and the U.S. president is presently under enormous pressure by both politicians and popular sentiment not to use ground forces.

The problem for everyone in a situation of geopolitical chaos is the high level of anxiety it breeds and the opportunities it offers for destructive folly to prevail. The United States, for example, may no longer be able to win wars, but it can unleash enormous damage to itself and others by imprudent actions. Whatever the United States tries to do in the Middle East today, it loses. At present none of the strong actors in the Middle East (and I do mean none) take their cues from the United States any longer. This includes Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan (not to mention Russia and China). The policy dilemmas this poses for the United States has been recorded in great detail in The New York Times. The conclusion of the internal debate in the Obama administration has been a super-ambiguous compromise, in which President Obama seems vacillating rather than forceful.

Finally, there are two real consequences of which we can be fairly sure in the decade to come. The first is the end of the U.S. dollar as the currency of last resort. When this happens, the United States will have lost a major protection for its national budget and for the cost of its economic operations. The second is the decline, probably a serious decline, in the relative standard of living of U.S. citizens and residents. The political consequences of this latter development are hard to predict in detail but will not be insubstantial.

by Immanuel Wallerstein

Who is lobbying Minnesota legislators and the governor on the issue of the Minimum Wage? Might it be Wal-mart and the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association?

As Minnesota politicians are discussing raising the Minimum Wage, I wonder if they are being lobbied by the Waltons and Wal-mart? I think I will send them an e-mail to ask them. Shouldn't we have these politicians disclose right up front who is lobbying them when it comes to the issue of raising the Minimum Wage since not one single Minnesota State Legislator nor the Governor with a Democratic super-majority is proposing that the Minimum Wage be a real living wage based on all "cost of living" factors as tracked by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics so we can all have a decent "standard of living" in accordance with what is called for in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights? How is it the wealthy keep tricking us into giving them all the treats? The United States is by far the wealthiest country in the world. The 65the Anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights is coming up on December 10th; and we still don't have a Minimum Wage that is a real living wage or jobs for all. 

Something to think about:

How does this percentage change when we factor in the wealth of the other Fortune 500 Billionaires?

I am working on a proposal for a presentation to the "How Class Works" Conference... I am looking for suggestions.

I would like to make a presentation to the "How Class Works Conference" on the following. I am looking for suggestions:

Class dimensions of poverty. To explore why and how poverty is something that happens to the working class, not some marginal "other" at the bottom of society.

This is my proposal which I would work from:

If workers are paid a poverty wage they are going to be poor.
Some of my ideas would include an expansion of my thoughts in the below Letter to the Editor and the comments which are responses to questions and comments on what I wrote in the Letter...

Link to my letter:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-letter-to-editor-on-minimum-wage-is.html

Minnesota politicians, business people and even labor "leaders" are concerned that raising the Minimum Wage to a real living wage would be too hard on "small businesses."

There is a solution to this concern if "small business" is really their concern.

Exclude all the relatives of the owners of small businesses from Minimum Wage enforcement and protection.

Let the owners of "small businesses" pay their spouses, great grand-parents, grand-parents, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles and cousins whatever wages they want to do their work for them. Exempt politicians and all their relatives from Minimum Wage protections, too, and let the people vote on how much politicians should be paid. In my opinion, politicians shouldn't be paid any more than the lowest paid workers--- this would provide these politicians to improve the standard of living for everyone. According to these politicians people need incentives; what better place to start incentive based pay than with the pay of politicians?

But, for all other workers, the Minimum Wage should be nothing less than a real living wage based on ALL "cost of living" factors which would provide working people with a decent standard of living.

We have a billionaire governor, Mark Dayton, whose inherited wealth has been derived from paying Minnesotans poverty wages for over a century.

There is a way to reduce the Minimum Wage. Institute universal social programs providing people with free health care, free child care, free higher education, low-cost public transportation, controlling the prices of food, housing, electricity, gas and home heating fuels.

Please read my "Letter to the Editor" in the Northern Light Region. Share this e-mail and my "Letter to the Editor" with your friends and fellow workers:

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-letter-to-editor-on-minimum-wage-is.html

By the way; there isn't a union "leader" in this country who would work for the pathetically miserly Minimum Wage the Democrats in Minnesota are proposing.

If we can't get a real living wage out of a Democratic super-majority, what can we ever expect to get from these Democrats?

Even Richard Nixon supported a guaranteed annual income; although he never spoke of a real living income.

But, with the anniversary on the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights coming up on December 10 it would behoove us all to engage in a discussion about what kind of standard of living and quality of life working people are entitled to living here in the richest country in the world.

Is it right and just that a billionaire Governor like Mark Dayton whose inherited wealth is derived from poverty wages should be talking about forcing a miserly poverty Minimum Wage and hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans assuring the families of these workers will continue to live in poverty?

Many of the union "leaders," like Elliot Seide of AFSCME, who are multi-millionaires themselves have turned their unions into organizations that are little more than unions on paper as they refuse to struggle to improve the standard of living of their own members and force concession contracts down the throats of those paying dues so "leaders" like Elliot Seide can make Minnesota-nice with billionaire politicians like Mark Dayton.

What gives these union "leaders" who won't even stand up and fight for the workers whose dues go to pay their big, fat salaries the right to claim they have a right to shove poverty wages down the throats of other Minnesotans?

Would Elliot Seide or any public workers he represents agree to work for $9.50 an hour? No. So why should anyone else?

Keith Ellison would never work for $9.50 an hour. His fellow member of Congress, multi-millionaire Rick Nolan, would never work for $9.50 an hour.

The Minimum Wage should be based on all cost-of-living factors; the cost-of-living factors tracked and monitored by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Don't let a bunch of over-paid labor "leaders" and a billionaire governor tell you that you should work for poverty wages while they live high-on-the-hog at our expense.

And I have a message for all those members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees who collected signatures on petitions at the Minnesota State Fair urging that their fellow workers should be paid a lousy $9.50 an hour poverty wage--- it is workers being paid these kinds of poverty wages who are paying your wages. Something you might just want to think about. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. What makes you think you are entitled to a living wage but other workers are not entitled to the same living wages? Perhaps at next Minnesota State Fair you should consider circulating a petition backing a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity" so all workers have a shot at living decent lives.

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-letter-to-editor-on-minimum-wage-is.html

But, the award for "The Epitome of Hypocrisy" in all of this discussion over the Minimum Wage should go to the Leader of the Minnesota State Senate, DFL'er Tom Bakk who stakes claim to being a leader in the building trades unions--- Bakk says he wants even less than the pathetically miserly Minimum Wage being proposed by the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party and its union "partners" and non-profit foundation-funded front groups of $9.50 an hour because Senator Bakk feels sorry for the Minnesota hospitality industry--- the casino managements and those who made the Forbes Fortune 500 "List."

People have become billionaires as a direct result of paying workers poverty wages. Had the wealthy been paying workers real living wages no doubt they would remain mere multi-millionaires.

I am sick and tired of hearing about the poor "small businesses" who will suffer if the Minimum Wage is increased to a real living wage--- exempt the small businesses and the relatives they hire from enforcement and protection of the Minimum Wage.

Let State Senator Tom Bakk clean the hotel rooms for a poverty wage.

Billionaires telling workers they should be satisfied with $9.50 an hour. Union "leaders" who have turned trade unionism into a racket getting big fat salaries. Politicians who have never worked a day in their lives. All telling us what the Minimum Wage should be. When do we hear from the workers and their families who are forced to live in poverty with the decisions made by all of these people living high-on-the-hog more often than not on the backs of poverty wage paid workers.

A poverty Minimum Wage as proposed by Minnesota Democrats with their super-majority and their front groups like Growth & Justice, Take Action Minnesota and the AFL-CIO affiliated unions discriminates most against people of color, women, youth and the elderly. And undocumented workers suffer as they are at the very bottom when it comes to being paid poverty wages and new immigrants don't fair much better.

Minnesota Education endorsed the most reactionary, right-wing Republican State Representative, Tony Cornish, for re-election. Cornish has been a major opponent of a living Minimum Wage.

The AFL-CIO has endorsed Democratic State Senator Tom Bakk time and time again and Bakk has joined the Republicans in opposing an increase in the Minimum Wage.

We all know the unions would be without any paid staff if people like Jim Gleb and Tamara Jones who rent the scab facilities of the Indian Gaming Industry had to work for a miserly poverty wage of $9.50 cents an hour and the foundation-funded outfits would be without any staffs.

Remember, the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party with its super majority didn't raise the Minimum Wage a plug nickle in the last legislative session--- thus providing billionaires with extended super-profits.

All discussions about the Minimum Wage should center around: "Cost of Living" and "Standard of Living."

Perhaps these union "leaders" who are trying to shove a poverty Minimum Wage down the throats of working people would like to submit papers for your consideration on the topic:


Class dimensions of poverty. To explore why and how poverty is something that happens to the working class, not some marginal "other" at the bottom of society.

Michael, isn't it time to bring your gatherings out into the nitty-gritty of the class struggle where the discussions will have some real impact outside the sheltered life of academia?

What we need is a united working class struggle for a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity."

http://fullemploymentnow.blogspot.com/

Also see:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/grand-forks-herald-publishes-my-letter.html

More about the Minimum Wage.

Several Minnesota State Legislators--- including Republican Joyce Peppin, an aid to Governor Mark Dayton and a leader of Take Action Minnesota responded to my "Letter to the Editor" I sent them that was published in the Northern Light Region newspaper. I sent them back the following response:

Link to my letter:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-letter-to-editor-on-minimum-wage-is.html


Minnesota politicians, business people and even labor "leaders" are concerned that raising the Minimum Wage to a real living wage would be too hard on "small businesses."

There is a solution to this concern if "small business" is really their concern.

Exclude all the relatives of the owners of small businesses from Minimum Wage enforcement and protection.

Let the owners of "small businesses" pay their spouses, great grand-parents, grand-parents, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles and cousins whatever wages they want to do their work for them. Exempt politicians and all their relatives from Minimum Wage protections, too, and let the people vote on how much politicians should be paid. In my opinion, politicians shouldn't be paid any more than the lowest paid workers--- this would provide these politicians with the "opportunity" to improve the standard of living for everyone. According to these politicians people need incentives; what better place to start incentive based pay than with the pay of politicians?

But, for all other workers, the Minimum Wage should be nothing less than a real living wage based on ALL "cost of living" factors which would provide working people with a decent standard of living.

We have a billionaire Governor, Mark Dayton, whose inherited wealth has been derived from paying Minnesotans poverty wages for over a century.

There is a way to reduce the Minimum Wage. Institute universal social programs providing people with free health care, free child care, free higher education, low-cost public transportation, controlling the prices of food, housing, electricity, gas and home heating fuels.

Please read my "Letter to the Editor" in the Northern Light Region. Share this e-mail and my "Letter to the Editor" with your friends and fellow workers:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-letter-to-editor-on-minimum-wage-is.html

By the way; there isn't a union "leader" in this country who would work for the pathetically miserly Minimum Wage the Democrats in Minnesota are proposing.

If we can't get a real living wage out of a Democratic super-majority here in Minnesota, what can we ever expect to get from these Democrats?

Even Richard Nixon supported a guaranteed annual income; although he never spoke of a real living income.

But, with the anniversary on the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights coming up on December 10 it would behoove us all to engage in a discussion about what kind of standard of living and quality of life working people are entitled to living here in the richest country in the world.

Is it right and just that a billionaire Governor like Mark Dayton whose inherited wealth is derived from poverty wages should be talking about forcing a miserly poverty Minimum Wage down the throats of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans assuring these workers, and the families of these workers, will continue to live in poverty?

Many of the union "leaders," like Elliot Seide of AFSCME, who are multi-millionaires themselves have turned their unions into organizations that are little more than unions on paper as they refuse to struggle to improve the standard of living of their own members and force concession contracts down the throats of those paying dues so "leaders" like Elliot Seide can make Minnesota-nice with billionaire politicians like Mark Dayton.

What gives these union "leaders" who won't even stand up and fight for the workers whose dues go to pay their big, fat salaries the right to claim they have a right to shove poverty wages down the throats of other Minnesotans?

Would Elliot Seide or any public workers he represents agree to work for $9.50 an hour? No. So why should anyone else?

Keith Ellison would never work for $9.50 an hour. His fellow member of Congress, multi-millionaire Rick Nolan, would never work for $9.50 an hour.

The Minimum Wage should be based on all cost-of-living factors; the cost-of-living factors tracked and monitored by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Don't let a bunch of over-paid labor "leaders" and a billionaire governor tell you that you should work for poverty wages while they live high-on-the-hog at our expense.

And I have a message for all those members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees who collected signatures on petitions at the Minnesota State Fair urging that their fellow workers should be paid a lousy $9.50 an hour poverty wage--- it is workers being paid these kinds of poverty wages who are paying your wages. Something you might just want to think about. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. What makes you think you are entitled to a living wage but other workers are not entitled to the same living wages? Perhaps at the next Minnesota State Fair in 2014 you should consider circulating a petition backing a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity" so all workers have a shot at living decent lives.
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-letter-to-editor-on-minimum-wage-is.html

But, the award for "The Epitome of Hypocrisy" in all of this discussion over the Minimum Wage should go to the Leader of the Minnesota State Senate, DFL'er Tom Bakk who stakes claim to being a leader in the building trades unions--- Bakk says he wants even less than the pathetically miserly Minimum Wage being proposed by the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party and its union "partners" and non-profit foundation-funded front groups like Take Action Minnesota of $9.50 an hour because Senator Bakk feels sorry for the Minnesota hospitality industry--- the casino managements and those who made the Forbes Fortune 500 "List."

People have become billionaires as a direct result of paying workers poverty wages. Had the wealthy been paying workers real living wages, no doubt they would remain mere multi-millionaires instead of having become billionaires.

I am sick and tired of hearing about the poor "small businesses" who will suffer if the Minimum Wage is increased to a real living wage--- exempt the small businesses and the relatives they hire from enforcement and protection of the Minimum Wage.

Let State Senator Tom Bakk clean the hotel rooms for a poverty wage.

Billionaires telling workers they should be satisfied with $9.50 an hour. Union "leaders" who have turned trade unionism into a racket getting big fat salaries. Politicians who have never worked a day in their lives. All telling us what the Minimum Wage should be. When do we hear from the workers and their families who are forced to live in poverty with the decisions made by all of these people living high-on-the-hog more often than not on the backs of poverty wage paid workers.

--
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell: 651-587-5541

Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com

Blog: http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/