Two Decades of Christian Nationalist Education Paved Way for Today’s War on Labor
While some religious leaders have come together to voice support for public employees in Wisconsin, others view the attack on the public sector and unions as a holy war. Fundamentalist textbooks and other media have been used for indoctrination into a worldview in which unregulated free markets are divinely mandated. In this sacralized model of capitalism, those who interfere with the invisible hand of the market are choosing “the state as provider rather than God.” The Koch brothers may have helped finance the current war on workers, but the narratives repeated by the Tea Partiers and their candidates echo those taught from Christian nationalist textbooks for more than two decades.
Wisconsin State Employees Actually Underpaid
One of the canards that has been prevalent throughout both the federal budget debate and the battle in Wisconsin is the idea that government workers are overpaid. The Economic Policy Institute points out the problem with this argument.
In Wisconsin, which has become a focal point in this debate, public servants already take a pretty hefty pay cut just for the opportunity to serve their communities …
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What kind of scientist doesn’t look critically at a graph of cherry picked data meant to make a political point?
And now Georg Soros is financing the attack on the American economy. Different folks, different strokes.
In many public sector jobs, the fringe rate exceeds 80%, and that does not include accounting and administrative costs.
That is the case with the Wisconsin civil service.
The days of offering benefits as a method of circumventing government wage freezes ended when Japan surrendered in 1945. It’s just taken the unions a while to get the word.
And now Georg Soros is financing the attack on the American economy. Different folks, different strokes.
In many public sector jobs, the fringe rate exceeds 80%, and that does not include accounting and administrative costs.
That is the case with the Wisconsin civil service.
The days of offering benefits as a method of circumventing government wage freezes ended when Japan surrendered in 1945. It’s just taken the unions a while to get the word.
“One of the canards that has been prevalent throughout both the federal budget debate and the battle in Wisconsin is the idea that government workers are overpaid. ”
Here in MI our new governor put out a “study” and claimed it proved public service employees were consistently paid more than private workers. You guessed it – he pulled the old “just average all salaries together” ploy. Since our state govt is heavy with college-educated folks, and the private sector not so much, of course his study showed what he wanted. The surprise is that he got caught and called on it. I don’t know that it will make much difference, but at least the fact that our new governor is less than honest has been made clear early in his career.
Didn’t all you libtards get the memo? Only rich people are allowed to pool resources to promote their own self-interest. When poor people do it, why that’s socialism, and we can’t have socialism now can we?
The statement from the Madison PD thanking the protesters for good behavior: http://www.cityofmadison.com/news/view.cfm?news_id=2512
Whenever there is a protest in Madison that does not involve burning up a police care, the Madison police are happy!
But seriously, I know a number of people who were there, and this confirms what I’ve heard.
Tea Party MAn”I live in Mississippi and make less than $25,000 per year. Yet, I do not belong to a union nor will I ever. You don;t see me bitching about “human rights” pay and crap all day long. These unions have bankrupted America and its high time they pay it back.”
This is standard operating procedure for oppressive oligarchs, TPM. Divide and conquer the working class. Convince folks like you that you’re poor because the mean union people or lazy [ethnic group] or uppity women have taken it from you, when it’s really the upper management that has seen all of the increase in wages over the last thirty years – not you, and not me.
I’ll bet you think you’re poor also because of excessive regulation of corporations, also? You’d me a multinational CEO if only the regs weren’t holding you back…
“Democraps always bitch and moan about corporate bonuses but ignore the outlandish salaries and benefit of union bosses which are often far more dangerous and corrupt than corporate officials.”
Yup, wherever the money is, there are sharks. But the union bosses are pocket change compared to the Koch brothers and their ilk. It’s not the union bosses who paid for the establishment of the Tea Party. Can you guess who?
“There are reports of how violent these wisconsin bullies are.” Cites? In any event, these are not violent organizations, nor liberal politicians, nor major commentators.
“I have seen the signs tehre too. These same liberals who bitched about the “violent rhetoric” are now engaging in violent rhetoric. The same pesky liberals who were so outraged over tea party members calling people a nazi are doing the exact same thing they condemned otehr for doing.”
Is there anybody in the Tea Party who actually knows what “socialist, fascist, atheist” and similar terms actually mean?
“What idiots. One protestor there even held up a sign stating he was there for the gangbang indicating he wanted to gangbang a Fox news analyst. I sure hope that perverted freak got arrested and sued by Fox for threatening a violent sex crime.”
A number of people where holding signs parodying what they have been called in public …discourse. “Gangbanger”, BTW, has evolved into a term referencing violence in general; a gangbanger would be an inner city street thug. Was it perchance a middle-aged whitebread holding the sign?
“This whole thing was planned and now AFL-CIO dummies are involved. I say let them protest. Evenetually they will get hungry, run out of money, and have to go back home. Better yet, the governor should tell them that they win. Then when they go home and the chicken shit democrats come back out of their hiding holes, he should call in the state police, seal off the building and go ahead with the vote anyway.”
It won’t work now; you’ve revealed the Secret Plan.
“It was hilarious to see that the Republicans today passed a law that says that in order for the hiding coward party to get paid they have to show up in person to get their checks. That was a stroke of genious.”
So the federal representatives who filibuster to block voting on a bill are cowards also? If not, please explain why not.